Anyone else wear elastics only at night/

[Bracer215]

Ok I am going to have this discussion with my ortho next time I go in but thought I would put this out to all you folks on this site. I was told to wear my elastics at night only (Right now I do the class II elastics -Upper canine to second to last lower molar on both sides)
Everything I read says wearing your elastics at night only will do nothing to move your teeth. So what is the rationale for wearing the elastics at night only?
Anyone else wear elastics only at night??

[NarcoAngel]

I wear mine religiously 24/7 unless I'm eating or brushing... I want my teeth to move ASAP. During the day, I don't notice them, except my jaw does get somewhat sore. But at night is when my teeth get really sore. I don't know why that is.

[lightskinnnn38]

Maybe your ortho wants to keep your teeth position where they are and wearing your rubber bands at night will do that? Just a guess. I wear mine 24/7.

[IHIC]

I had the exact same elastic configuration for a little while but I was specifically told to wear them 24/7 (apart from eating and brushing). Once they had completely the job (reducing the overjet created by braces) my ortho told me to stop wearing them but that if I felt my overjet opening up again to start wearing lighter ones at night only.

I guess it really depends on what ones Ortho is trying to achieve with the elastics. I also highly recommend people to stick to what your Ortho wants and do not switch things up because you think it would be better or similar.

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

Night wear is likely to achieve some additional correction, but primarily to maintain the current place. There may be reasons you are unable to wear them full-time now, because of the type of wire, or movement desired. Best way to find out is to ask your doctor .

[Bracer215]

Thank you all for your responses.That will be the first question I ask my ortho when I go in next week.

[NarcoAngel]

here's a good video of why you should probably wear them as much as possible.

Correcting Midline Discrepencies Using Rubber Bands - YouTube

[BraceFace23]

i had to wear mine only at night and i have a cross bite, slight one where my top teeth do not come infront of my lowers and as far as im aware wearing them at night did absolutely nothing :/

[lightskinnnn38]

Are you taking progress pictures? When you look at your teeth everyday you won't see obvious change, but if you compare pictures week to week or month to month, you will notice some movement!

[Bracer215]

I will discuss this with my ortho and let you know what his rationale is. I will continue to follow his directions of wearing them only at night. I really trust him and I am sure there is a method to his madness.

[acat29020]

I only wore mine at night... but I agree with the others... you should follow what your doctor says!

[josie]

I had to wear mine at night only. I'm now done wearing them, so they must have done what they were supposed to, yet I never wore them during the day.

Trust your ortho, but ask him/her if you're curious.

[Stephen29]

I have elastics about a week. I wear them every night from after dinner, 8pm until breakfast 8am, then between 9am and 12pm.

I find it difficult to wear them in the afternoon, because I have lunch and then I usually need to snack at my desk during the afternoon, because I get quite weak if I don't eat regularly. I'm going to try wear them for a couple of hours in the afternoon but it's very inconvenient, especially with my job. I'm a lawyer and I have to do a lot of talking..... in court!

[BraceFace23]

Hey i went to ortho today and ive been put back on elastics to wear only in evenings and at nights, gotta wear these from upper back molar bands to lower bottom canines, see my blog for an example:BraceFace So yeah gotta wear them like this for 8 weeks.

[Bracer215]

So I went to the ortho 2 days ago and asked him about only wearing the elastics at night. He said 90% of his cases he has wearing elastics 24/7 but in my case he only wants me to wear them at night (about 10 hours). Apparently he wants some movement but not a lot and the elastics are more to hold the position in place. So that is fine with me. He also gave me a possible debanding date for June - YEAH. That would be a total of 17 months.