![]() Because we can’t bend these wires they are not generally used after the first few months of treatment. It is used to get the teeth straight after the braces are placed. This is a “shape memory” alloy that we cannot bend. Here are the basic reasons why we use each metal: These are the different metals that we use. After every number, as discussed above, we will either say: NiTi, stainless, beta, or copper. No, we are not enjoying a delicious tropical drink while working. ![]() Mystery #6 – Did you say NiTi or Mai Tai? In general bigger wires are stronger and allow us to move the teeth better. They are measured in thousandths of an inch so a 14 is actually. The numbers that we use represent the sizes of the wires. I sit down and ask the assistant: “what are we in?” and they tell me “upper and lower 16 NiTi” and to that, I respond “Okay great, let’s move to 18 steel upstairs and an 18 NiTi downstairs.” Did that make any sense to you? Probably not much. This is when the lower teeth are forward of the upper teeth (the lower line is in front of the upper line). Think David Letterman, or of somebody having a weak chin.Ĭlass III is the rarest of the three bites. This is when the lower teeth are too far back compared to the upper teeth (the lower line is behind the upper line). This is the most common bite that we fix because you can still have other issues that need to be correctedĬlass II is the second most common bite that we need to fix. A perfect set of teeth fit together in a Class I orientation (see photo below and how the lines line up) where the upper teeth split between two lower teeth and fit like gears on a motor. These are the way that the teeth fit together. You will hear three “classes” talked about in the office: Class I, Class II, and Class III. Mystery #4 – Class? I came here to MISS school! This is much easier to explain with a photo: Overbite, in orthodontic terms, is the vertical overlap between the teeth. Traditionally, having an “overbite” is when a person has a large gap between the upper and lower front teeth however, in orthodontic terms, this is actually “overjet.” One way that you can remember this is that you are measuring how much the upper teeth “jet” out from the lower teeth. Probably the two most commonly confused terms that we use are: overbite and overjet. Incisal/occlusal – towards the biting surface of the tooth.These are the different parts of the teeth. There are a few terms that sound particularly “medical” that we use: buccal (pronounced “Buck-all”), lingual, mesial, distal, gingival, incisal/occlusal. Mystery #2 – Lingual, that’s like your tongue, right? Take a look at the photo below for a representation of what I’m talking about. When you hear us talking about baby teeth we reference letters instead of numbers (A through E). Therefore when you hear us say “the bracket is off on the lower right 6” that means that the lower right first molar (6 th tooth from the front) needs a new bracket. Your front tooth is number 1 and the very back tooth (your wisdom tooth) is number 8. We number these teeth by quadrants (upper right, upper left, lower right, lower left – or UR, UL, LL, LR). A person with a full set of teeth (including wisdom teeth) has 32 teeth. When we talk about your teeth we have a specific way to signal to each other what tooth we are talking about. Don’t judge me for using the word “y’all.” It is impossible to live in the south for four years, marry a southerner, and not incorporate it into your daily vernacular. Because we want the blog to be informative and educational I’d like to take this chance to give y’all a crash course in what we are saying. So at some point in almost every patient’s treatment, we get some comment about the weird language that we use when talking to our clinical assistants.
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