ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Three-dimensional force systems from

vertically activated orthodontic loops
Don Raboud, MSc, PhD,a Gary Faulkner, MSc, PhD,b Bill Lipsett, MSc, PhD,c and Doug Haberstock, DDS, MDSd
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

When both vertical alignment and first-order rotation of teeth are to occur simultaneously, a 3-dimensional
force system is required. This numerical study evaluated several appliances (rectangular loops and L-loops)
used to vertically align teeth. Consideration was given to how these designs might be modified to produce the
appropriate force system to allow both movements to occur simultaneously. It was found that the rectangular
loop was the most appropriate choice for first-order corrections. For the rectangular loops studied, the in-plane
force system was shown to be essentially independent of the out-of-plane effects, which allowed the 2
corrections to be controlled separately. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2001;119:21-9)

V
ertical alignment of teeth presents challenges in
terms of designing an appliance that will pro-
vide appropriate force systems and will readily
fit into the limited space available. This usually requires
force application through the long axis of the tooth (sec-
ond order). In addition to vertical alignment, it is often
desirable to rotate these teeth through the application of
a moment (first order) or to move them buccolingually.
If both corrections are to be performed simultaneously,
then a 3-dimensional force system is necessary.
Vanderby et al1 performed an extensive experimental
study of vertically activated orthodontic loops. They
considered T, L, and rectangular configurations designed
for an interbracket distance (IBD) of 7 mm. The mater-
ial used was .010 × .021-in (.254 × .533-mm) stainless
steel wire. For vertical activations of 3 mm and an IBD
of 7 mm, these authors found a considerable nonlinear
effect (ie, the amount of activation was not linearly
related to the vertical force and moment generated). In
addition, they suggested that the forces and moments
generated by the stainless steel loops were sensitive to
small inaccuracies during loop fabrication. Koenig et al2
used an analytic approach to determine the force systems
produced by appliance activations but documented lim-
ited results with regard to rectangular loops. Neither of
Supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada, grants RGP 7514 and RGP 6926.
aAssistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of
Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
b,cProfessor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
dPrivate Practice, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Reprint requests to: M.G. Faulkner, PhD, Department of Mechanical Engineer-
ing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G8; e-mail,
gary.faulkner@ualberta.ca.
Submitted, August 1999; revised and accepted, May 2000.
Copyright © 2001 by the American Association of Orthodontists.
0889-5406/2001/$35.00 + 0 8/1/110810
doi:10.1067/mod.2001.110810
these studies investigated the effects of out-of-plane
(OOP) designs and/or activation on the force and
moment systems created.
More recently, Menghi et al3 studied R, L, and T-
loops experimentally with a view to establishing a 3-
dimensional description of the force systems delivered
by these 3 loop configurations for both stainless steel
and titanium molybdenum alloy (TMA) for first-order
corrections. All the specimens that were tested had
nominal cross-sections of .017 × .025 in (.432 × .635
mm) and were configured for a 21-mm IBD. In addi-
tion to the measurement of the forces in the plane of
the appliance, the 3-dimensional force system was
measured during buccolingual movements and for
±10° rotations of the end of the loop around the long
axis of the tooth. The authors concluded that correc-
tion of first-order discrepancies was best accom-
plished using rectangular loops.
The present study is a numerical simulation of the
3-dimensional force system produced by modifications
of existing 2-dimensional designs and is to provide a
more thorough understanding of the appliance design
parameters and of the effect of alteration of the planar
designs. The simulation also allows the study of these
3-dimensional effects so that design guidelines can be
established, thereby allowing rotational movements to
occur simultaneously with the vertical displacements.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Simulation of the force systems that were generated
and the effect of parametric changes to the appliance
design was performed with the use of a previously
described numerical method.4,5 This method uses a com-
plete nonlinear formulation in which the appliance is bro-
ken into several segments. These segments are analyzed
sequentially, starting at one end of the appliance. Force
and displacement compatibility between the segments
21
22 Raboud et al American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
January 2001

Fig 1. Rectangular loop dimensions in mm; varying the horizontal position of the posterior vertical segment.

