Damon Braces Vs Regular Braces

Damon is more than just a kind of brace. It is essentially a philosophy of orthodontic treatment and a system to accomplish this with the braces playing one part of the system.

A Damon brace is a self ligating bracket which means that the wire moving the tooth is held in place by a gate on the brace making the brace a tunnel which the wire passes through. In traditional braces an elastics tie is used to hold the wire in the brace. The disadvantage of this is the elastic presses the wire against the brace creating a large amount of friction that has to be overcome to move the teeth. The Damon brace holds the wire passively allowing tooth movement at a fraction of the force levels required to move teeth.

As you can tell I use the Damon system which has allowed me to move teeth in ways that I could not before in much shorter treatment times. I believe this method of aligning teeth gives my patients the best possible results and I therefore use Damon braces exclusively.

I've been using Damon braces for over 10 years and use it for every patient of mine, whether minor crowding or surgery cases.  It's not magic pixie dust, but it does use the latest technology of self-ligation.  This allows teeth to move faster with lower forces.  Appointments are typically only every 6-8 weeks.  They are known to result in a broader smile which patients love as well.  Will conventional braces straighten your teeth?  Absolutely!  I just prefer Damon.  I found my treatment times went down, number of appointments to finish treatment went down, time of each appointment went down and quality went up after changing from conventional braces.  

Applying a constant force on a tooth stimulates the bone to change shape which then allows the tooth to relocate.  A child sucking their thumb moves their teeth.  Light, constant force efficiently stimulates boney change and allows tooth movement.  Within the Damon System (or Philosophy) total respect is paid to the tiny blood vessels between the tooth and the boney socket.  Through the use of self-ligation brackets and super elastic arch wires, Damon Doctors strive to protect these capillaries so they can maintain the optimum health state to the changing bone and ligament system that holds our teeth in our heads!  We, the doctors and patients, are constantly amazed at the rate of tooth movement and the overall lack of discomfort.  ALL due to working within the biologic force range for tooth movement.  I personally converted from traditional brackets to Damon brackets in 2005 and have never looked back.  The magic is in the delivery of light forced orthodontics and the hands of a skilled technician/clinician. 

There really is nothing magic about the bracket itself, but it is the entire philosophy that has been so revolutionary in orthodontics.

Here is what I have seen treating traditional cases and Damon cases side by side (excuse the technical mumbo jumbo):


The Damon system allows for there to be a sturdy tube in which the arch wires can glide around and work within. With the initial wires in the Damon System, all of the activity is on the outside of the tube and not the base, which is completely counter to how traditional braces work. In traditional braces the arch wires are tied into the base of the bracket to control teeth. Working along the outside of the tubes with light forces allow crowding to unravel much quicker by uprighting and de-rotating teeth simultaneously. This is more mechanically efficient than traditional braces.
 

Because the initial phases of treatment are targeted at uprighting and de-rotating teeth, the Damon System also produces broader more beautiful smiles that enhance your facial appearance. You can do this with other treatment systems, but a broad beautiful smile is far easier to deliver when the groundwork for it is laid down early in treatment.
 

The presence of a solid door holding the wires allows for rubberbands (elastics) to be started earlier with less adverse movements. This absolutely speeds treatment, especially when the space gained from uprighting teeth (as I pointed out before) is used for moving teeth back to front (or vice versa) at the same time with elastics.
 

Appointments are much shorter because there is no complicated means of changing archwires, and the little doors on Damon brackets are designed far superiorly in my opinion to other self-ligating brackets so there are less problems with the brackets themselves at appointments (and they should be since the brackets aren't cheap).
 

I don't need to drag patients out of school or parents out of work as often because of how long the wires can continue to work (Ormco has a patent on their special blend of wires). I respect my patients' time so I love being able to do this for them.
 

Customized torques in the brackets save time and appointments at the end of treatment when finishing up a beautiful smile to my standards. Damon Braces aren't the only ones that do this, but taken with everything else it is a much bigger deal.


It is important to understand that there is a substantial learning curve to applying the Damon Braces System, so it is wise to seek out an experienced Damon orthodontist to experience all the benefits of this philosophy. The good news is that Damon Braces have a great Doctor locator on their website that will make your search that much easier.

