Dental Tribune India Issue

for a wide range of possible application combinations. For the purpose of mesialisation, for example, one arm can be bent to form a hook. Another can be attached to the main arch by means of a cross tube. Another variant devised by Dr S. Baumgärtel is the fixation of the anterior teeth to a para- median miniscrew (Fig. 7c). Finished elements This group covers a whole range of auxiliary products for use in many different applications (Table 3). All of these require little or no time for preparation and can be used directly without adaptive adjustments. However, these products are also accord- ingly priced relative to type and grade of finish. Crimpable hooks For the purposes of En Masse Retraction, it is often an advan- tage when the force provided by spring or elastic chain is applied at the same level as the centre of resistance. This can be readily impleme- nted using ready-made hooks, which are crimped to the arch of the appliance (Fig. 8). Compression springs Compression springs are also ready-made elements and are sold by the metre. The springs can be used for distalisation and mesialisation. One problem is ensuring continuous activa- tion as the spring effect is lost. Stop element can be incorpo- rated to avoid needing to remove the whole appliance whenever this happens (Table 3). These are available as crimpable ele- ments and as screw stops. The latter have the advantage that they can be quickly adapted to a wide range of situation. When such stops are used, the effort required for the repeated activation of springs is consi- derably reduced. Coil spring elements Coil springs are not new in the field of orthodontic treatment. They are generally too small to be attached to miniscrews (Fig. 7b). A firm attachment to the screw head can only be achieved using ligatures or ready-made hooks that allow attachment of the spring to the head. For this reason, several suppliers now offer coil springs (Table 3) with at least one eye- let that is compatible with the head of their miniscrew (Fig. 8). These springs are generally made of NiTi and can be used in many different applications. New on the market are the Dentaltribune|July-September, 2010 trends &applications 25 Figs. 5a & b: Situation after 13 months of uprighting and space closure, clinical situation (a) and X-ray (b). Figs. 7a–c: Using the L-anchor (FORESTADENT), it is possible to attach a mini- screw to a bracket or band quickly (a). With its three arms (b), the tomas T wire (DENTAURUM) can be used to create a wide range of attachments between a screw, an MB appliance or the teeth (c). (Photo 7c: Dr S. Baumgärtel, USA) Semi-finished elements which need to be individually adjusted Table 2 (Graphics:DENTAURUM,FORESTADENT;Layout:DTI) Element Device Application Characteristics Product name Available for Example applications Power arm “En Masse” Retraction Crimpable tubes with a welded-on wire for indivi- dual hook formation. They can be used in certain situations to attach the main arch or a segment to the pin. tomas® -power arm square tomas® -power arm round Question Hook tomas® -pin tomas® -pin A-1 Wire elements Direct anchorage Prebent/ready-to-use wire elements for attaching pin head and the orthodontic appliance tomas® -T wire L-anchor U-anchor Pin-Hook Abutment with wire 0.8 or 1,1 mm tomas® -pin OrthoEasy® OrthoEasy® M.A.S. BENEFIT Uprighting springs For the upright ingofmolarsand, depending on setting, simulta- neousintrusion or extrusion NiTi spring, adjustably atta- ched to a steel wire tomas® -uprighting spring Titanol® uprigh- ting spring tomas® -pin OrthoEasy® Figs. 4a & b: Uprighting and space closure of a tipped molar by using an uprighting spring. Clinical situation (a) and X-ray (b). Fig. 6: A round profile wire attached to a crimpable tube can be used to prepare individual hooks (for example for use in En Masse Retraction).