Wearing Double Elastics

[annievk]

hey all! i was wondering if anyone could answer my question! here's hoping

so.. a friend of mine (who has had braces) said she doubled up on her elactics which speeded up her treatment. i've only just started wearing elastics and i'm seriously considering doing this to unless someone can tell me if there's anything wrong with doing this? apart from double the pain?? :P
thanks guys

[Denise]

Well, kind of look at it this way. If your orthodontist, who is your doctor, wanted you to be on stronger elastics, they would have put you on stronger elastics. Teeth are not supposed to move fast, it can actually cause damage if they do. You don't want to mess with moving bones around in your body faster or slower than your doctor recommends. They have a plan for how your treatment should progress, and honestly I wouldn't mess with that. Truth be told, if you want the end result of your braces to be beautiful, and healthy, teeth, don't take the chance. Follow doctors orders and wear the elastics all day and night, and your progress will do just fine

[Phantom Muse]

My daughter had to wear elastics for a substantial portion of her metal braces treatment, and the ortho changed the position of the elastics at each of her visits (every 4 weeks without fail for 20 months). In addition to the single elastic being almost as much as she could bear, I wonder if the movement with a doubled elastic would have been too much for a 4 week period. In fact, there were visits in which her ortho had to "backtrack" on the elastics because the bite went too far (she had a mild underbite).

Considering there can be so many different ways that orthos get to the same place, it would probably be best to get the go ahead from your ortho. What works well for one person isn't necessarily in the best interests of another. At the least, if your ortho thinks double elastics are a good idea, perhaps they will offer greater supervision through more frequent visits. It never hurts to ask!

Good luck, and here's to getting through all of this sooner rather than later! I am with you on that one!

[mikeg]

I did that and cheated a bit during my treatment. it is not advised, as your teeth can only move so fast and remain healthy. As others have said, there are stronger rubber bands, and the ortho will give them to you if you need them.

[coconut]

Don't do it. If anything, it may retard your progress, not speed it up.

[annievk]

thanks for all your replies, they have all been so helpful! u have successfully convinced me not to. i think i'll just ride it out and be patient- something i'm practicing being better at . thanks again.

[Sunny]

Great that you're not going to consider this Annie as it really is dangerous and usually the ortho can pick what the patients do and will record their non compliance on their file.

If your ortho thought this was a good thing for you to do, they'd tell you to do it. Sometimes two elastics can be used ... under the instruction of your ortho.

The main problems are ... teeth moving too fast and that affecting the exisiting alignment, the roots of the teeth moving, your gums ... and possibly the life of some of those teeth. Also if teeth move too quickly and affect alignment, this is a backwards step and can make treatment longer. The orthodontist will have a treatment plan, so if these teeth get out of that, it's about back tracking to get things sorted.

Good luck with your progress and remember a lot of this is about patience ... frustrating, but a good thing to learn!