Ortho says no Damon Lower Clears. Help?

[quentin]

Hi everyone, I had my initial consultation with the orthodontist, and we talked about Damon Clear the whole time, but after I went home, I noticed on the price sheet that it said metal brackets on lower teeth. I was under the impression that I would be getting all clear brackets, upper & lower, since I had expressed repeatedly that at age 29 with a very client-facing job, so I much prefer having all-clear braces.

I called back to clarify, and was initially told by the receptionist that Damon Clears aren't available for lower teeth (not true: they are available as of April 2012). Then I spoke to the office manager and she said that there have been "some failure rate" from Damon Clear on lower teeth, therefore they do not offer it. However, the "failure rate" she spoke of was not from their experience, as their office completely does not offer Damon Clears on lower teeth. She then said because I have an underbite, Damon Clears may not be suitable for my lower teeth anyway. But on that note, an underbite means that my lower teeth are actually more obvious, therefore, even more so, I would like to have Damon Clears.

I have not been able to speak to the orthodontist on the phone so far, and they've asked me to come in for a second consultation instead.

Does anyone out there have ALL Damon Clear braces on upper & lower? Or anyone with an UNDERBITE with Damon metal lowers? I am so new to this, I greatly appreciate listening to your experience. Thanks so much. This forum has been a wonderful resource.

[sweetcynic]

I know there are lower clears with some other brands of self-ligating braces that do the same thing as damon.... There is nothing special about damon braces in particular other than their marketing.

[mollyluise]

I can't speak for the Damon system specifically, but I also was wanting all ceramic due to being in sales and in a client facing role. On the other hand, I also trust my ortho to use whatever he thinks will give me the best result. I asked for clear all around, and he said based on my tooth size and my particular case, he recommended traditional metal braces for my bottom teeth. He said he had been experiencing some difficulty with the self ligating braces (even metal ones) on the bottom, in not being able to get the specific, fine tuned result he was after. With him being a 20+ year pro, and a second generation orthodontist, I trust his judgment.

I now have ceramic on top (In Ovation C) and the metal on the bottom, and even with two terribly annoying and LARGE springs along the front of my metal bottom braces, I don't find they interfere with my day to day client interactions. Some people haven't even noticed them. They've been on a week, and I'm pretty used to them. I don't love them of course but they don't impede my work like I was afraid they would. The first day or two I was a little overwhelmed, but now I'm pretty okay.

Here's what they look like. Believe it or not, you can't see the bottoms too badly when I smile.

[TMJJill]

The Damon Clears weren't available for the bottom when I started my treatment. I have the Damon clear uppers. I've been very happy with them. The only thing I don't like is that they can't put hooks on them later. The lowers look nice, but honestly I don't notice the metal on the bottom in my everyday life. They really aren't that bad.

Could you do a second consultation appointment with your orthodontist to discuss this in more depth if you aren't happy? You are the one who has to live with your choice.

[chromegrill]

I also cant speak for Damon directly, but I have both upper and lower clear 'In Ovation C' braces. More common than not its a combo of the clear and metal.

[smilingoutloud22]

I feel your pain! I work in public relations in NYC and am always face-to-face with clients, colleagues, vendors, you name it. First, I had to get over that I couldn't get Invisalign. Then, I had to get over that I couldn't get all Damon clears. I settled for the social 6, and was so disappointed when the clear lowers came out the month after I got my braces on! I also struggled with this bite turbo that my ortho put behind my top teeth bc it gave me a little weird lisp. I was mortified and wanted to give up, thinking I couldn't survive my career like this. But I was more embarrassed by my crooked teeth, so I sucked it up. Day by day it got better. Colleagues, clients, people saw my braces ... Some didn't realize I had them until I said something bc the top clears are SO GOOD. You can't even really tell in pics even with the metal bottoms!

My one year mark is March 2, and I am thrilled with my decision. I have had one of my best years of my career, with many public presentations and meetings. Trust your ortho, trust yourself ... Metal or clear, this will be a life-changing experience for you in a great way. If anything, people will admire you for taking steps to improve yourself. I've had so many people (most whose teeth I'd envied) tell me they want braces again but are afraid.

[smilingoutloud22]

PS I'm 28 and will be 29 soon.

I feel your pain! I work in public relations in NYC and am always face-to-face with clients, colleagues, vendors, you name it. First, I had to get over that I couldn't get Invisalign. Then, I had to get over that I couldn't get all Damon clears. I settled for the social 6, and was so disappointed when the clear lowers came out the month after I got my braces on! I also struggled with this bite turbo that my ortho put behind my top teeth bc it gave me a little weird lisp. I was mortified and wanted to give up, thinking I couldn't survive my career like this. But I was more embarrassed by my crooked teeth, so I sucked it up. Day by day it got better. Colleagues, clients, people saw my braces ... Some didn't realize I had them until I said something bc the top clears are SO GOOD. You can't even really tell in pics even with the metal bottoms!

