Content area
Full Text
Mazzeo et al. Progress in Orthodontics 2013, 14:23 http://www.progressinorthodontics.com/content/14/1/23
RESEARCH Open Access
A new device (FAQ.FIX) for orthodontic bracket placement in straight wire technique
Francesco Mazzeo1*, Edoardo Marchese2, Valeria Assumma3, Joseph Sepe4 and Letizia Perillo1
Abstract
Background: In straight wire preadjusted appliances, all the information required to position the teeth in three planes is included in the brackets placed at the midpoint of the facial axis of the clinical crown, defined by facial axis point (FA). Central to this technique is the bracket placement.
Preadjusted orthodontic appliances cannot get the right tooth position with a straight wire because of the inaccuracy of bracket placement. Horizontal, axis, vertical, and base are the most common bracketplacement errors.
The aim of this paper was to describe a bracket positioner to fix the brackets accurately (Q) on FA point (FAQ.FIX) in direct or indirect bonding.
Methods: After the development of a prototype, a FAQ.FIX along with a Bracket Placement Clinical Chart was developed and thus described.
Results: FAQ.FIX along with the Bracket Placement Clinical Chart may facilitate the accuracy in bracket placement on FA point avoiding the most common bracket placement errors regardless the operator skill, even in particular or difficult case.
Conclusions: FAQ.FIXmay represent a significant improvement in the bracket placement compared to the bracket eye and the traditional gauges positioning. Further studies will be needed to verify the clinical efficacy.
Background
The straight wire technique is the appliance used most widely in orthodontic therapy today. It was introduced by Andrews [1] in 1972. The basic premise of the preadjusted system is that proper bracket position allows the teeth to be placed with a straight wire into an occlusal contact with an excellent mesiodistal inclination (tip) and excellent faciolingual inclination (torque) [2].
All the information required to position a tooth in three planes is included in the brackets placed at the midpoint of the facial axis of the clinical crown (FACC), defined by facial axis point (FA). Over the last 40 years, several changes have been made to Andrews' appliance [3,4] with improvements in preadjusted
appliances, without bends on the archwire, to achieve the ideal alignment and leveling, but the most important phase is still the bracket placement [1].
Poorly positioned brackets result in poorly placed teeth...