Contents: Answers to patient's questions about Bravo(tm) orthodontic brackets

This guide is mainly pointed to patients, their parents and others who want a general overview of brackets. Click here for a more technical discussion of Bravo brackets

Answers To Patient's Questions About Bravo Brackets

• What is an orthodontic bracket?

A bracket looks like the picture on the right. Your orthodontist attaches the bracket to your teeth, so he can hold onto the tooth and move the tooth around.

A good way to think about a bracket is that the bracket is a handle that the orthodontist attaches to your teeth. You know that people put handles on cabinets, drawers, doors to make the cabinets, drawers, doors easier to hold on to and open and close. In the same way the orthodontist attaches a bracket to your teeth to make the tooth easier to hold on to and move around.

• How many brackets do I get?

Generally, your orthodontist will attach 20 brackets and either four or eight buccal tubes

• What does the bracket do?

In addition to acting like a handle, the bracket is designed to work with the archwire to bring your teeth into proper alignment.



• How does that happen?

The orthodontist inserts the archwire in the slot on the bracket. The archwire acts like a spring, to pull your teeth into proper alignment. A way to think about the process is to consider you having a desk with several drawers, and imagine that you wanted to align the drawers so that they were all open by 3 inches. Some of the drawers would be too far closed. You would pull on them. Others would be open. You would push on them. By pushing and pulling on the drawers you could pull all of the drawers into proper alignment. In the same way the archwire pushes on some teeth and pulls on others to align your teeth.

In actual practice the orthodontist attaches the archwire to all of the brackets with a piece of wire or plastic. To understand how that works, consider using a piece of wood the size of a yardstick or a meter stick to align all of the drawers in your desk. One way to align all of the drawers in your chest would be to use wire to attach the piece of wood to the handles of all of the drawers, and tightened the wire until all of the handles were aligned. You could then pull on the wire until all of the drawers are in perfect alignment.

In the same way the orthodontist attaches the archwires to the brackets on your teeth. The wires pull on the teeth so that they are all in perfect alignment with one another.

The other thing the bracket archwire combination does is to twist the teeth so they are all straight. One way to understand how that works, is to think about trying to make a necklace out of a series of beads. When you have a series of beads in a box, the beads are aligned in all different directions. You want the beeds to form an arch, so you string a wire through the beads, so that the beads line up to form a necklace. In the same way the orthodontist strings the archwire through the slots on the bracket. The wire causes the brackets to line up in just the same way that the beads line up. The archwire is shaped like a perfect arch and the brackets are designed to fit over the archwire and pull your teeth into perfect alignment. In that way your smile will be perfect at the end of treatment.

• Do all brackets work the same way?

No. Older style brackets were designed to act like handles, but the handles were not aligned perfectly so the orthodontist had to bend the archwire to bring your teeth into alignment. Bravo brackets, and similar brackets sold by other manufacturers will bring your teeth into alignment automatically, without a lot of wire bending or discomfort.

• What is special about Bravo brackets?

Bravo's are special in that we designed them to be as comfortable as possible for patients. There are no sharp edges to hurt you. The brackets are as small as possible so they usually do not irritate your lips, except in the first week after they are put on. We designed the Bravo's so that they are easy to clean and painless as possible. We cannot make the process completely painless; all brackets hurt the first week they are put on. However, we have done our best to make the brackets as comfortable as possible for you the patient.

• Are there any issues with allergies?

Bravo brackets are made with a surgical grade stainless steel which is supposedly hypoallergic. We have never been told about an allergic reaction to a Bravo bracket. Still, surgical grade stainless steel contains nickel and chromium. Some patients do get allergic reactions to nickel or chromium in dental devices so an allergic reaction is theoretically possible.

Young people with pierced ears have about a 30 times larger chance of being allergic to nickel or chromium, than a person without pierced ears or a patient who had their ears pierced more than ten years ago. Consequently, we recommend that a patient with pierced ears be tested for metals allergies before they start orthodontic treatment.

• What are the symptoms of allergic reactions?

Generally allergic reactions produce inflamed gums, and soreness in your mouth. If your braces hurt all the time, and you brush your teeth regularly, talk to your orthodontist. You may be allergic to your braces!

• I want Bravo brackets. How can I be sure to get them?

Talk to your orthodontist and find out if Bravo's are right for you.

Bravo brackets's are not right for every patient. Bravo's are designed to work on average sized teeth. If there is something special about your teeth or your bite, the orthodontist may need to use a special bracket to pull your teeth into perfect alignment.

Another factor is that your orthodontist may be more familiar with another bracket. A bracket is like a tool; we can design a wonderful tool but if your orthodontist does not know how to use it, he is not going to do a good job with it. Bravo's are small, so your orthodontist needs to have steady hands to put them on. If your orthodontist does not know how to use Bravo's it may be better for him use something that he knows.

In the end only your orthodontist will know if Bravo's are right for you, so talk to him or her about it. He or she will let you have Bravos if are right for you.

• The bracket looks pointy! Will it hurt me?

No! At least not a Bravo bracket. We round all of the edges on the bracket so there is nothing sharp to hurt you. You can still be hurt if someone punches you in the face, or if you do not wear a mouthguard while participating in contact sports. However, under normal your Bravo brackets should not hurt.

• What keeps the bracket on?

The bracket is attached with a special extra safe glue. The glue holds the bracket in place so it will not come off in normal use.

• Is the bracket permenantly attached?

No! The glue is designed so that the orthodontist can take off the bracket at the end of your orthodontic treatment.

• Can the bracket come off accidentally?

Unfortunately yes. If you eat a piece of hard candy or for example an apple, you can occasionally knock a bracket off. That is nothing to worry about, but you do need to call the orthodontist and tell him or her what happened.

• Cannot the brackets be attached so strongly that they never come off?

Yes and no. We can make glue that holds so strongly that the brackets will NEVER come off. But then, the orthodontist will not be able to remove the brackets at the end of your treatment. Usually orthodontist choose a weaker glue. The glue does not hold as strongly, but then the brackets are easy to take off at the end of your treatment.

• What happens if I swallow a bracket after it falls off?

Usually nothing. The brackets are made of a surgical grade stainles steel which is safe. The bracket will just pass through your digestive system and end up in your feces.

The only danger is if a bracket accidentally gets in your lungs. Your lungs are very delicate and easily damaged. It is hard to get a bracket into your lungs - you have to swallow the bracket, and then the liquid needs to go down the wrong tube. However, if you get a bracket in your lungs, you should go to a doctor or the emergency room and have the bracket removed.

• How can I get further information?

Ask your orthodontist. The orthodontist is an expert on orthodontic brackets.

• I would like to buy some brackets to play with; can I?

It is amazing to me how many times we get requests from people asking to buy brackets. Some people want to put false braces on their teeth because they like how they look. Others want to make models etc.

Unfortunately, due to FDA rules, we are not allowed to sell brackets to anyone other than a dental professional.

Return To The Orthodontic Information Page^(tm)

Go To The FAQ For Teenage Orthodontic Patients^(tm)

Go To The FAQ For Parents Of Orthodontic Patients^(tm)

Go To The Dictionary Of Orthodontic Terms^(tm)