Letters
The following are
letters to Dr. Wick Alexander concerning the Alexander Discipline
Please email Becky Davis
to share your thoughts with us
April 8,
2009
Dear
Wick,
I was honored to receive your E-mail. In response to your question as
to where I came up with the information about the LTS brackets, first of all,
American Orthodontics,
who made the white gold Wick Alexander Rx brackets wanted us to use "LTS",
as they call them, since they were nice enough to send us the photo of
white gold brackets with some information we could use on our website.
As to the other information about the virtues of the Alexander RX bracket
system, I wrote it and have lots of reasons why I believe it, and I wanted to
boldly make some claims in the face of all the bogus claims made by the Damon
Bracket advertisements, claims that have been refuted in recent research
articles.
As you know the longer span of wire between the brackets makes a huge
difference. Using information derived from Thurow's book, if you double
the span of wire between brackets, the wire stiffness and resultant force
experienced by the tooth is decreased to only 1/8th the original force.
If you double the span, the working range, or distance you can move a tooth
with one adjustment, is increased by four times. The wings work so
efficently to rotate teeth, with the long lever arms. With
.018 Nitinol I can rotate a lower canine in one appointment as opposed
to the 7 months it took me and my instructor back when I was
an orthodontic resident, using wedges and wire bending.
When Dr. Anoop Sondhi was speaking to the Utah Association of Orthodontics on
bracket systems, using computer generated models, he was asked which bracket
system was most efficient. He responded by stepping on most
orthodontists' toes by saying the most popular bracket was the least
efficient. (the Roth bracket). Then he said the most efficient system
was the Wick Alexander Bracket system. He said he used it for 8
years and only stopped because of concern over oral hygiene problems.
(To understand his concerns, you only need to see the photos of his daughter
after braces. She apparently did not brush well and had tons of decalcified
enamel.) I use Reliance's Pro Seal sealant on the entire labial
surfaces before bonding, and I don't see any decalcified enamel under the
wings or around the brackets. I am very pleased with the results I get
with your bracket system, and believe time will prove it to be far superior
to the Damon bracket despite all its excessive advertising hype and media
push. Look foward to seeing you
again.
Sincerely,
Kendall
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