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References

Graber TM, Vanarsdall RL Diagnosis and treatment planning in orthodontics.St Louis, MO, USA: CV Mosby; 1994
Agarwal A, Mathur R Segmental orthodontics for the correction of cross bites. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2011; 4:43-47

Zebra hook: a simple cross elastic hook to engage elastics

From Volume 17, Issue 3, July 2024 | Pages 125-126

Authors

Arza Naga Jyotirmayi Pranavi

BDS, MDS

Dental Department, Healfirst Multispeciality Hospital Pvt Ltd, Valsad, Gujarat, India.

Articles by Arza Naga Jyotirmayi Pranavi

Anand Badavannavar

BDS, MDS

Professor, Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, KLE VK Institute of Dental Sciences, Nehru nagar, Belagavi, India.

Articles by Anand Badavannavar

Article

Crossbite is a condition presenting with one or more teeth abnormally malposed buccally/labially or lingually/palatally with reference to the opposite tooth or teeth. Various techniques have been used to correct crossbite.1 Cross-arch elastics have been used to correct isolated first permanent molar crossbites.2 This Trick of the trade describes a simple hook that can be fabricated chairside and used to engage the cross elastics on the lingual/palatal surface of the molar via the lingual sheath.

Fabrication

  • Take a short segment of 0.9 mm wire and make a tag (Figure 1).
  • Mark and bend the gingival arm mesial/distal(vertically) and then distal/mesial(horizontally) to the lingual sheath (Figure 2).
  • Bend this wire arm into a hook at halfway distance of the lingual sheath, towards the gingiva, 1–2 mm away from the soft tissue (Figures 3 and 4).
    • Figure 1.
    Figure 2.
    Figure 3.
    Figure 4.

    Use

    Tug the tag into the lingual sheath (Figure 5), secure using a ligature wire and engage the cross elastics.

    Figure 5. (a–c) Tug the tag into the lingual sheath, secure using a ligature wire and then engage the cross elastics.

    Clinical application

    A single molar scissor bite or a crossbite can be corrected using this simple hook. A clinical scenario showing the use of the zebra hook is shown in Figure 6.

    Figure 6. (a–d) A clinical scenario showing the use of the zebra hook.

    Diagrammatic representations of the hook are shown for clarity and ease of clinical application. Figure 7 represents upper right molar in crossbite, wherein, elastic has been tugged into the zebra hook inserted into the lingual sheath of the upper molar and hooked into the bracket arm of the lower molar. Figure 8 represents upper molar in slight scissors bite, wherein the elastic has been tugged into the zebra hook inserted into the lingual sheath of the lower molar and hooked into the bracket arm of the upper molar.

    Figure 7. A diagrammatic representation of the upper right molar in crossbite.
    Figure 8. A diagrammatic representation of the upper molar in a slight scissors bite.

    Advantages

  • Can be fabricated chairside;
  • Can be pre-fabricated and kept for use;
  • Does not hinder in tongue movements and speech.

    • Compliance with Ethical Standards

    Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

    Informed Consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the article.