Damon Braces

What are Damon Braces?

These are braces that use the Damon system of orthodontic, which uses fixed and passive self-ligating methods for correcting teeth. The brackets in this system do not use elastic o-rings to position the wires, instead it allows the wires to freely slide without friction through the slots. Damon braces have brackets with the attached wires that can move with the teeth as they align.

Components

Damon braces are able to provide a faster treatment with fewer visits to the dentist, at a greater comfort level with consistently high-quality results. The is done due to its 3 core components:

1. Damon’s Passive Self-Litigating Braces:
   This eliminates the use of metal or elastic ties to tighten the braces leading to a treatment without regular and periodic tightening.
2. Light High-Technology Shape-Memory Wires:
   This helps the teeth to move faster and help the patient perform the daily tasks smoothly. This also works with fewer adjustments.
3. The teeth are aligned with a new clinically proven treatment approach that does not resort to extractions or fast palatal expanders that has also enhanced the facial aesthetics.

Materials Used

The Damon Clear braces are made of ceramic to provide a better durability and enhancing aesthetics. The archwires used for this procedure are of different materials and different sizes.

Advantages

Damon braces provide the following advantages over traditional braces:

• The damon braces provide a better appearance due to its clear and invisible brackets.
• This treatment using Damon Braces have proved to be faster than the traditional ones.
• Due to its lower maintenance quotient, damon braces have in turn reduced the number of visits to the dentist for maintenance and manual adjustments.
• The patients face lesser discomfort due to the lower pain quotient caused by the lesser pressure imposed by the braces on the teeth.
• The Damon braces causes lesser friction thus preventing the erosion and further deterioration of the teeth.
• The Damon braces give nearly negligible hiding places for plaque and bacteria to hide on the braces.

Disadvantages

The Damon Braces does a couple of minor disadvantages when compared to
traditional braces.

• The use of metal archwires does bring the effect of wearing braces even though the Damon braces are clear and transparent.
• Damon braces are costlier than traditional braces.
• Patients might feel a feeling of a foreign body in the mouth for the first few days and then the feeling goes away.

Procedure

The dentist might use passive self-ligating braces which uses very light wires usually made of an alloy of copper, nickel and titanium. These wires are wider than the natural arch, which makes it have a non-anatomical shape.

The dentist will initially place successively thick wires as the arches round off and the teeth levels out. A thicker wire is passively placed in the brackets. This laying of a thin light wires along with a thicker wire that is passively laid thus helping to reduce the pressure exerted on the periodential ligaments.

Authored By Dr Sanjay N - Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Bangalore