Orthodontic Dictionary

Parts of Braces

Appliance:RPE (Rapid Palatal Expander) and   LLA (Lower Lingual Arch) are the most common appliances used in our office.  They are attached to the back molars by bands and have a specific function or perform certain tasks.

Archwire:Placed inside the brackets, going from molar to molar.

Powerchain: Individual rubber bands that are connected as one piece, placed around brackets from molar to molar to help close spaces between teeth

Bands: Silver rings that go around the molar.

Bond: The seal created by orthodontic cement that holds your appliances in place.

Brackets: The metal piece that is placed on the tooth directly.

Coil Spring: A spring that fits between your brackets and over your archwire to open space between your teeth.

Elastic (Rubber Band): A small rubber band that is attached to the upper and lower teeth to help correct the bite. These are removable and changed out frequently by the patient.

Elastic Tie: The tiny rubber band that fits around your bracket to hold the archwire in place. They come in a variety of colors.

Headgear: Headgear uses an external wire apparatus known as a facebow to gently guide the growth of your face and jaw by moving your teeth into proper position. The force is applied to the facebow by a spring-loaded neck strap or head strap. The straps have a safety release that disconnects if the facebow is pulled or snagged.

Headgear Tube: A round, hollow attachment on your back bands. The inner bow of your headgear fits into it.

Hook: A welded or removable arm to which elastics are attached.

Ligature: A thin wire that holds your archwire into your bracket.

Lip Bumper: A lip bumper is an archwire attached to a molded piece of plastic. The lip bumper holds back the molars on your lower jaw to provide more space for your other teeth.

Mouthguard: A device that protects your mouth from injury when you participate in sports or rigorous activities.

Palatal Expander: A device that makes your upper jaw wider.

Retainers: Used to keep teeth aligned after braces are removed.

Bonded Retainer: Used on the lower only, captures teeth and holds in position the day braces are removed, glued to the backside of lower front six teeth. Used on most patients.

Removable Retainers: Usually used on upper teeth, given to patient day we take braces off unless we need a specialized retainer that needs to be set to the lab which takes one week to process.

Spacers: A small rubber ring that creates space between your teeth before the bands are attached.

Tie Wire: A fine wire that is twisted around your bracket to hold the archwire in place.

Wax: Wax is used to stop your braces from irritating your lips.