PRINCIPLES OF WIRE BENDING

Orthodontic technique is essentially a matter of skill in the bending of wire. The

importance to the orthodontist of gaining skill and facility in bending wire
cannot be overstressed, but all too often the development of ability is left to
chance. As a rule much time is wasted and the best and easiest methods of
bending wire are never applied.

WIRE-BENDING METHOD

The problem of bending wires to the various shapes required for orthodontic
purposes may be approached in two ways. A number of special pliers may be
used, each designed to serve some particular wire-bending purpose. Such pliers
are made with specially formed beaks, grooves, serrations, or additional parts
about which the wire can be bent, so making the bending operation automatic.
In some types of pliers simply grasping the wire firmly between the beaks will
produce the required bend. Specialized pliers have the advantage that they
perform the bending operation for which they are designed quickly and easily,
but they have corresponding disadvantages. Special pliers perform only one or
two operations; the more specialized the pliers the fewer the bends that can be
performed. Consequently there is a tendency for an operator who uses this
method of wire bending either to multiply his stock of pliers to widen the range
of bends he can make or else to limit his technical procedures to the limitations
of his pliers. Special pliers are sometimes limited in the thickness of wire they
can bend. These physical limitations of specialized pliers may also impose a
limitation on the imagination of their user through a failure on his part to
appreciate the possibilities of applied basic wire-bending method in the
construction of appliances. The alternative approach to wire-bending problems
is based on three foundations. First, the use of one or two basically simple
pliers; secondly, the study of wire-bending methods; and, thirdly, the
elimination of unnecessary complications from wire work in appliance
construction.

Adams Universal Pliers Universal pliers (Figs. 9.1-9.4) , in conjunction with a

study and application of wire bending principles, will perform every wire
bending operation required for removable appliance construction, with the
exception of the formation of loops in springs.

The essential features of these pliers are:

1. The distance between the hinge pin and the tips of the blades is short: 23 mm
is the optimum length.

2. The handles are large and comfortable. In particular, it should be possible to

place the thumb of the hand gripping the handles on or very near the tip of the
blades, while at the same time applying a strong grip (Figs. 9.9, 9.14, 9.20).

3. The taper of the blades should be accurately ground to the angle shown.

4. The sides of the beaks should be perfectly flat.

5. The outer edges of the blades are very slightly chamfered, but not rounded.

6. The edges of the grasping surfaces of the beaks must be left sharp after the
final grinding operation in manufacture and must not be bevelled at all. This
point is very important.

7. The grasping surfaces of the beaks should be matt finished. They must not be
polished but equally they must not be grooved or serrated. The finish left by
fine filing or grinding is satisfactory provided that the subsequent chromium
plating is not polished either. Sometimes the grasping surfaces of the beaks will
be found to have been coated with a fine metallic dust. This provides an
exceedingly satisfactory surface.

8. When the pliers are closed, the tips of the beaks should be in contact, but
there should be a slight gap at the hinge end of the beaks tapering down evenly
to contact at the tips. This gap should be 0.6 mm at its widest part, so that when
the tips of the beaks are open to 1.0 mm the inner surfaces of the beaks are
parallel. It is thus possible to grasp a 1.0 mm wire with the whole length of the
beaks, so securing a powerful grip. Again, when a wire is grasped only at the
tips of the beaks, the tendency for the wire to shoot out from the beaks is
reduced {Fig. 9.4).

