TADs

Temporary anchorage devices (TADs) are titanium pins that look like miniature screws. The TAD's length is about half the length of your thumbnail, and no wider than the width of the head of a pin. TADs are painlessly placed in our office without the use of needles.

How are TADs placed?

The area in which a TAD is placed is first numbed with a topical anesthetic ointment and then with a device that places a puff of anesthetic through the gum tissue - painlessly. No needles are used. When our doctors place the TAD, most patients feel a little pressure while the TAD is being placed. Tylenol or Ibuprofen are recommended for the day of placement, and patients report no pain or pressure the day after placement. The TAD is gently brushed twice a day with a rinse that we provide.

The TAD is removed when orthodontic treatment is completed or the TAD is no longer needed. It takes less than a minute to remove and is painless.

Why do we use TADs and why are they revolutionary?

A common example of orthodontic anchorage is when a patient has upper teeth that are too far forward and the orthodontist wants to bring them back. He uses the back molar teeth to help him because they are large and generally move very little when they are used to pull back other teeth. The molar teeth are fairly well anchored; however, any tooth still moves in response to the "equal and opposite force."

A simple way to think about TAD anchorage: A fisherman is sitting in a row boat and has caught a very large fish. If he has thrown an anchor into the water (TAD), he can, in time, reel the fish (tooth) in toward the boat without being pulled out to sea.

What if the patient has no teeth for anchorage, or the orthodontist doesn't want anchorage teeth to move at all?

Solution... the orthodontist places one or more TADs and uses these to move the desired teeth. TADs now enable us to accomplish tooth movements quickly and in ways not previously possible without surgery.