Metal Braces

What are Metal Braces ?

Metal braces or traditional braces are dental braces that are used to rectify issues of the teeth crooked
teeth, crowded teeth, misaligned bite and jaw problems. The standard traditional metal braces consist of
three main components:

• Brackets:

These are made of metal, usually high quality stainless steel or titanium. Each bracket is attached
to the surface of the each tooth with an adhesive that will hold them in place.

• Archwires:

These are thin metal wires that are used to connecting each bracket together. Archwires also help
to put pressure on the teeth in order to stay in place.

• Ligature Elastic:

These are the bands usually made of rubber or elastic that is used to hold the archwires to the
metal brackets.

These are the most common of the dental braces and the technological advances in this field have made
metal braces sleeker, smaller and have also increased the comfortability level. Nowadays, the metal braces
come with archwires that are activated by heat to help in the teeth to move quickly and cause lesser pain
compared to the past.

Principle of Metal Braces

The metal braces after being placed on your teeth, applies steady pressure on your teeth and the force of
this pressure helps in aligning the teeth into their proper places. The constant pressure is maintained by
periodical tightening of the archwires by the orthodontist.

Metal Braces Advantages 

The different advantages of using metal braces when compared to rest of the dental braces available in the
market today are:

• Metal braces are the most economical among the different dental braces today.
• They can help in treating the case of extreme overcrowding of the teeth more effectively when
  compared to the other available options.
• They also help in providing the orthodontist control to align the teeth in small time intervals.
• Metal braces also help in eliminating other issues of the mouth like problems while eating, speaking or even cleaning your teeth properly thus reducing tooth decay and gingivitis.

The metal braces have a major disadvantage of being more noticeable when compared to the newer dental braces that are available in the present market. The companies that manufacture metal braces have come
up with colorful metal brackets and elastic bands to give the traditional braces a more visually appealing
makeover.

The orthodontist might prescribe treatments for their patients in a phased manner.

• Phase I Treatment:

The orthodontist might suggest early intervention treatment for patients, usually children before
they have all their permanent teeth. This is aimed at getting the issues corrected at an early stage.
The skeletal structure will be corrected initially to make the next phase of treatment more
effective.

• Phase II Treatment:

This is the active phase of the treatment where the actual braces are used to align and straighten
the teeth.

Caring of Metal Braces

The metal braces have to be taken care of properly for making it comfortable to use.

• Stay Away from foods that is not favorable to metal braces like caramel, soft candy, crunchy
  foods. These can damage the braces.
• Brush your teeth and floss regularly to avoid staining your teeth. The dentists usually recommend a special brush for brushing since it is designed to cover the different areas of the braces too.
• Always visit your dentist regularly. The dentist will do the necessary adjustments like tightening the archwires etc. and for other clarifications.

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