A new lingual straight-wire technique.

mushroom-arch technique introduced by Fujita in the 1970s,1,2 Takemoto and Scuzzo developed the lingual straight-wire (LSW) technique in 1995.3,4 Mushroom archwires typically require vertical steps and insets between the canines and first premolars, necessitating complicated wire bends that can affect treatment outcomes. The LSW method eliminated this problem, but the thickness of the lingual brackets was found to result in shorter interbracket spans, gingival impingement, and tongue irritation (Fig. 1A). We have developed a new LSW appliance that uses a planar archform to make arch coordination less difficult and permit the use of simpler mechanics, such as sliding techniques (Fig. 1B).