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Fixed Appliances

We use a variety of different brackets depending on your individual needs and requirements.

Fixed appliance - Clear/white brackets

These brackets are popular with adults as they are white or clear in color and so are less visible than metal brackets. The brackets are bonded to your teeth on the front surface with a wire running between them. Ligatures (small elastic bands) fit around the brackets and hold the wire in position.

The brackets are usually made from ceramic which is a composite material. They are very strong and generally do not stain.

The Damon 3 Brace

Conventional fixed appliances use elastic ligatures (similar to small rubber bands) to hold the arch wire into the slot of a bracket, exerting pressure between the wire and the bracket slot. This pressure and the rubbery composition of the elastic ligatures increase the friction between the arch wire and the bracket, making treatment slower and less comfortable. Damon brackets use a sliding door mechanism to contain the wire within the slot. The wire is not held against the bracket, which allows your teeth to move more freely, quickly and comfortably. The Damon 3 appliance system enables faster treatment times with fewer adjustments and appointments.

Damon brackets are half porcelain and half metal, making them less visible than standard metal brace brackets. They are, however, more visible than aesthetic brackets, and due to their complex nature they are slightly bulkier than other brackets.

Damon 3 does not use elastic ligatures, so less food is trapped around the brace and less plaque accumulates around the brackets throughout the day. Good dental hygiene is easier to maintain.

Close up of real Damon 3 bracket

Summary of advantages in comparison to traditional fixed applainces:

• Faster treatments
• Fewer appointments
• Greater patient comfort
• Less need for extractions
• More discreet
• Easier to maintain oral hygiene

Dr. Mew uses Damon 3 in preference to other fixed appliance systems unless there is a specific reason to choose another system.

Damon 3 brackets, notice a bone screw has been placed so that the upper right molar, tooth number 6 (UR6), can be moved forward as the tooth infront (UR5) was lost due to decay. Also there is an elatic legature conecting UR3 bracket to the wire. This tooth was a crown, which could not have a bracket stuck on so a bracket was placed there to give a "normal" appearence.