Hello everyone!
I hope you’ve all enjoyed starting the new school year. We loved seeing all of you for ice cream and receiving your postcards this summer. I had a great summer here, watching my teeth move and change has been especially cool for me!
With that in mind, I wanted to update you on how my treatment is going and talk a little bit about the importance of elastics. Here’s a picture of my progress just to give you an idea of what elastics can do:
Pretty cool, huh? I could hardly believe the changes myself. It’s very exciting to watch my bite get better and better. What you’re seeing here is correction of my deep bite or the way my teeth fit together vertically. Because of the way my teeth fit together vertically I needed bite turbos, which I talked about in my first post. In order for me to no longer need my bite turbos, Dr. Judah had to correct my deep bite. As you can see from my photos, my bite turbos were opening my bite so I wouldn’t break my brackets off. Since I’ve given my elastics a 100% effort my deep bite is starting to correct and my deep bite is starting to resolve. Here are a couple of other reasons we use elastics:
- To correct too much or too little overjet (I’ll need to wear elastics to correct my overjet next)
- To correct too much or too little overbite
- To help certain teeth move
- To close an open bite
Here are a couple of definitions for you, courtesy of the American Association of Orthodontists:
Elastics: Rubber bands. During certain stages of treatment, small elastics or rubber bands are worn to provide individual tooth movement or jaw alignment.
Deep bite: Also known as deep overbite, this occurs when the upper front teeth overlap the bottom front teeth an excessive amount.
Overjet: The horizontal distance between the front surface of the upper incisors and the front surface of the lower incisors. (source)
The most important thing you need to know about elastics is how important it is that you wear them exactly as instructed. The elastics move your teeth in ways that your braces and your doctor usually cannot. Dr. Judah likes to say that elastics are like an orthodontic gas pedal, if you wear them 100% of the time you have been instructed to, you are well on your way to getting your braces off!
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