Wire thickness

[Bunny]

Hi Guys.

I had my 3rd wire change yesterday, ortho was very pleased with the progress and I no longer have to wear my power chain as my right canine has now moved into the socket where I had my premolar removed! Whoooo!!!
He said that it seems my teeth are responding well to quite heavy pressure so he will "crank things up a bit"! He said he is using thicker archwires this time.
What difference in terms of results does a thin or thinner wire give to a thick archwire?

Many Thanks in advance! xxx

[Denise]

My understanding is that the thicker the wire, the more force is exerts in your mouth. So people start out with a very thin wire, and progress to thicker wires as they go through their treatment. Teeth will stop responding to that thin wire after a while so that's why they switch every few adjustments to thicker and thicker wires. I don't have a power chain yet, but I've heard that most people who have extractions will need one at some point and I did have a tooth on the side (top) removed to make room for tooth movement so I'm sure my time for all that is coming!

Good luck to you in your treatment!

[ajs2294]

A thicker wire just means increased pressure applied to the teeth, its the same for power-chains as well.

[Bunny]

Ah thanks guys! Denise the power chain isnt actually that bad and the results are amazing, for one tooth to move into the space made by the removal of another is mindblowing stuff! Every day you poke your tongue up into the gap it gets smaller and smaller.
Thanks for the advise, it makes sense as I have woken up in agony this morning! Good luck to both of you. xx

[Sunny]

The thin wires do the most work ... it's there job to loosen and align your teeth. After that thicker wires are used to do a variety of work, which allows the ortho to put bends in the wire to get a particular type of movement.

There are many types of archwire ... eg round, square, plaited etc ... and there are different products that the archwires are made of ... all of these affect what the archwire will do.

For example the square stainless archwires are often used to tip the roots of the teeth. Movement that can't be seen like that with the flexible round wires ... but important if that's what's needed.

Bunny I totally agree with you about powerchains. I've had them on and off for the past three years and the progress has been amazing!

Good luck with you adjusting to your archwire change and your progress!

[Denise]

I am so excited for my gap to close up!! I'm lucky that it's far enough on the side that it's not terribly noticeable but it still feels so odd and the gap has been there for four months now.