If orthodontics had a version of a rock star, Dr. Luis Carriere of Barcelona would be one for sure. Tucked away at a table in the back of the Ortho Organizers booth during the AAO Annual Session, discussing his Carriere Self-Ligating Bracket System and Distalizer Appliance, Dr. Carriere was interrupted by a woman practically running over to him.

“Are you Dr. Carriere, the inventor?” she asked. “I love your products! They have changed my practice!”

She wasn’t the only one who thought so. By the time Dr. Carriere got up at the end of the discussion, there was a crowd of people gathered around, waiting to take pictures with him.

But Dr. Carriere wasn’t fazed by any of the attention. What he was focused on was the Carriere System itself.

“The start of the design of our products, our system and out treatment approach has been the patient and the respect of the patient,” Dr. Carriere said. “We tried to minimize our designs and keep them simple. By sticking to the basics, the result will be more elegant and efficient.”

The Carriere System begins with the Distalizer Appliance, which, if used at the beginning of treatment when there are no competing forces in the mouth from brackets or wires, can help orthodontists turn complex Class II cases into Class I in an average of three to four months.

The direct bond appliance attaches to the maxillary canine and first permanent molar and works by first rotating and uprighting the maxillary first molars while distalizing the posterior segment, from canine or premolar to molars, into a perfect occlusion. The appliance simultaneously produces a light, uniform force for distal molar movement and independently moves each posterior segment as a unit.

All of it comes down to physics, Dr. Carriere said.

“We are used to approaching Class II cases with appliances, but the most important thing, before we approach a case, is to look at the physics and not try to be more intelligent than it,” he said, adding that moving the teeth in blocks instead of separately allows teeth to move naturally. “We wanted to get rid of aspects that were minimizing the efficiency.”

Once treatment with the Distalizer is completed, the next step in the process is the passive self-ligating brackets.

The brackets are simple (consisting of just the body and a archwire interface) and produce significantly less friction than conventional brackets or active self-ligating ones, which allows teeth to move more quickly and efficiently while increasing the patient’s comfort.

Another advantage, according to Dr. Carriere, is the minimalistic design.

“We have created an extremely low-profile bracket,” he said. “We put the wire closer to the surface of the tooth in order to keep better control of the torque.”

That’s especially important, Dr. Carriere said, referencing the entire Carriere System, because “without control, there is no power,” and the Carriere System is as powerful as it comes.

More information is available from Ortho Organizers.