9. The hinge of the pliers should be strong without being too bulky and the
handles wide and comfortable without making the pliers heavy and clumsy to
handle. An overall length of 13 cm (5¼ in.) is about right. These pliers depend
for their action on the power with which it is possible to grasp the wire with a
moderate hand pressure. A slight additional grip is given by the sharp edges of
the beaks when the wire is bent. The absence of serrations on the beaks avoids
injury to the wire, and the absence of grooves and nicks makes it possible to
grasp the wire in an infinite number of positions. Grooving the beaks of pliers
makes them into special pliers and greatly limits their usefulness. Universal
pliers will bend any of the wires used for orthodontic purposes with ease and are
particularly useful for clasp construction

Correction and maintenance of Adams universal pliers

The specification of these pliers is simple and if the pliers are correctly made in
the first instance the accurate bending of wire and the construction of clasps will
be found to be quick and easy to perform. Adams universal pliers are sometimes
produced with lack of attention to some points in the specification and in
consequence wires can only be held with difficulty and effort, and the user
quickly becomes tired and irritated with his lack of technical success.

Faults that may be met with in these pliers are that they may be made of inferior
stainless steel, the handles may be too long or too short, or the beaks may be
polished on the grasping surfaces and the inner edges of the beaks may be
bevelled or rounded (Fig. 9.5). The form of the beaks may be corrected by
grinding off the sides just sufficiently to make a sharp edge. While the
correction can be made on a grinding machine, it is more satisfactory to do the
job using a small jig (Fig. 9.6) and rubbing down the beaks on a carborundum
stone under a stream of water to keep the stone clean and cutting freely. In this
way the operation can be done with complete certainty in a matter of minutes.
By the same method the top and bottom surfaces and the bevel on the outer
corners can be touched up. If, after these adjustments, the tips of the beaks are
found to be too fine they should be ground back carefully by holding them
against a fine grinding wheel on a dental lathe run at low speed. If the inner
surfaces of the beaks have been polished in manufacture the polish must be
removed using a very small mounted stone in a straight handpiece. It is, of
course, vital that the grasping surfaces of the beaks should be fiat and great care
should be taken not to round these surfaces (Fig. 9.7). The adjustments that have
been mentioned may be carried out on pliers that have been in use for some
time and have become worn at the edges and smooth on the grasping surfaces of
the jaws (Fig. 9.7). Well-made and hardened steel pliers will last for years, but
if the metal is not good or properly hardened wear will soon show up in use.

Spring-forming Pliers Other essential pliers for removable appliance

construction are spring-forming pliers. Those illustrated in Fig. 9.8 have distinct
advantages. A tiny coil in a 0-3 mm wire up to a large coil in a 0.7 mm wire can
be formed. Coils can be opened and adjusted by placing the square beak into the
coil and gently closing the round beak on the outside of the coil. It is important
when using springforming pliers not to bend too thick a wire too near to the tips
of the pliers. Th e use of spring-forming pliers to make sharp bends in heavy
wires is one of the most common abuses of pliers. One of the most important
features of pliers is that they should be made of good steel. Properly made pliers
will last indefinitely without wearing. Inferior pliers wear rapidly and cause
great difficulty in wire bending.

Problems in the Bending of Wire and Their Solution The bending of fine wires
does not present much difficulty as the resistance of these wires to bending is
slight in comparison with the strength of the fingers and the pliers. Heavy
stainless steel wires are difficult to bend because the material is strong and
tough and because it is necessary to bend the wire sharply and with great
accuracy. The basic difficulties in bending heavy stainless steel wires are
therefore: 1. The making of sharp bends in heavy wires. 2. The accurate placing
of such bends. 3. The construction of complicated shapes for bows, arches and
clasps.

The principles and methods of wire forming are as follows:

1. An adequate length of wire should be used so that a long end or 'tail' is
available for manipulation, while the formed part of the wire is held in the pliers
and so away from any possibility of accidental distortion (Fig. 9.9, A).

2. The pliers should be used to hold the wire firmly and still. Th e wire is then
bent, using the long free end or 'tail' for this purpose. Bends can be made much
more accurately and sharply if the pliers are held still and bending done by
moving the wire (Fig. 9.9, B, C,D).

3. It should always be arranged that the free end of the wire is held in the hand
in such a way that the thumb is used to bring pressure on the wire, the other
fingers being wrapped around and grasping the wire. The wire should be bent
with the thumb; the fingers cannot apply such a strong and controlled pressure
as the thumb.

