From Volume 15, Issue 2, April 2022 | Pages 66-72
Intra-oral elastics are commonly used during orthodontic treatment and may be applied to several different clinical situations. They are useful for moving individual teeth, blocks of teeth and aiding growth modification. This article reviews the theory behind the use of intra-oral elastics and illustrates the theory with clinical examples.
There are many different types of elastomerics available in orthodontics with varied uses (Table 1). This article focuses on elastic bands, which are highly versatile and have many practical applications in contemporary orthodontic practice.
Elastics exert their effect by applying force to either a specific tooth or groups of teeth to create movement. The force required depends on the type of tooth movement desired, and the number of teeth in the anchorage unit. Across the industry there is a standardized method of description of the diameter and weight of each elastic so that comparisons of relative force may be made, (Figure 1).
The force level presented on the packaging by manufacturers is standardized, and represents the force applied by the elastic when it is stretched to three times its resting diameter. In theory, the correct size of elastic to use can be determined by measuring the distance between the points of application of the elastics and dividing by three. However, this is difficult to measure and unlikely to be precise clinically owing to the variable distances between attachments during treatment. A more precise method of measuring elastic force is with a stress–strain gauge between points of application.
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