www.indiandentalacademy.

com
INDIAN DENTAL ACADEMY
Leader in continuing dental education
www.indiandentalacademy.com
BENDS IN ARCHWIRE
What are Bends?
Localized permanent deformations, placed into an
archwire, that change its direction and/ or
orientation from the original
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Why are bends required?
Bends place without the purpose of generating
forces
Bends that account for bracket placement
discrepancies
To bypass teeth that will not be included in the
archwire
To avoid possible deformation of the archwire
due to chewing
Bends for purpose of generating a force system
for a specific tooth movement
www.indiandentalacademy.com
According to C. H. Tweed
First Order
Second Order
Third Order
www.indiandentalacademy.com
First Order Bends
Offsets, In-out bends, Bayonet bends
Labio-lingual offsets in the archwire in
the horizontal plane of the archwire
Accommodate the variations in the
prominence and contour of labial/ buccal
surfaces of individual teeth
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Typical locations
Mesial to lateral incisor (insets or step in bends)
Canines (offsets, canine eminence bends,
curvature or step out bends)
First molars ( offsets, step out or bayonet bends)
First Order Bends
www.indiandentalacademy.com
First Order Bends
Vertical step bends that do not change
the angulation of the tooth are also
considered first order bends
Step up mesial and equal step down distal
to a bracket

www.indiandentalacademy.com
First Order Bends
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Second Order Bends
Tip bends
Offsets in the archwire in the vertical
plane to change the angulation
(mesiodistal tipping) of a tooth
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Second Order Bends
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Third Order Bends
Torquing bend
Twists in a rectangular archwire, placed
when a change of the buccolingual or
labio-lingual inclination of specific teeth
is desired
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Third Order Bends
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Other bends
Artistic Bends (Esthetic Bends)
Distal end bend
V- bends ( Gable bends)
Toe - in bends
Tip Back Bends
Tip forward Bends
Step Bends
Stop Bends
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Artistic Bends
Esthetic Bends
Bends to position anterior teeth for
optimal esthetics
Usually second order bends on anterior
teeth
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Artistic Bends
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Distal end bend
Cinching bends, Distal end stops
Bends distal to terminal attachment
Secures archwire in place
Prevents shifting through the brackets and soft
tissue impingement
Avoids excessive proclination of the anterior
teeth
Usually in a gingival and/ or medial direction
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Distal end bend
www.indiandentalacademy.com
V- bends
Gable bends
Multiple applications avoids tipping of teeth into
extraction sites during space closure
Generates force system between two teeth or two
segments of teeth
At center of inter-bracket distance produces
equal and opposite moments between teeth
www.indiandentalacademy.com
V- bends
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Tip back Bend
V- bends placed to tip teeth distally
Typically in anchorage preparation stage of the
tweed technique
Tip forward bend V bends placed to tip teeth
mesially
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Tip back Bend
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Toe-in bends
V- bends in the horizontal plane
Typically placed at the end pf an archwire
To achieve de rotation
Constriction of terminal molar
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Toe-in bends
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Step Bend
Labio-lingual or Occluso-gingival offsets
Segments of archwire remain parallel to
each other
Generates equal and opposite forces
and moments of equal magnitude and
identical sense
Unaffected y changing the location
(mesio-distal position) of the step bend
along the span of the archwire
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Step Bend
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Stop Bends
Bends that serve as archwire stops
to keep the arch length constant
Maintain the actual positions of certain teeth
www.indiandentalacademy.com
www.indiandentalacademy.com
www.indiandentalacademy.com
Leader in continuing dental education