4. Sharp bends are made by bending the wire over the corner of the end of the
plier blade, not around the end of the blade (Fig. 9.10, A, B).
5. If the wire has been sharply bent at a slightly incorrect position, a correction
may be made if the wire is straightened as indicated in Fig. 9.11, A, B. The
incorrect portion of the bend is gripped in the tips of the plier beaks and
squeezed. This has the effect of straightening the small section of wire selected
without interfering with the remainder of the bend. Th e wire is then rebent at
the correct spot at the other side of the original bend. This method of correcting
bends is better than straightening the whole bend and starting again as this is
liable to overstress the wire and render it crystalline and liable to break.

6. Th e bending of 0.7 mm wire sharply as required for the modified arrowhead

clasp should be carefully studied (see pp. 176-178). These bends are not made
around the ends of the plier beaks but are made outside the tips of the beaks.

7. Smooth bends are made from a large number of small bends (Fig. 9.9, E).

8. Th e working of a wire into corners requires a method that is illustrated in

Fig. 9.12. This kind of bend is needed when constructing lingual arches. The
principle is to prefabricate the bend that fits in the corner and gradually work it
down into place.
9. When constructing bows or arches to fit outside a model, make the arch too
wide and gradually contract it to fit. When constructing bows or arches to fit
inside a model, make the arch too narrow and gradually expand it to fit. In both
cases the principle is the same. The wire must be made too loose and gradually
worked down to a fit. If the wire is too tight it is never possible to see exactly
where it is binding and where to make the necessary correction. Wire bending
can be practised on a set of geometrical models which are designed to illustrate
basic principles (Fig. 9.13). These models are made of hardwood blocks into
some of which steel pins are driven, others having square or round posts. Others
have pins and posts fixed into them. The placing and arrangement of these pins
and posts are done according to a definite plan and pattern and not just in a
haphazard way. The first exercise consists of bending wire so as to fit exactly
around two rows of pins in a zig-zag manner. This requires accurate placing of
sharp turns in the wire and the method of adjusting the position of a sharp turn
in a heavy wire as already explained is essential to the successful performance
of this exercise. The second exercise, consisting of six square pegs, makes use
of the principle of working wire into corners or angles between objects as
already shown. The third exercise is made with round pegs instead of square
pegs, but the principle is the same. The last three exercises are lingual arch
prototypes. They exhibit nothing further in wire-bending principle apart from
the art of making a lingual arch or bow passive. All these exercises are
performed with 1.0 mm stainless steel wire using Adams universal pliers and
when completed should pass the following tests: 1. The wires must fit around
exactly or touch all pins and fit around all posts. 2. The wires must lie fiat on
the wood blocks. 3. The wire must be passive and should fall off the block when
it is inverted and gently shaken (Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6). 4. The wires should not be so
loose that they rattle when the blocks are shaken (Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6). When
carrying out these exercises an important point is to check the fit of the wire
after every bend and to correct mistakes as they arise. Inaccuracies must not be
allowed to accumulate; this is most important, as it is futile to try to correct a
discrepancy due to a recent bend by going back beyond this point and
interfering with the early part of the exercise which is correct. This series of
exercises is useful not only for the student who has to learn the wirebending
method from the beginning, but also for the enthusiast who wishes to check his
methods and skill and strengthen and speed up his technique. The exercises are
not devised primarily in order to tease the performer but to illustrate principles
in wire-forming and to give the opportunity for practice. The exercise blocks are
critical of every performance because, being geometrical and accurate, there can
be no two opinions as to whether an exercise has been accurately performed or
not. The most casual glance and inversion of the block will tell all that has to be
known. The performer, therefore, has a constant and accurate standard to aim at
and one that can be achieved with a little patience and practice.

Reference :

Textbook of Removable Orthodontic Appliances by C. P. Adams