From the beginning, rubber bands were used in orthodontics to transmit force from the upper arch to the lower. These are termed inter-arch elastics. Dental braces work well with rubber bands as rubber bands help with making sure that a bite can be corrected and the jaw can be put into its right place.ther than inter-arch elastics, small rubber bands that are used to surround your braces are called elastic ligatures. These replace wire ligature ties to hold arch wires in the brackets in many applications, and can also be used to apply a force to close spaces within the arches. There are 2 types of elastic ligatures: