Teeth may look fixed, but they can move when gentle forces are applied over time. In this module, students explore how braces use physics concepts such as force, pressure, and direction of motion to guide tooth movement, connecting classroom science to real-world oral health.
Invisible Forces, Moving Teeth: The Physics Behind Braces
Module Information
Grades:6, 7, 8
Oral Health Subjects: Orthodontics, Tooth Anatomy, Gums and Supporting Structures, Prevention, Oral Health Care, Career Pathways
Keywords: Force, Pressure, Motion, Direction of force, Tension, Compression, Braces, Gums, Ligaments
Learning Goals:
By completing this module, learners will be able to:
- Explain how forces such as tension and compression cause objects, including teeth, to move.
- Describe how braces apply controlled pressure and directional force to guide tooth movement.
- Identify the role of gums and supporting tissues in allowing teeth to move safely over time.
- Connect physics concepts learned in class to orthodontics as a real-world health application and career field.
Educational Standards
National Health Education Standards
1.8.2 Analyze how practices and behaviors support a variety of dimensions of wellness.
1.8.4 Analyze practices and behaviors that support health and well-being, including how to manage health conditions.
1.8.6 Analyze how individual, interpersonal, community, and environmental factors impact health and well-being.
2.8.2 Analyze individual, interpersonal, community, societal, and environmental factors that influence health behaviors, health outcomes, and health equity.
2.8.3 Analyze how various influences affect the health and well-being of people and communities in different ways.
3.8.1 Describe situations that may require support from trusted adults, other individuals, and health professionals.
7.8.2 Analyze practices and behaviors that support personal and community health and well-being.
7.8.3 Demonstrate practices and behaviors that support personal and community health and well-being.
8.8.1 Analyze opportunities to advocate for the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities.
National Core Arts Standards
VA:Re.7.1.6a. Identify and interpret works of art or design that reveal how people live around the world and what they value.
VA:Re.7.1.7a. Explain how the method of display, the location, and the experience of an artwork
influence how it is perceived and valued.
VA:Re.7.1.8a. Explain how a person’s aesthetic choices are influenced by culture and environment and impact the visual image that one conveys to others.
VA:Re.7.2.6a. Analyze ways that visual components and cultural associations suggested by images influence ideas, emotions, and actions
VA:Re.7.2.7a. Analyze multiple ways that images influence specific audiences
VA:Re8.1.6a. Interpret art by distinguishing between relevant and non-relevant contextual
information and analyzing subject matter, characteristics of form and structure, and use of media to identify ideas and mood conveyed.
VA:Re8.1.7a. Interpret art by analyzing art-making approaches, the characteristics of form and
structure, relevant contextual information, subject matter, and use of media to identify ideas and mood conveyed.
VA:Re8.1.8a. Interpret art by analyzing how the interaction of subject matter, characteristics of
form and structure, use of media, art-making approaches, and relevant contextual information
contributes to understanding messages or ideas and mood conveyed.
VA:Cn11.1.6a. Analyze how art reflects changing times, traditions, resources, and cultural uses
VA:Cn11.1.7a Analyze how response to art is influenced by understanding the time and place in which it was created, the available resources, and cultural uses
VA:Cn11.1.8a. Distinguish different ways art is used to represent, establish, reinforce, and reflect group identity.
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies
D2.Geo.5.6-8. Analyze the combinations of cultural and environmental characteristics that make places both similar to and different from other places.
D2.Geo.6.6-8. Explain how the physical and human characteristics of places and regions are connected to human identities and cultures.
D2.His.1.6-8. Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.
D2.His.2.6-8. Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.
D2.His.4.6-8. Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
D2.His.5.6-8. Explain how and why perspectives of people have changed over time.