ortho the international C.E. magazine of orthodontics

I 07ortho3_2012 C.E. article_ Combination Technique I unitingthelight-wireverticalinsertpin(Fig.1a)with thewidelyspacedtwinedgewisebracket(Fig.2b)into a single appliance unit (Fig. 1c). The joining together of these two attachments enabled the development of a system for controlled light-wire therapy in the firststageoftheCombinationTechnique.(Allfigures are from Fogel and Magill’s “The Combination Tech- nique in Orthodontic Practice.”) During Stage I (light-wire and tipping), a single light archwire with multiple loops and hooks was snapped into the vertical insert pins to produce simple tipping of the incisors, placing them in har- mony with and upright over the apical base (Fig. 2a, 2b). This included correction of overjet, overbite and jaw relationships by means of controlled anchorage through the use of differential inter- and intra-arch elastic forces. StageII The second stage was the called the leveling phase, employing a multi-stranded light wire, which was later replaced by 0.014, 0.016 and 0.018 round flexible wires, ligated into the edgewise brackets, requiring approximately three to four months to achieve the desired results. This second phase included leveling and aligning maxillary and man- dibular arches, closing extraction spaces, uprighting cuspids and bicuspids and correcting rotations of all teeth. During Stage II (bracket alignment and leveling), a multi-stranded light-wire (Fig. 3a, 3b) was used to create controlled general alignment of all teeth, including leveling, correction of rotations, prelimi- narycorrectionofaxialpositions,continuedoverbite correction and establishment of general arch form. StageIIpreparedthebracketsfortheedgewisephase. StageIII Thethirdstagewasthecalledtheedgewisephase, employing 0.016 x 0.016 square wires, followed by 0.017 x 0.025 rectangular wires, also ligated into the edgewisebracketsandtakingapproximatelysixto12 Fig. 1b Fig. 1c Fig. 1a Fig. 3a Fig. 3c Fig. 2cFig. 2bFig. 2a Fig. 3b