Glossary of Orthodontic Terms

ACRYLIC is a special plastic commonly used for construction of dental appliances including active orthodontic treatment and retention appliances.

ALGINATE is an impression material used to make dental casts or models.

ALIGNERS are thin transparent barely detectable appliances that move your teeth to better positions. More ...

APPLIANCES are what we call your braces and removable orthodontic devices.

ARCHWIRE is the main upper or lower wire engaged in orthodontic brackets fixed to the crowns of two or more teeth and used to guide tooth movement. More ...

BAND (ORTHODONTIC) is the thin metal ring, usually stainless steel, which serves to secure orthodontic attachments to a tooth. The band, with orthodontic attachments welded or soldered to it, is closely adapted to fit the contours of the tooth and then cemented into place. These are handles so we can move or hold your teeth. More ...       [Top]

BITE is another name for the way your teeth fit together when you put them in normal chewing position.

BRACKET is an orthodontic attachment that is secured to a tooth (either by bonding or banding) for the purpose of engaging an arch wire. Brackets can be fabricated from metal or ceramic. More ...

CERAMIC BRACKETS are clear or tooth-shade brackets that are less obvious and esthetically more attractive than conventional metal attachments. More ...

CROSSBITE Is when a lower tooth is on the outside of an upper tooth or an upper tooth is in so far that it misses the lower tooth. Teeth should fit in an orderly way--your upper teeth fitting slightly on the outside of your lower teeth.

CROWDING is dental misalignment caused by inadequate space for the teeth.       [Top]

DEBANDING is the removal of cemented orthodontic bands.

ELASTICS (RUBBER BANDS) are used to move teeth in prescribed directions. These are an activating force we use to move teeth to better positions.

GINGIVA is the gum tissue that surrounds the teeth consisting of a fibrous tissue that is continuous with the periodontal ligament and mucosal covering.

HEADFILM is an image of the head from the side and sometimes from the front for us to study where to safely move your teeth and to analyze jaw growth and tooth movement.      [Top]

HEADGEAR is a generic term for extraoral traction (attached around the top and/or back side of the head) for growth modification, tooth movement and resistance.

HERBST APPLIANCE is a fixed or removable appliance designed commonly for overbite problems and encouraging the lower jaw to grow forward (catch up to the upper jaw.)

IMAGING is the process of acquiring representations of structures in either two or three dimensions.

IMPRESSIONS are prints of your teeth made with a soft gelatin-like (sometimes alginate) material, which is placed in a small tray that fits up over your teeth. In a few moments the material becomes rubbery and the tray is removed. The result is a reversed 3-D image of your teeth (similar to your footprint in sand on the beach) from which a model of your teeth is made.      [Top]

LINGUAL Pertains to the tongue. The term is used to describe surfaces and directions toward the tongue.

LINGUAL APPLIANCES are orthodontic appliances fixed to the tongue-side surface of the teeth.

MALOCCLUSION is crooked teeth. Mal=bad; occlusion=relation of teeth. A malocclusion is teeth that are chewing in a poor relationship with each other. This is the basic reason to have orthodontics.

MANDIBLE is the lower jaw

MAXILLARY pertains to the upper jaw. It may be used to describe teeth, dental restorations, orthodontic appliances or facial structures.

MODELS or casts are white, super hard Plaster of Paris representations of your teeth that we make in impressions of your teeth.      [Top]

NECKSTRAP is the name that is given to the part of the headgear that fits on the back of your neck.

ORTHODONTIST is a dental specialist who has completed an advanced post-doctoral course, accredited by the American Dental Association, of usually three years of academic and hands-on learning in the special area of orthodontics and dento-facial orthopedics. Our orthodontists ...    

ORTHOGNATHIC SURGERY is surgery to alter relationships of teeth and/or supporting bones, usually accomplished in conjunction with orthodontic therapy.

OVERBITE is the vertical overlapping of upper teeth over lower teeth, usually measured perpendicular to the occlusal plane. Some overbite is normal. Too much overbite can cause severe problems (like damaging the gums and supporting bone behind the upper front teeth) and facial changes that are not attractive.    [Top]

RADIOGRAPH is a permanent image, typically on film, produced by ionizing radiation. Sometimes the radiograph is called an x-ray after the most common source of image-producing radiation. With new equipment and high-speed film or detectors, we now obtain better images that are safer than ever.

RETAINER is any orthodontic appliance, fixed or removable, used to maintain the position of the teeth following corrective treatment. In our offices, these appliances are first used to continue to improve the positions of the teeth (sometimes closing small spaces or minor precise movements of the teeth) and then hold the teeth.

RETENTION is the passive treatment period following active orthodontic correction during which retaining appliances are used.       [Top]

SEPARATION makes room for placing braces and involves placing small elastics or wires between your teeth to slightly move them apart. This may feel like you have a small piece of meat caught between your teeth. This sensation passes quickly as your teeth adjust.

STRAIGHT WIRE APPLIANCE is a variation of the edgewise appliance in which brackets are angulated to minimize multiple archwire bends. Brackets and molar tubes have specific orientation in three planes of space. More ...

TIEWIRE is a fine wire that fastens your archwire to your brackets. It is twisted. The twisted end is tucked in under the archwire. In eating or cleaning your teeth, sometimes this could get bent out; if this occurs, push it back under the archwire, possibly by using a clean eraser end of a pencil.   

TUBE is usually placed on the back tooth or molar. It can be a round or rectangular tube and is used to help secure the archwire in the back of the mouth.

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