Sounds like hyperbole, right? What if I told you that I direct bond ALL 6’s and we haven’t fit a band to a tooth in my office since 2014? We don’t even keep bands on stock in the office! That’s right! And we almost never see a bracket debond or break off a first molar. The only time I ever use bands is on a Herbst Appliance or RPE and I just have the lab fit them to the 3D print of the digital scan.
There are SO MANY advantages of not using bands:
- No seps!
- No emergency calls and/or re-sep appointments when seps fall out prior to the banding/bonding appointment!
- No seps getting wedged down below the contact point making it almost impossible to band the tooth due to the gingival inflammation and bleeding!
- No patient discomfort!
- No emergency calls for food caught under bands!
- No impaction of 7’s on bands!
- No training your CA’s how to fit bands!
- No loose bands!
- No risk of decals under loose bands!
- Superior clinical efficiency – fewer visits!
- Patients can chew gum and eat popcorn!
- You can customize bracket location to optimize derotation and stolarization.
How is that possible, you ask? There are 3 big keys to the success of this approach:
- Outstanding adaptation of the bracket to the buccal surface of the molar.
- Increasing the bonding surface area by using large pads on the Mandibular 6’s.
- Using a quality bonding agent and adhesive (I use GoTo paste and Assure, respectively).
This is SUCH A GAME CHANGER! Once you try it, you won’t go back to bands! Trust me, your patients and your team will thank you!!!
