Spacers, what exactly do they do?

[angelica123]

I got my braces put on August 5th, and the same day the bracket(if that's what it's called) that's on my molder(the last tooth on the bottom with a bracket) came off. Well today I went in so they could put it back on there and when I was eating lunch, I ate boneless wings and I cut them up into small pieces, the same bracket came off. I called the orthos office and they told me that the ortho said that I don't need on there for now, it can wait until my next appointment, but they told me that I would need to call one week before so they can put a spacer in. What can be causing this bracket to fall off? And what will the spacer do? Will the spacer hurt?

[kookoo]

Not sure why the bracket (do you mean the metal band that holds the arch wire?) is coming off, it could be due to your molar anatomy, being rounded or something, but that's just a guess. But the spacers are normally placed on either side of the molar that they are going to put the metal band that holds the arch wires on and is held in the space by the adjacent teeth. Keeping it in fo a week will slightly move your teeth apart and make a small gap so that the metal band can go on much easier. It really depends on how your teeth are, when I had braces the first time the spacers were horrible, I cried haha! But I just recently had ortho again (7 years later), and I hardly felt them this time. It depends on how close your teeth are to one another, your pain threshold etc. It shouldn't be too bad though

[IHIC]

Most of the time I see people have bands around their molars (to hold the bracket), but I'm sure I've seen a few photos of people with the bracket glued to the molars. Perhaps that isn't working for you and that's why they keep breaking off. I should imagine you are going to have spacers put in so then they can then put the bands around your molars rather than just having the brackets glued by themselves. Some info about bands and spacers can be found here: http://www.orthonj.com/sepsinstr.html

I could be wrong, but I am sure an experienced user will reply soon.

[mikeg]

ya, they make room for those molar bands...

More and more orthos are not using them anymore though....

[Sunny]

Angelica there's many reason why buccal molar brackets don't stay bonded, but it's usually related to our bite and therefore there's more pressure being put on that bracket and therefore it's more likely to come off. Many ortho's now adjust the bonding, so this isn't an issue, but some ortho's still use molar bands and as has been explained above, because these fit over the complete tooth, there needs to be a little space made on each side for the band to fit over the tooth.

Spacers are usually worn for a few days up to a week, but some people need to wear them longer. Where I work we don't use molar bands and I don't personally have any experience of them. I've read that some people believe this to be the worst part of their treatment and others don't find they bother them.

Hopefully you'll find they don't bother you and all will go well! Good luck with your treatment!

[angelica123]

Thanks everyone. I went to the ortho office and they told me that they are going to put a spacer in so they can put a band on my molar to hold the bracket in place. I didn't have spacers in before so that's why I was wondering if they hurt.

[Sunny]

I guess spacers are like most things connected to orthodontics ... some people feel sore with them, but recover quickly ... and some people don't find they affect them at all!

Good luck!

[smylex]

You may experience some discomfort with the spacers. After all, they're pushing your molars and bicuspids away from each other to make room. I experienced a bit of a dull ache, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be taken care of with some ibuprofen or other regular headache reliever.

The only thing that I didn't like about my spacers was that the tops of them on my left side kept sticking out over the tops of the biting surfaces so it felt like I was constantly chewing on rubber! That was just annoying!

[Chris]

When I had my spacer put in it didn't hurt me at all. The only thing that hurt was when I would eat something and the spacers would move up into my gums because they made the space they were supposed to. Other than that though the spacers aren't that bad, but I also have a high pain tolerance.

[Katie]

About the spacers...

Spacers are small circles of elastic that the Orthodontist puts in between certain teeth to make space if the patient is getting a fixed brace(s) by using tweezers. They are usually put in a week before the fixed brace(s) is put on.
I had 7 spacers put in last Monday, 4 on the bottom and 3 on the top (I got my fixed braces this monday). They didn't really hurt but to start with I could feel them pushing my teeth apart. 2 days after I accidentally pushed one of the top ones in too far cos I forgot it was there, and it hurt quite a bit so I tried to put it back to how it was and ended up pulling it out. The day after my Mum rang the Orthodontist but they said it wouldn't matter. Then the day before I got my fixed braces 2 of my bottom spacers came out however I think this was because they had done their job and the space was big enough.
You really don't need to worry, it is a bit uncomfortable when the Orthodontists puts the spacers in because they put a lot of pressure on yout teeth, but you don't feel pain, just pressure, a bit like when your teeth are being removed (i've had 3 top teeth taken out)

Hope this helps, and good luck

Katie x

[Sunny]

Great your treatment has started Katie.

Most orthodontist's don't use molar bands anymore with fixed braces and therefore spacers aren't used very often. Some ortho's still prefer them, but I think this is a practise that will disappear totally over the next few years.

[catgyrl]

Hey Sunny!

Just a question from someone who has 2 molar bands on my back crowned molars. You say that "most" orthodontists don't use molar bands anymore. Did you mean they don't use them on regular, non-crowned teeth? What would they use on metal crowns, then? Is there another type of glue that bonds better to metal crowns and, therefore, eliminates the need for molar bands?

(Not like I'm going to ask him to remove them and replace the brackets... I went through too much H-E-doublehockeysticks to get them in, and that's where they're staying until I'm debraced. haha)

-Cathy

[Sunny]

Cathy there are different types of bonding available to make sure the brackets adhere correctly to teeth that have different kinds of crowns/fillings. Having all these available does add to the cost of running the business and I suspect this is part of the reason some ortho's don't do this. Also you always have to allow for personal preference and access to material/trainging. Some ortho's prefer to do something a certain way, just like we do in our professional lives.

We don't carry molar bands in our office, instead we have a range of bonding ... and so far we've not had a problem.

[catgyrl]

Thank you, Sunny.