Braces have come a long way since the 1950s and 1960s when they were made of stainless steel. Today, there are a variety of materials available, including transparent or translucent plastic or ceramic, and even lingual braces that go on the back surfaces of teeth. A new development is A-braces, which function like a retainer, and “smart brackets” with sensors that analyze bite forces.
Modern braces are made from a wide variety of materials, and many look quite nice in addition to satisfying the functional reasons for wearing them. This is in contrast to early appliances that used orthodontic brackets – small squares of metal cemented to the surfaces of teeth – which were developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Those braces were made of stainless steel with a metal “arc wire” that ran around the curve of the mouth and slid through each bracket to maintain stability and also to allow for adjustments as the teeth were repositioned in the mouth.
Since the first braces with orthodontic brackets were made of stainless steel, whenever the wearer spoke or smiled, the dental equipment was always visible and ways were sought to improve the aesthetic quality of the braces. The branch of dentistry known as orthodontics, which focuses on correcting malpositioned teeth by mechanical or surgical means, began to actively seek out different types of material from which to make orthodontic appliances. Although the stainless steel appliances were very durable, some people had an allergic reaction to the nickel that was present in the stainless steel and others found the appliances to be quite painful. Orthodontists also wanted to find an alternative method of bracing that was more aesthetically appealing.
Research led to the development in the 1980s of brackets made of transparent or translucent material, such as plastic or ceramic. However, some people still preferred braces and stainless steel braces, so a new type of stainless steel braces, called lingual braces, has since been developed. These new appliances go only on the back surfaces of the teeth, so they are not so obvious.
Another new development in dental appliances is called A-braces. This brace is not actually a brace, but functions more like a retainer, a specially designed dental device that helps keep your teeth in place after braces. The braces are replaced on the A appliances by small knobs in the shape of a capital A, and the person wearing these appliances controls how much pressure is applied during the bite by adjusting the legs of the “A” by turning a small bar which increases or relieves the pressure and the distance between the teeth.
A related concept is the development of orthodontic brackets with sensors, called “smart brackets”. During the early 2000s, research was conducted at the University of Freiburg in Germany on the use of microchips to analyze the forces of bite actions on individual stapes within braces. The goal of this research was to improve the unpleasant experiences of braces, as well as to reduce the time and expense involved during this procedure.
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