Glossary
12 year molar – Another name for your second molar.
6 year molar – Another name for your first molar.
Active Treatment – The time while a patient is wearing braces.
Adhesive – Bonding paste.
Alastics – These are small rings or colored modules used to attach the arch wire to the brackets.
Alginate – A plaster like compound used to take impressions.
Anterior Teeth – Your centrals, laterals, and cuspids. These are the teeth in the front of your mouth.
Appliance – Anything the orthodontists attaches to your teeth to move your teeth or to change the shape of your jaw.
Arch – Collectively, either the teeth or the basal bone of either jaw.
Arch Wire – A metal wire that is attached to your brackets to move your teeth.
Band – Thin contoured bands of metal that fit around the teeth and are cemented into place. In most cases; bands are used in the molar areas.
Brackets – A metal or ceramic part that is glued onto a tooth and serves as ameans of fastening the arch wire in order to reposition the tooth, corrected rotation and correct the bite.
Bruxism – Clenching or grinding of your teeth especially at night.
Calculus – A hard deposit that forms when you do not brush your teeth so the plaque hardens. Calculus is also known as tartar.
Caries – Another name for cavities (tooth decay).
Cavity – A small hole in one of your teeth caused by tooth decay.
Cephalometric X-Rays – An x-ray of the head that shows whether your teeth are aligned properly, and whether they are growing properly.
Chain, Orthodontic Chain – A stretchable elastic chain used to hold archwires into brackets and to close space by moving teeth together.
Cheek Retractors – Small plastic pieces used to draw back your lips and cheeks so the orthodontist can move more easily see your teeth and work in your mouth.
Class I Malocclusion – A malocclusion where your bite is OK (your top teeth line up with your bottom teeth) but your teeth are crooked, crowded or turned.
Cross Bite – A malocclusion where some of your upper teeth are inside your lower teeth when you bite down.
Crowding – An orthodontic problem caused insufficient jaw space to accommodate all the teeth.
Debanding / Debonding – The removal of braces.
Impressions – The first step in making a model of your teeth. You bite into a container filled with alginate, and the alginate hardens to produce a mold of your teeth.
Malocclusion – Poor positioning of your teeth.
Occlusion – The relationship between masticating (chewing) surfaces of the maxillary (upper) and mandibular (lower) teeth when they are in contact.
Open Bite – A malocclusion in which the teeth do not close or come together in the front of your mouth.
Orthodontics – The treatment performed to correct your bite and make your smile look wonderful.
Overbite – Vertical overlapping of the upper teeth over the lower.
Overjet – Horizontal projection of the upper teeth beyond the lower.
Palatal Expander – A device used to make your jaw wider.
Panoramic X-ray – An x-ray taken by a machine that rotates around your head to give the orthodontist a picture of your teeth, jaws and other important information.
Primary Teeth – The first set of teeth which come in. Primary teeth are also called “baby teeth” or deciduous teeth.
Proper Occlusion – A beautiful smile where all of your teeth are straight and your top teeth line up with your bottom teeth.
Records Appointment – One of the initial appointments with your orthodontist. The orthodontist or his/her assistant takes pictures, x-rays and impressions of you so that they can figure out what treatment needs to be done.
Removable Appliance – An appliance that can be removed and replaced by the patient.
Retainer – A gadget that the orthodontist gives you to wear after the removal of your braces.
Separator – A plastic or metal part that the orthodontist uses to create space between your teeth for bands.
Space Maintainer – A gadget used to maintain a space in your mouth. You would use a space maintainer when you lose one of your baby teeth. The space maintainer will keep a space in your mouth until a permanent tooth comes in to fill the space.
Tie Wire – A wire that is tied around the bracket to secure the arch wire. These are stainless steel not rubber, steel ties.
Tightening Your Braces – A process, which occurs every 4 – 10 weeks (depending on the orthodontist) when you have braces. You go into the orthodontist’s office and the orthodontist makes adjustments to the wires in your braces, or changes the wires.