All metal vs Upper ceramic and lower metal

[Tashi23]

With a few more weeks until i'm due to get my braces on i'm still undecided. I would prefer upper clear ceramic and lower metal because i'm 23 and would rather not have all metal in my mouth but having ceramic on top leads to its own problems. I heard they stain, are bulkier and work slower, not sure if that last one is true. The pro to having ceramic on top is that people won't notice them as much, that's a big deal for me. I however have seen some youtube videos of people with metal and they didn't look that bad, but i discovered that those people had Damon self ligating braces. Sadly my ortho doesn't have them and i don't want big metal brackets taking up my whole mouth. Are traditional metal braces smaller then they were years ago? If you had all traditional metal or Upper clear ceramic and lower traditional please let me know your experience with them. If i were to get the ceramic on top i would also prefer not to have bright colors in my mouth either, to me that looks worse than having all metal. So another question i have is if you did have ceramic what ligs, bands did you have that were stain resistant that wasn't a bright color?

[gtkimo]

I have ceramics on top and bottom. Ortho just wanted to do the top, something about them being bigger and me chipping teeth, but I demanded both. I've not had a single problem. They are the same size as the braces I had as a child. Granted, the metals now are much smaller, but I wasn't overly concerned with the ceramics size. I have not heard of them taking longer. I was given the same debrace date with metal and ceramics. I use whatever ligs they use with the ceramic braces (not sure if it's clear or tooth colored). If I watch what I eat and don't eat staining foods (tomato sauce, curry, mustard, etc.) it's fine. If I stain them in between appointments, I just go in and get new ligs on. It takes about 5 minutes and there's no extra cost to me.

[Tashi23]

[quote="gtkimo"]I have ceramics on top and bottom. Ortho just wanted to do the top, something about them being bigger and me chipping teeth, but I demanded both. I've not had a single problem. They are the same size as the braces I had as a child. Granted, the metals now are much smaller, but I wasn't overly concerned with the ceramics size. I have not heard of them taking longer. I was given the same debrace date with metal and ceramics. I use whatever ligs they use with the ceramic braces (not sure if it's clear or tooth colored). If I watch what I eat and don't eat staining foods (tomato sauce, curry, mustard, etc.) it's fine. If I stain them in between appointments, I just go in and get new ligs on. It takes about 5 minutes and there's no extra cost to me.[/quote]

It would suck staying away from staining foods for a year in a half. i love mustard and tomato sauce. Do you what color ligs are the most stain resistane besides the colorful ones? It is however reassuring that i can get them change when ever need be but i was told the bands stain as well. Can i get those change in between appointments as well?

[Tashi23]

*resistant

[parsleysage]

It would suck staying away from staining foods for a year in a half. i love mustard and tomato sauce. Do you what color ligs are the most stain resistane besides the colorful ones? It is however reassuring that i can get them change when ever need be but i was told the bands stain as well. Can i get those change in between appointments as well?

I'm still in the consult phase of my braces life but I've followed quite a few people on YouTube who have shown their ligs over several vids and how they get stained. One in particular said that light blue (I think it may have been Carolina blue) and smoke worked best for her. Stay away from clear, tooth-colored, and white.

To be honest, the staining is why I'm not going to bother with ceramic. The brackets themselves don't stain, but the ligs do... so to avoid that, I can put colored ligs on. Well, if I'm getting colored ligs, that defeats the purpose of the less visible brackets! So I'm going full on metal braces with bright-colored ligs. I have a colorful personality anyway

[Tashi23]

That's the biggest reason i'm learning towards all metal, i can't be bothered with the staining and i don't know if i can avoid colorful foods. a healthy diet consist of color vegetable and i love to juice, especially green smoothies which are dark green. I wonder if i could get silver ligs they're noticeable but not as much as metal brackets. I don't care if people notice my braces as long as its not overwhelming noticeable if that makes sense.

[parsleysage]

That's the biggest reason i'm learning towards all metal, i can't be bothered with the staining and i don't know if i can avoid colorful foods. a healthy diet consist of color vegetable and i love to juice, especially green smoothies which are dark green. I wonder if i could get silver ligs they're noticeable but not as much as metal brackets. I don't care if people notice my braces as long as its not overwhelming noticeable if that makes sense.

When you get the sufficient number of posts (the rules say 7 but I think it's closer to 9-10, basically it's whenever your username turns green), go to "Our Braces Stories" forum and you will see pictures of lots of adults with full metal braces and variety of colored and non-colored ligs. It might help you feel better

If you want to see the video of the girl I was talking about with the different lig colors, her YouTube is peacebaby. Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/user/peacebaby/videos. She has ceramic on top and throughout her braces treatment she alternates between colored and non-colored ligs. She has a good vid on trying to decide between clear brackets or regular ones which you might find helpful. She has gold-colored braces on her bottom teeth, they are supposed to be less noticeable. If your office offers those you can ask to see pictures and see if those might be a good choice too.

I think you will just need to weigh your quality of life worrying about people noticing your braces vs. your quality of life trying to avoid the staining, and pick which one you think is worth the work. Just because some people don't care about people noticing their braces doesn't mean it's wrong for others to be self-conscious. So just do what's right for you!

[samoorelaw]

I have traditional ceramic braces on top (except for the molars, which are metal but those don't show when I smile) and all metal on the bottom. I originally started with ceramic brackets on the front 4 lower teeth but they were replaced with metal because the orthodontist needed to apply more pressure to those brackets to close my gaps (double power chains on the ceramic brackets just weren't enough) and more force can be applied to metal, as they are stronger.

