CHAPTER 9 Stage I checks
The routine adjustment interval throughout Stage I is 6 weeks. At each adjustment visit, the following checks will be necessary:
• Measure the overjet. The normal expectation for overjet reduction in extraction cases will be 3–4 mm per visit. Non-extraction cases and adults may be a little slower. Failure of overjet reduction is almost invariably due to partial elastic wear, which can be further confirmed by distal crown tipping of the lower first molars, since the anchor bends will no longer be balanced by the mesial elastic forces. Occasionally, the archwire ends protruding distal to the upper first molars may impact against buccally displaced upper second molars. If so, they should be shortened, or bent around the obstructing buccal surface.
• Observe the overbite. The incisor overbite may take a visit or two to respond and the rate of overbite reduction varies according to the skeletal pattern and age of the patient. If the overbite fails to reduce, the cause will be either poor elastic wear, as described above, or damage to the anchor bends. The latter can be checked by releasing the archwire from the anterior segment, while keeping it engaged in the molar tubes./>
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