Braces With A Â??Memory’ Wire
SPOKANE — Braces are still the standard to achieve straight teeth, but a new method that uses metal with a â??memory’ is quickly catching on.
The Damon Method works differently than braces, with less pain and fewer trips to the orthodontist and it was developed in Spokane.
Dr. Paul Damon, of Damon & Magnuson Orthodontics, says it was developed by his father.
“With conventional braces there was a rubber band tie around each bracket holding the wire into position,” said Damon, “and what we have now, there’s a little gate in front that opens and closes so that we can put the wire in and take it out, and to hold the wire into position we just close over the top.”
To the untrained eye, the braces with the Damon Bracket look very traditional, but the advantage of the Damon Method is that the patient doesn’t have to go in every few weeks for a tightening.
“It takes advantage of these newer kind of space age wires that have a memory built into them so that no matter how distorted they move the teeth back in position,” said Damon.
Two major complaints from patients with braces involve time spent in the chair and overall discomfort and Damon says the new method cuts down on both.
Since its inception, the Damon Bracket has been modified several times and it continues to evolve.
