Questions about elastics (rubber bands)

[blueberrypie]

Ok, well my orthodontist says that I need to wear elastics (rubber bands), but I have some questions about them which I don’t understand, and I’m resistant to wear them until I fully understand what they do.

He says that they help with the alignment of teeth, but what does this actually mean?
I only decided to get braces because I wanted my teeth to look nice (for cosmetic purposes), and right now I am really happy with the way they look and don’t understand why more needs to be done. Why is having elastics so important? What exactly do they do and how will they change my teeth?

Also, will they change the shape of your face or anything? I’m paranoid that it will change what I’m already happy with.

And this is just one more question which isn’t related to elastics, but ever since I got braces I’ve noticed that my front 2 teeth (which used to stick out) have move inwards a lot and is now making contact with my bottom two teeth. Are they meant to touch together when you bite?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Sunny]

Alignment of teeth ... that's what orthodontics is all about! It's about making sure your teeth come into contact correctly, from your molars all the way round. It's about making sure that your bite will cause the least amount of stress on your jaw joints and that your bite works at it's best. Alignment is not about cosmetic appearances, it's about function.

You need to talk to your orthodontist and get him to clarify the reason for you wearing elastics.

Mostly elastics are used to produce movement that the archwire can't achieve on it's own. The wearing of elastics shouldn't change the shape of your face, although wearing braces can, as does aging, which often gets overlooked, and orthodontics gets the blame.

Your upper front teeth should close slightly in front of your lowers. Please talk to your ortho about this.

Good luck ... and here's to you finding the elastics work well!

[blueberrypie]

Thank you so much for the reply Sunny, it was very helpful!