Getting Your Orthodontic Braces On

With the lips and tongue held back by a clear plastic retractor, an etching agent is applied for 60 seconds to each tooth. This prepares the enamel to accept the bonding agents which hold the bracket to the tooth. Here we are just showing you on an upper tooth how we do it so you can see better. After 60 seconds, the etch is rinsed off and a sealant chemical is applied to each tooth for about 5 seconds to treat the enamel so the light cured bonding material "sticks" to the tooth.
The doctor carefully places each bracket in exactly the right place on the tooth with a small tweezer.
The bracket is then checked for angulation and any adjustments are made before activating the bonding material which is between the back of the bracket and the tooth. The bonding agent will not set until exposed to a strong ultra violent light. This gives us time to adjust the bracket to just the right spot on the tooth.
The plasma light is shown on the bracket for about 3 seconds to activate and set the bonding material.
After all the brackets are placed, a soft, body temperature activated wire is placed and held in the bracket with a soft plastic ligature on each bracket. The ligatures come in various colors and can be changed at each appointment. Here we used a gray colored ligature because Stacy didn't want her braces to show too much for the first day out. Maybe she'll do pink next visit.
Stacy checks out how we are doing and approves the new look. Thirty minutes later and we have braces on the lower front teeth and a new "braceface".

Brittany is just loving those lip stretchers, but they are pretty comfortable and they keep those lovely lips off the teeth while the etching chemicals are applied to each tooth before the brackets with the bonding material are placed.
The back side of each bracket is coated with bonding material which is squirted on from a gun which contains the bonding "glue".
The doctor places each bracket on the tooth.
Next the assistant cures the bonding material with a bright plasma light which begins the curing process in the bonding material. The bonding material doesn't set up until the light activates it. That way, we have plenty of time to adjust the position of each bracket precisely.
Once all the brackets are on and the bonding material set completely, which only takes about five minutes, we are not ready to place the first wire in the bracket.
The first wire we use is the thermally activated soft wire which produces very low forces and moves the teeth gently. Thermal wire is soft a room temperature and stiffens with body temperature. If the teeth are really crowded, then we chill the wire before placing it to make it really soft before we put the wire in the bracket.
A body heat-activated thermal wire is woven around and through each bracket.
When one or two teeth are just too far out of line, we will skip those teeth and come back and engage them in the bracket later.
The wire is held in place with the colored ligatures which are placed on each tooth per the patient's request for a given color or pattern. In this case, Brittany wanted two colors alternated. We can place a silver ligature to match the braces so these is no color too. Whatever way you want it. You can change your colors at each appointment if you wish.
Did we say colors? We've got colors. Dozens of colors...!
You can see here how the colored ligature slips around the bracket.
Those teeth we skipped before, are now tied to the wire with "power chain" which is an elastic plastic chain. The chain allows us to reach up to teeth which are really too far out of line to bend the wire. As the teeth come down, then we move the wire into the bracket.
Brittany is all done and one happy camper. Total time to put her top braces on...about twenty five minutes.
Here's Brittany one year later and almost finished...

What happens when you get orthodontic braces... step by step

Getting Braces: Part One