The Damon system is the latest in orthodontic technology.  It is the absolute best orthodontic treatment that is available and all it has to do with how the wire is held to the bracket slot.  It is only passive, self-ligating bracket system available on the market, meaning that it is patented system that allows minimal friction in between the wire and the bracket slot. 
What does this translate in to?  This translates in to us being able to apply several hundred times less pressure or force to the tooth to get it to move.  This means that the patients are more comfortable and it is less invasive of a procedure when straightening the teeth.  Other bracket systems or older technologies have elastic o-ties or clips that bind the wire against the bracket slot.  This means that there is excess friction in the system and it does not allow teeth to move as effectively or sufficiently, and you have to apply more pressure to the tooth to get it moved.  This means that the patient experiences pain at times and it is very uncomfortable in treatment.  Also these clips or elastic o-ties attract calculus and plaque that makes the teeth more susceptible to white spots or decalcification during orthodontic treatment.
The other functions that the Damon system have that no other orthodontic technology have out there are that it provides you with the widest and fullest smile that one can possibly have.  By having a wider and fuller smile, this is considered to be more aesthetic and more attractive to the average person.  I have dentist tell us all the time that when we have their patients come back for cleanings after getting their braces off, that they know that they have been treated at our office without even having look at their chart.  This is because the fullness or aesthetically wide smile that our mutual patients have. 
The other benefits of having the Damon system are we have been able to reduce the average treatment time up to four to six months quicker than the older technology.  We are also able to go longer in between orthodontic appointments every 8 to 10 weeks.  This means less time away from work or school for the parents or patient.  Also the Damon system now has the Damon Clear bracket which is the most aesthetic bracket that is on the market meaning that it is a clear brace that is virtually invisible to one’s eye.  The Damon system bracket is the smallest bracket system in both height and width.  This also means that the bracket system is less noticeable to the patient’s eye. 
So, in summary, if you are looking for the bracket system that would give you the best orthodontic smile possible in the fastest time possible…the Damon system is your choice.  To experience the absolute latest in orthodontic technology, please call our office today to schedule your complementary orthodontic examination and EXPERIENCE what everyone else is talking about.
 

I say Damon-type braces because Damon braces are one of several brands of braces that are so called "self-ligating", meaning the wire runs through a channel inside the bracket and is held by a "gate" that can be opened and closed as needed to change wires.  The advantage is low friction between wire and brace which allows teeth to move faster.  With traditional braces, a rubber band holds the wire tightly in place which creates excess friction that can slow down treatment time.

There is no question that Damon brackets are great for unraveling moderately crowded cases. This is because orthodontists using the Damon System use a very small wire in a large slot (or tube) on the bracket so there is very little friction. Damon, however, does not have the corner on the market when it comes to self-ligation (where there is a little "door" that closes over the wire instead of a rubber o-ring). Currently more than a dozen companies that make similar brackets. It should be noted that several studies show self-ligating brackets like Damon are not any better at aligning the teeth than regular brackets even though logically it seems they should be. I use Damon brackets for several other reasons however. I think they look good, are comfortable for the patients, allow for quicker wire changes and adjustments at the chair, and they allow patients to go longer periods of time between appointments (since their are no o-rings to wear out during extended periods of time).

Damon braces are self ligating brackets. There are a lot of great self ligating brackets out there that are not Damon. There are some orthodontists that only use Damon brackets, just like there are some orthodontists who only use GAC or Unitek brackets. They will each tell you that their type of bracket is the best for a variety of reasons. The doctor using the bracket is more important than the actual bracket!

The Damon system is more than just a brand of Braces. It is a philosophy of orthodontic treatment.

Damon braces are self- ligating brackets m(no doughnuts to be changed) which means that the wire moving the tooth is held in place by a close slot on the brace.   In other brands typically elastics tie are used to hold the wire. The Damon brace holds the wire passively allowing free tooth movement instead of the restrictive movement with elastics (doughnuts).

The Damon system has less friction and allows quicker tooth movement at lower force movements. 

There is a lot of technological advances in orthodontics.  Damon Brackets are just one tool.

Essentially, they are just regular brackets that don't need elastics to get the wires to stay. The forces exerted are essentially identical, so "better" is hard to quantify.
Convenience and efficiency are huge though, and Damon brackets certainly are. Damon brackets are great, so I would not hesitate to use them.