The photos you see below show how  I have the patient bite on hard plastic straw when I want to get a pre-measured apartness greater than is obtainable when I wire the jaws by wrapping the wire "around" the brackets (which is the way I most often do the OJW).

The less commonly used method of OJW is done  by wiring "through the vertical slots" offered in the Begg bracket.

The second method of wiring admittedly is a bit more difficult to effectuate but eliminates the problem of the wire accidentally slipping over the bracket as happened to HC the day after I wired her in spite of being OH SO CAREFUL when I wired her at the OJW appointment.

Plates 9 and 10 (not yet posted) will show how it looks and one can compare it to plate 8.

HC lives in the Bronx which means if a bracket became detached she could be at the office in 45 minutes.  Consequently, I decided to place clear brackets instead of metal on the teeth that were most visible when she smiled. See plate 8. 

Moreover, she offered the idea that clear fishing line might be used as an additional cosmetic enhancement. I told I had tried that about 5 years ago and found that it it was not strong enough. "Well, she said, maybe new stronger line has been developed. I'll do some research and get some".  So I gave her sample of the dead-soft wire I use (see plate 8) to use as a sample to show some of her piscatorial experts.  Should she succeed I will rewire her in fishing line and see how it works.

1   See the hard plastic straws the patient bites on while the wiring is being done.	2   Here you see how the wire has been threaded thru the vertical slots (of the two most back brackets) afforded by the Begg bracket. In the middle of this photo you see the straw from a straight on view.
3    The wiring continues through the vertical slots of the next two brackets...	4 ...and finally through the vertical slots of the front-most brackets...
5   ...and wired together as usual.	6     --------
7     Here is the way the lower jaw would be suspended from the upper jaw when the straw was removed.	8     Note the use of clear BEGG brackets
9    OJW with clear brackets wired THROUGH vertical slot of the brackets with straw in place. (Schematic showing how to wire through the vertical slots)	10    OJW with clear brackets wired THROUGH vertical slot of the brackets (straw removed).
PENDING
11    Clear brackets wired through the vertical slot with FISHING LINE

 May 22, 2008  HC writes about her experience.

I had a wonderful experience with Dr. Ted and his competent, friendly and professional staff.  I wore the wires for about two and a half weeks, and lost seven pounds.  Unfortunately, I had to remove them as it was the height of allergy season and I suffer terribly from allergies.  Breathing became impossible through my nose, and with my mouth wired, I was unable to compensate by opening my mouth.

During my treatment, Dr. Ted tried two types of wiring – the first was around the brackets.  This was not ideal as I’m missing a tooth on the left side so he had to reach further back to the last upper molar and then come back to the first molar and canine teeth.  After a few days, they came off and I went back and he did a great job of wiring through the bracket holes in a criss-cross (shoe laces) manner.  In addition, he experimented with having my mouth slightly open (about the width of a drinking straw) which did help with the breathing and also made me feel much less restricted.

This lasted for about a week, and the wires broke again.  I do believe this was a result of the uneven wiring caused by the missing tooth.  It made the strain greater on the wires.  Anyway, it was a simply job to rewire them again. 

Eventually, however, toward the middle of the third week, it just became too unbearable for me with my allergies, so I had to have the wires removed.

Overall, it was a worthwhile experience.  Any discomfort, besides the expected restriction of the jaws, came from not being able to brush my teeth.  I’m used to a vigorous brushing of my entire mouth twice per day, so my mouth felt foul and cottony even with regular usage of Listerine and other mouth washes.

My diet consisted of slimfast, ensure, V8 juices, yogurt drinks and Lipton powdered soups.  I would sometimes get the broth of some chicken noodle soup from the deli near my job.

One good thing to arise from the two and a half weeks other than the loss of seven pounds is that I actually have stuck to my liquid diet during the day, and just eat one full meal at night.  Progress is slow, but I’m feeling much better about my weight loss prospects.

Dr. Ted is endlessly committed to this procedure and the overall health benefits to be had if one uses this as a weight loss system.  He feels that besides obesity, this can help battle hypertension and diabetes both which afflict a goodly percent of the population.  I was very impressed with his passion and with his efforts to see this recognized by health professionals as a viable solution to obesity.

I had a wonderful experience with Dr. Ted and his competent, friendly and professional staff.  I wore the wires for about two and a half weeks, and lost seven pounds.  Unfortunately, I had to remove them as it was the height of allergy season and I suffer terribly from allergies.  Breathing became impossible through my nose, and with my mouth wired, I was unable to compensate by opening my mouth.

During my treatment, Dr. Ted tried two types of wiring – the first was around the brackets.  This was not ideal as I’m missing a tooth on the left side so he had to reach further back to the last upper molar and then come back to the first molar and canine teeth.  After a few days, they came off and I went back and he did a great job of wiring through the bracket holes in a criss-cross (shoe laces) manner.  In addition, he experimented with having my mouth slightly open (about the width of a drinking straw) which did help with the breathing and also made me feel much less restricted.

This lasted for about a week, and the wires broke again.  I do believe this was a result of the uneven wiring caused by the missing tooth.  It made the strain greater on the wires.  Anyway, it was a simply job to rewire them again. 

Eventually, however, toward the middle of the third week, it just became too unbearable for me with my allergies, so I had to have the wires removed.

Overall, it was a worthwhile experience.  Any discomfort, besides the expected restriction of the jaws, came from not being able to brush my teeth.  I’m used to a vigorous brushing of my entire mouth twice per day, so my mouth felt foul and cottony even with regular usage of Listerine and other mouth washes.

My diet consisted of slimfast, ensure, V8 juices, yogurt drinks and Lipton powdered soups.  I would sometimes get the broth of some chicken noodle soup from the deli near my job.

One good thing to arise from the two and a half weeks other than the loss of seven pounds is that I actually have stuck to my liquid diet during the day, and just eat one full meal at night.  Progress is slow, but I’m feeling much better about my weight loss prospects.

Dr. Ted is endlessly committed to this procedure and the overall health benefits to be had if one uses this as a weight loss system.  He feels that besides obesity, this can help battle hypertension and diabetes both which afflict a goodly percent of the population.  I was very impressed with his passion and with his efforts to see this recognized by health professionals as a viable solution to obesity.http://www.drted.com/OJW HC 041008.htm

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