Fig 2. L-loop dimensions in mm. 1, 2, 3, Changing horizontal position of vertical segments; 1, 4, 5,

changing width between vertical segments.

was used to move from one segment to the next. The advan-
tage of this approach (which differs from others, such as the
finite element method) is that the large 3-dimensional
deformations that occur can be readily incorporated into the
procedure. In addition, changes in material and/or wire size
can be easily accommodated. This numerical approach has
been previously verified by a comparison of the results with
both experimental measurements and the results of alterna-
tive numerical simulations, such as the finite element
method applied to specific T-loop appliances.6
The appliance designs that were simulated were
assumed to be fabricated from .017 × .025-in (.432 ×
.635-mm) TMA with a Young’s modulus of 69 GPa
(1.00 × 107 psi) and a yield stress of 1240 MPa (180 ×
103 psi). These designs were assumed to be prefabri-
cated to the rectangular and L-loop shapes shown in
Figs 1 and 2, respectively. To facilitate comparisons
among the different designs, all the loops that were
studied were fit into brackets with a 5-mm IBD. This
was believed to closely resemble the clinical geometry
of a maxillary permanent first molar and a second pre-
molar. (Note that the configuration of the L-loop dic-
tates that both vertical segments are situated within the
5.0-mm IBD.) The rectangular loop design places each
of the vertical segments anterior to the brackets, thus the
distance between the points at which the wires enter the
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics Raboud et al 23
Volume 119, Number 1

brackets is 7.5 mm, because the anterior bracket was

assumed to have a width of 2.5 mm.

Planar appliances
Fig 3 A, shows the typical placement of a planar rec-
tangular loop into a pair of maxillary brackets. For the
purpose of discussion, the right end of each appliance
was considered the anterior end. The appliances were
activated by the insertion of the anterior end fixed and
activated vertically with respect to the posterior end
(also fixed). For the anterior end, gingival activation
was considered positive, and occlusal activation was
considered negative. The positive directions of the force
and moment components on the teeth are shown in Fig
3 B. As seen in Fig 3 C, the directions of the positive
A
forces and moments on the appliance were then equal
and opposite to those shown on the teeth. For these pla-
nar appliances force and moment equilibrium leads to:
FA = FP (1)
VA = VP (2)
MP + MA – FA (a) + VA (b) = 0 (3)
where the subscripts A and P correspond to anterior
and posterior, respectively. This serves as verification
of the results for any given activation.
For each activation, the forces and moments neces-
sary for equilibrium were used to determine the
stresses within the appliance. When the activation for B
the specific design resulted in any of these stresses
reaching the elastic limit of the material, this was
defined as the maximum activation because any further
activation would cause the appliance to become perma-
nently deformed compared with the original shape. No
consideration was given to deformations into the plas-
tic range beyond this limit.

3-Dimensional appliances
To appreciate the effect that OOP designs had on the
force system produced, the rectangular loop design with
maximum spacing between the vertical segments (Fig 1,
#1) is modified by pretwisting (first-order activation)
the vertical anterior segment through angles of over 30°
in both the labial and lingual directions. This modified C
appliance is then installed in the same bracket configu-
ration as the original planar appliance and activated to
investigate the new force systems that are developed. Fig 3. Vertical alignment with the use of rectangular
loop. A, Activation of appliance. B, Force system on
An equilibrium analysis, similar to that shown in
teeth. FP, Posterior horizontal forces; MP, in-plane
equations 1 to 3 can be performed for the 3-dimen- moment acting on posterior tooth; VP,intrusive force act-
sional systems; however, the equations are more com- ing on posterior tooth; VA, extrusive force acting on ante-
plex because the analysis involves 3 moments and 3 rior tooth; MA, in-plane moment on anterior tooth; FA,
forces at each end. As a result, these equations are not anterior horizontal forces. C, Force system on appliance.
shown here but were used as a check on the results a, Activation; b, horizontal distance between points at
delivered by the numerical procedure. which wires enter brackets.
24 Raboud et al
A B
C D
Fig 4. Force systems produced by rectangular loops.
RESULTS
Planar response
The results of the planar responses are shown in Fig
4 for the rectangular loops and in Figs 5 and 6 for the
L-loops. The positive directions of the forces and
moments on the teeth are shown in Fig 3 B, where
again the gingival activation of the anterior end of the
appliance is taken to be positive when applied to the
maxillary arch. These directions were selected to cor-
respond to those used previously.1
For rectangular loops (Fig 1), the position of the
vertical anterior segment was the only parameter eval-
uated. The results of the simulation in Fig 4 showed
that, although no large differences were seen between
the 3 designs, the first (with the largest spacing
between the vertical segments) provided both rela-
tively low tension (Fig 4, A) and the lowest anterior
moments (Fig 4, D) when compared with the other 3
configurations. The wider spacing between the vertical
segments also yielded somewhat lower intrusive/extru-
sive forces for any given vertical activation (Fig 4, B)
and allowed a slightly larger activation range before
the yielding occurred. Note that the tension of rectan-
gular loop 1 was negative throughout the entire range
of activation, so there was a slight tendency for the
teeth to be displaced apart.
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
January 2001
For the series of 5 L-loop configurations shown in
Fig 2, the results in Figs 5 and 6 show that the overall
force/activation behavior was quite similar. With acti-
vation, all the designs develop intrusive/extrusive
forces that are somewhat higher than those of the rec-
tangular loops (Figs 5, B, and 6, B). The slopes of the
curves that represent the vertical forces are apprecia-
bly steeper with any L-loop geometry compared with
the rectangular loops.
3-Dimensional effects
The positive directions for the forces and moments
on the appliance and on the anterior tooth are shown in
Fig 7. Included are the tension, the intrusive/extrusive
force, the usual in-plane moment, the labial/lingual
force, the moment around the long axis of the tooth,
and the twisting (torquing) moment.
Fig 8 shows the effects of the introduction of the
preactivated OOP anterior bend on the forces (Fig 8, A)
and moments (Figs 8, B and C) produced when this
appliance is installed in the planar brackets. Note that
the appliance has not been activated vertically but has
had the last anterior segment bent OOP by the twisting
of the anterior vertical leg and was then simply rein-
serted in the brackets. The results show that the major
effects of the preactivation are the production of both
labial/lingual forces and moments around the long axis
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics Raboud et al 25
Volume 119, Number 1

A B

C D

Fig 5. Force systems produced by L-loops (part 1).

A B

C D

Fig 6. Force systems produced by L-loops (part 2).

26 Raboud et al American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
January 2001

Fig 7. Sign conventions for 3-dimensional forces sys-

tems. F, Tension; MT, torquing moment; M*, first order
moment; V, intrusive/extrusive force; V*, labial-lingual B
force; M, in-plane moment.

of the tooth at the anterior end. These forces, for a

pretwist of 30°, are approximately 1.5 N. A preactiva-
tion of 30° will develop a moment of approximately 12
Nmm at the anterior end of this appliance although the
posterior has little moment applied (<1 Nmm). The
other forces and moments produced are relatively small
so that the major effect will be the development of a
moment at the anterior end that will assist in the derota-
tion of this tooth.
Fig 9 shows the effect that the OOP preactivations
have on the original force systems that were devel- C
oped by the planar appliances. In this case, both the
Fig 8. Effect of OOP preactivation on force system. A,
planar rectangular loop and one with a 20° OOP mod-
Forces on anterior tooth. F, Tension; V, intrusive/extru-
ification as discussed earlier are given vertical activa-
sive force; V*, labial-lingual force. B, Moments on poste-
tions. The effect of the OOP pretwist on the horizon- rior tooth. MT, torquing moment; M*, first order moment;
tal forces, intrusive/extrusive forces, and the anterior M, in-plane moment. C, Moments on anterior tooth.
and posterior moments is extremely small over the
entire range of activations. The pretwist does, to a
DISCUSSION
very limited extent, reduce the range of activations
Planar response
before reaching the elastic limit. The pretwist gener-
ates labial/lingual forces and the OOP moments (dis- If the desired force system is one in which only
cussed previously), which do not vary appreciably as force along the long axis of the tooth is produced, then
the vertical activation is increased. the tension (anterior and posterior horizontal forces)
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics Raboud et al 27
Volume 119, Number 1

A B

C D
Fig 9. Vertical activation of rectangular loops. A, Horizontal forces. B, Vertical forces. C, Labial-lingual
forces. D, In-plane moment (M) on posterior tooth.

and the anterior and posterior moments should be at a
minimum. This force system will also lead to minimal
root movement. This ideal system is most closely
approximated by the rectangular loop in which the ver-
tical segments are spaced as far apart as is possible.
The large spacing means that the upper portion of the
appliance (between the 2 vertical segments) is more
flexible and therefore does not develop as large a
moment when activated vertically.
Although the L-loop design incorporates more wire
than the rectangular loop, its distribution does not result
in a lower load-deflection rate and does not produce a
larger range of activations. Relatively large horizontal
forces accompany the desirable vertical forces (Figs 5, A,
and 6, A). In addition, anterior moments, which would
not normally be desired, arise. The magnitudes of both
the horizontal forces and the anterior moments are 2 to 4
times those that occur for the rectangular loops that are
shown in Fig 4. However, the moment at the posterior
tooth is lower than the moment for the rectangular loop
at any given activation. Note that for a given activation,
placing the vertical section of the L-loop closer to the
anterior end results in a larger load-deflection rate and
also reduces the range of activation. The spacing between
the vertical segments for the L-loops was also found to
have little effect on the response (Fig 6). These results
suggest that, to create intrusive/extrusive forces alone, the
rectangular loop design is the more appropriate choice.
Of the rectangular loops evaluated, the one with the max-
imum spacing between the vertical segments resulted in
the least anterior moments and also developed relatively
low horizontal forces when activated.
The results for the rectangular loops cannot be
directly compared with the previous work of Vanderby
28 Raboud et al
E Although this moment is not exceptionally large, the
F gual forces would diminish.
G intrusive/extrusive forces and, with the OOP pretwist-
Fig 9. (cont’d) E, In-plane moment (M) on anterior tooth.
F, First order moment (M*). G, Torquing moment (MT).
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
January 2001
et al,1 because they used stainless steel wire with dif-
ferent cross-sectional dimensions. However, if the cur-
rent results are adjusted by considering the differences
in the modulus of elasticity and the second moment of
area of the cross section, then the ratio of the current
values of the forces to those of Vanderby et al1 is 2.32.
For appliance designs of comparable geometry (the
rectangular loops), the current results are essentially
the same at comparable activations.
3-Dimensional effects
The introduction of OOP modifications to the pla-
nar rectangular loop does introduce a torquing
moment (Fig 8, B and C) to the anterior tooth.
clinical effect will be mild labial crown torque while
the tooth is tipping lingually and rotating distal-
in/mesial-out. Conversely, there will be mild labial
root torque while the tooth is tipping labially and
rotating distal-in/mesial-out.
As shown in Fig 9, the introduction of the OOP
modifications has almost no effect on the planar force
system developed by the original planar rectangular
loop. This means that the OOP activation and the
forces and moments created by it are essentially inde-
pendent of the in-plane effects discussed earlier for the
purely planar designs. This has the consequence of
allowing the additional OOP preactivation to be
included without fear that the in-plane effects will be
altered. It should be noted that these results apply when
there is no first-order rotation of the tooth and that,
when rotation occurs, the moments and the labial/lin-
The recent results of Menghi et al3 were determined
over ± 1 mm buccal/lingual activations for a 21-mm
IBD and, as a result, are not comparable with the cur-
rent study. However, Menghi et al3 also comment that
the rectangular loop appears to be the most appropriate
appliance to activate OOP because the forces and
moments associated with the OOP activations were
essentially independent of the force system that was
generated in the plane of the appliance.
CONCLUSIONS
The simulations evaluated in the current study
confirm the validity of the use of rectangular and L-
loops for vertical adjustments of adjacent teeth. The
designs, when used with TMA, can effectively pro-
vide the force systems that are necessary to create
ing, also assist in rotational movement if necessary.
The design of the rectangular loops allowed the 2
effects to be independently controlled because the in-
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
Volume 119, Number 1
plane force system was not altered when the OOP pre-
activation was included.
One disadvantage of these force systems is that the
intrusive/extrusive forces are nearly linearly related to
the amount of vertical activation, which suggests that
the force level will decrease as vertical movement
occurs. This is a characteristic of the elastic nature of
the appliance; however, different materials may pro-
vide different effects. The use of shape memory alloy
materials could produce force levels that are much
more uniform as the activation changes. Simulations
that use shape memory alloy wire in a rectangular loop
planar design7 showed that intrusive/extrusive forces
can be maintained at nearly constant levels over an acti-
vation range of approximately 3 mm although the total
range of activations was on the order of 6 mm, com-
pared with the 4 mm for the TMA discussed earlier.7
The possible use of these materials for vertical align-
ment must be investigated further.
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REFERENCES
1. Vanderby R, Burstone CJ, Solonche DJ, Ratches JA. Experi-
mentally determined force systems from vertically activated
orthodontic loops. Angle Orthod 1977;47:272-9.
2. Koenig HA, Vanderby R, Solonche DJ, Burstone CJ. Force sys-
tems from orthodontic appliances: an analytic and experimental
comparison. J Biomech Eng 1980;102:294-300.
3. Menghi C, Planert J, Mensen B. 3-D experimental identification
of force systems from orthodontic loops activated for first order
corrections. Angle Orthod 1999;69:49-57.
4. Raboud D, Faulkner MG, Lipsett AW. A segmental approach for
large three-dimensional rod deformations. International Journal
of Solids and Structures 1996;33:1137-56.
5. Raboud D, Faulkner MG, Lipsett AW, Haberstock DL. Three-
dimensional effects in retraction appliance design. Am J Orthod
Dentofacial Orthop 1997;112:378-92.
6. Lipsett AW, Faulkner MG, El-Rayes K. Large deformation
analysis of orthodontic appliances. J Biomech Eng 1990;
112:29-37.
7. Raboud D, Faulkner MG, Lipsett AW. Superelastic response of
NiTi sma wires for orthodontic applications. International Jour-
nal of Smart Materials and Structures 2000;9:684-92.
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