The bone around teeth gets “soft” when teeth are being moved with braces.
The roots of teeth sit in a tooth socket of the jaw bone. When a force is applied to a tooth (like with braces), one bony wall of the tooth socket is compressed and the other wall stretched….Alot of science occurs here, but what’s important to know is that bone eating cells start removing bone in the area where bone is compressed and bone forming cells start creating bone where the bone is getting stretched.
This amazing scientific reaction allows a tooth to be moved within the hard jaw bone….IT ALSO IS THE REASON RETAINERS NEED TO BE WORN WHEN BRACES COME OFF…RETAINERS KEEP THE TEETH IN PLACE WHILE THE BONE RETURNS TO ITS “NORMAL,” HARD STATE!