My metal brackets are signficantly smaller than the ceramic braces on top. I have to say that if I had to do it over again, I would have gone with all metal, as really almost everyone can tell I'm wearing braces anyway, although they are a bit more discreet, of course. The metal brackets are also more comfortable due to them being less bulky.

My orthdontist did not say that having ceramic brackets would take longer than metal but the fact that my gaps did not close on the bottom front teeth until those ceramic brackets were replaced with metal tells me that treatment perhaps would have been quicker...

In my experience, I find that the silver and smoke ligs better disguise staining (silver is better, though), and I eat mustard and tomato sauce all the time.

Also, don't worry about people noticing your braces. I'm a 33-year-old lawyer who has to appear in court frequently and attend many meetings, and not once have they hindered me or resulted in someone making a negative comment. On the contrary, every comment I've received has been overwhelmingly positive, with many people giving me kudos for being brave enough to fix my teeth as an adult, with some of them lamenting that they wish they could do the same!

Not sure if you can view pictures on here yet (I think you need 7 posts to post and view pictures) but I've attached a current picture of my teeth so you can see the difference in size of the ceramic brackets compared to the metal. I'm currently wearing silver ligs on top, and light blue (which have faded to a turquoise-green) color on the bottom. Please note the rubber band elastics on the sides and the surgical hook on the lower archwire.

[Tashi23]

[quote="parsleysage"][quote="Tashi23"]That's the biggest reason i'm learning towards all metal, i can't be bothered with the staining and i don't know if i can avoid colorful foods. a healthy diet consist of color vegetable and i love to juice, especially green smoothies which are dark green. I wonder if i could get silver ligs they're noticeable but not as much as metal brackets. I don't care if people notice my braces as long as its not overwhelming noticeable if that makes sense.[/quote]

When you get the sufficient number of posts (the rules say 7 but I think it's closer to 9-10, basically it's whenever your username turns green), go to "Our Braces Stories" forum and you will see pictures of lots of adults with full metal braces and variety of colored and non-colored ligs. It might help you feel better :)

If you want to see the video of the girl I was talking about with the different lig colors, her YouTube is peacebaby. Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/user/peacebaby/videos. She has ceramic on top and throughout her braces treatment she alternates between colored and non-colored ligs. She has a good vid on trying to decide between clear brackets or regular ones which you might find helpful. She has gold-colored braces on her bottom teeth, they are supposed to be less noticeable. If your office offers those you can ask to see pictures and see if those might be a good choice too.

I think you will just need to weigh your quality of life worrying about people noticing your braces vs. your quality of life trying to avoid the staining, and pick which one you think is worth the work. Just because some people don't care about people noticing their braces doesn't mean it's wrong for others to be self-conscious. So just do what's right for you! :)[/quote]

I am aware of her channel, she is very informative about her braces and they look good on her you can barely even tell she has them on. I am def. one of those people who will be self-conscious in my braces, As weird as it sounds i'm actually dreading being noticed with them on because then i would have to admit that there is a problem with my teeth. I think a lot of people know i'm self-conscious about them because i barely smile despite being a bubbly person.

I can't wait to be a regular member so i can look take a look at "Our braces stories".
Thanks

[Tashi23]

[quote="samoorelaw"] My metal brackets are signficantly smaller than the ceramic braces on top. I have to say that if I had to do it over again, I would have gone with all metal, as really almost everyone can tell I'm wearing braces anyway, although they are a bit more discreet, of course. The metal brackets are also more comfortable due to them being less bulky.

My orthdontist did not say that having ceramic brackets would take longer than metal but the fact that my gaps did not close on the bottom front teeth until those ceramic brackets were replaced with metal tells me that treatment perhaps would have been quicker...

In my experience, I find that the silver and smoke ligs better disguise staining (silver is better, though), and I eat mustard and tomato sauce all the time.

Also, don't worry about people noticing your braces. I'm a 33-year-old lawyer who has to appear in court frequently and attend many meetings, and not once have they hindered me or resulted in someone making a negative comment. On the contrary, every comment I've received has been overwhelmingly positive, with many people giving me kudos for being brave enough to fix my teeth as an adult, with some of them lamenting that they wish they could do the same!

Not sure if you can view pictures on here yet (I think you need more posts to post and view pictures) but I've attached a current picture of my teeth so you can see the difference in size of the ceramic brackets compared to the metal. I'm currently wearing silver ligs on top, and light blue (which have faded to a turquoise-green) color on the bottom. Please note the rubber band elastics on the sides and the surgical hook on the lower archwire.[/quote]

I'm not able to see the link just yet but your post is reassuring. I'm just thinking of the long term, I'm out in the dating world and having all metal would make me a really self-conscious. It does worry me that the ceramic may not be as strong but my Ortho told me otherwise, if i got silver ligs and they didn't stain then i think i would go with upper ceramic. Its just would fit into my lifestyle and if i did have a problem with staining i was told i could get it replaced.

[Tashi23]

One more post and i will have full privileges.

[Tashi23]

It is weird, it clearly states after 7 post i will be considered a regisyered User.

[Tashi23]

Registered *

[Tashi23]

It worked. Well off to explore the "Our braces stories".

[Tashi23]

Wow, I have officially heard it all. I guess if you can think of it, its a thing.