My one year mark is March 2, and I am thrilled with my decision. I have had one of my best years of my career, with many public presentations and meetings. Trust your ortho, trust yourself ... Metal or clear, this will be a life-changing experience for you in a great way. If anything, people will admire you for taking steps to improve yourself. I've had so many people (most whose teeth I'd envied) tell me they want braces again but are afraid.

[quentin]

Thank you EVERYONE for the prompt responses. It really helps so much to know that others out there have the lower metal brackets and don't find that it's too great an impediment and/or obvious, especially for those who have client-facing roles too.

mollylouise: Thanks for the picture and the candid feedback! My ortho said something similar about "finishing", and that he much prefers working with all-metal over clear ceramic.

smilingoutloud22: Thank you for the encouragement. Your experience is certainly very inspiring, and I'm glad to hear that the braces hasn't negatively affected your career/life, but made it better!

chromegrill: That's a good idea. It did not occur to me to ask if they had any other brand of clear self-ligating braces as an option besides Damon, because Damon was what they displayed at the office (besides Invisalign). My ortho does self-ligating braces only.
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I guess I just imagined the metal lowers to be a lot more obvious than they might be. I'll talk to my ortho at the 2nd consultation next week and see what he says. But based on all your positive stories above, I think I'll be OK even if I had to go with metal lowers...

Thanks again, ArchWired community! I imagine I'll be on these boards a lot more in the weeks ahead!

[Tobilei]

I don't have an underbite but for some reason I expose a fair bit of my lower teeth when I speak. Even with that though, you don't see a lot and I doubt it would have made a lot of difference.

I wanted clear top and bottom but my ortho's office told me the same, that they don't do damon clear on the lowers. I have damon clear self ligating on top and clarity 3M's on the lowers (pics in the link in my thread in my signature under this). The 3M's have ligatures (I get them in smoke colour so they don't stain). Some people have to have metal on the bottom. Something to do with the teeth hitting the brackets (I think because the clear are larger they can't be placed as low and you can chip your upper teeth). It's worth asking if that's what you really want. Good luck!

[batwing]

I have Clarity ceramic on the top and metals on the bottom. The orthodontist said that Clarity brackets on the bottom are more prone to popping off or cracking, I'm not sure if this is the case for Damons. I also have small teeth, like Tobilei touched on with the larger bracket size.

My ortho is giving me an underbite to prepare for Le Fort I surgery in a few months so my bottom teeth are more visible now than they were before, and even then the metal brackets on the bottom aren't all that noticeable. I am 29 and have to speak with clients, too. I haven't had a single person who wasn't a friend or coworker mention the braces, and even then it was all positive

[hazybubbles]

Go and talk to yourself in front of the mirror. You will find you actually see very little of your lower teeth so whatever brackets you have they are not very noticeable. I found the metal brackets smaller and more comfortable as they were smoother round the edges than the clear ones (i had clear social 6).

[OldBikerBag]

We who actually have braces think much more about the appearance of them than anybody else does.

I have Damon 3 full metal lower, clear "social six" top front. Most people don't even notice I have braces unless I call attention to it. And most of the ones I show don't care. Those who do actually care, think it's cool.

[MrsCharisma]

3 days back at work and no one has noticed I have braces. I have front 8 ceramic. Lowers coming later.

Really, we are far more conscious of them than anyone else. I'd trust my ortho. You're thinking aesthetics but s/he is thinking what's best for your treatment.

Good luck!

[starfish88]

A lot of the people who are looking closely are doing it because they feel bad about their own teeth and are checking out your braces. One person who notices mine straight away wanted to know all about my ortho and if braces hurt because she had wanted to fix her teeth for ages! I wouldn't worry about it looking professional, people see it as a medical thing now anyway so you come across as motivated to take charge of your health. Have you asked how soon into braces you'll get the underbite fixed, because it might not be around much longer anyway so your bottom teeth will be less noticeable. Good luck with whatever braces you go with.

[quentin]

Thanks everyone. I've been doing a bunch of research (granted it's an older study), and it does seem to validate the point that ceramic brackets could be an issue due to my underbite.

"Ceramic brackets, being second in hardness only to diamond, are significantly harder than enamel. Rapid and severe enamel wear to the opposing dentition has been reported when ceramic brackets are placed in the lower arch. Therefore, caution should be exercise to prevent contact of the ceramic bracket with opposing enamel surfaces." - J.S. Russell (2005) Current Products and Practice: Aesthetic Orthodontic Brackets

When I talk, I notice that my lower teeth are pretty visible. However.. I did just go through a bunch of photos of myself, and realized that my lower teeth don't really show when I smile.

So.... after all that consideration + all your very helpful stories, I'm almost tempted to not waste anymore time, and just tell the office to forget about the second consultation, just go ahead and get braced already with Damon Clear uppers and metal lowers!