OrthoTruss™
OrthoTruss / Education / Anchorage

Learn by topic · biomechanics

Every force has
another side.

Anchorage: explore what a force system does to the teeth you intend to move and the teeth providing support.

Start with a question.

Which movements are intended, and which would you like to control?

Make a prediction.

Consider the supporting teeth as well as the active part of the appliance.

Know the model.

Read each simulator’s assumptions. An initial mechanical response is not a forecast of a patient’s treatment.

A route through the topic.

Biology chapter

Understand the biology

Start with the tooth-movement chapter and the tissues involved.

Open Tooth Movement ↗

Study deck

Test your understanding

Review anchorage concepts with the connected study deck.

Open Anchorage ↗

Clinical round

Work through a decision

Predict the initial response, then inspect and adjust the force system.

Open Protect posterior anchorage during anterior retraction ↗

Learning in context

14 resources

Biology chapterEducation

Tooth Movement

Learners & clinicians · Foundations & reference

An archwire doesn't move a tooth directly — it moves the periodontal ligament, and the ligament tells the bone what to do. This chapter follows that chain: from the fibrous tissue holding a tooth in its socket, to the pressure and tension it feels under load, to the cells and molecular signal that turn "squeezed" into "resorbed" and "stretched" into "built."

Sources and uncertainty shown in the chapter Related learning →
CourseEducation

Biomechanics Fundamentals

Learners & clinicians · Foundations & reference

Force systems, centers of resistance, anchorage, wire mechanics, and loop mechanics.

Self-directed study; no accredited CE credit Related learning →
Clinical scenarioEducation

Four First Premolar Extraction — Class I Bimaxillary Protrusion

Learners & clinicians · Applied mechanics

Coordinate maximum-anchorage retraction of both arches to reduce bimaxillary dentoalveolar protrusion and improve the lip profile, keeping upper/lower retraction balanced so the molar relationship stays Class I and the midlines coincident.

Educational scenario; not a patient-specific treatment plan Related learning →
Clinical scenarioEducation

Asymmetric Extraction — Midline Correction

Learners & clinicians · Applied mechanics

Shift the upper anterior segment toward the deviated side to correct the dental midline, using differential left-vs-right anchorage and asymmetric force systems while avoiding a new posterior or molar asymmetry.

Educational scenario; not a patient-specific treatment plan Related learning →
Clinical scenarioEducation

Class III Camouflage — Lower-Arch Extraction

Learners & clinicians · Applied mechanics

Retract and retrocline the lower anterior segment (and often procline the uppers) to correct the incisor relationship and camouflage a mild-to-moderate skeletal Class III, staying inside the lower-incisor inclination limit set by the labial alveolar bone.

Educational scenario; not a patient-specific treatment plan Related learning →
Clinical scenarioEducation

Lower-Only First Premolar Extraction — Single-Arch Decision

Learners & clinicians · Applied mechanics

Relieve lower crowding / retract the lower labial segment using lower-only premolar extraction, while planning the lower anchorage so the buccal occlusion finishes in an agreed relationship despite the unmatched upper arch.

Educational scenario; not a patient-specific treatment plan Related learning →
Clinical scenarioEducation

Four Second Premolar Extraction — Minimum / Moderate Anchorage

Learners & clinicians · Applied mechanics

Close the second-premolar extraction spaces mainly by mesial movement (protraction) of the posterior segments, preserving incisor position in a minimum/moderate-anchorage case where little anterior retraction is wanted.

Educational scenario; not a patient-specific treatment plan Related learning →
Clinical scenarioEducation

Molar Loss + Contralateral Compensating Extraction — Asymmetric

Learners & clinicians · Applied mechanics

Close the edentulous molar space by protracting the posterior teeth forward into the site while a contralateral compensating extraction balances the arch, keeping the midline centred and the occlusal plane level despite the built-in left-right asymmetry.

Educational scenario; not a patient-specific treatment plan Related learning →
SimulatorFPD

Anchorage Loss & Reinforcement

Clinicians & researchers · Applied mechanics

Compare posterior drift before choosing whether added teeth or skeletal anchorage are needed.

Benchmarked model
SimulatorFPD

Cantilever Anchorage Control

Clinicians & researchers · Applied mechanics

Choose activation and inspect the molar counter-moment, reciprocal force, and tube-friction effect.

Analytical model
Study deckEducation

Anchorage

Learners & clinicians · Professional study

Anchorage questions for study and self-testing. Coverage is selective; sources are shown with the answers.

18 cards · Source-based prompts; selective topic coverage

Read further

Search the published literature for this topic and appraise the original papers.

Search literature on anchorage →