Self-Ligating 24 Karat Gold Braces

[pure]

Greetings,

Does anyone know of any companies making gold self-ligating braces? I’d like to use In-Ovation brand, but they do not make gold brackets from the factory.

I’m also researching medical grade gold plating in case I cannot find a professional brand pre-made in gold.

Any information on this topic would be much appreciated,

Thank you!

[Beckett]

Gold is a softer metal, especially 24 karat. I would think they wouldn't be strong enough for braces, to hold the titanium wires without warping or bending. My ortho offers gold brackets but I don't think they are real gold, just colored.

[pure]

Thanks Beckett, I agree-- that makes sense.

I’m looking for either self-ligating brackets that have been gold plated from the manufacturer, or, a medical grade gold plating service that can coat stainless steel brackets. (before installation)

Are the brackets your orthodontist has self-ligating? If so, do you know the brand?

Any other thoughts would be great.

[Ziggy]

I'm thinking an ortho in Dubai maybe?

[Blingythings]

OMGOSH Gold braces! I would totally rock those! MUCH better than having to choose a ligature band color as an adult. Gold is totally hot right now!

[Mimo1985]

I would wear those too. If you end up finding them let us know! :)

[Beckett]

The gold brackets I see on the model at my ortho ar standard, used with ligatures.

[pure]

All,

I wanted to update this thread after several more months’ worth of research – as well as document my progress.

As I continued researching and redefining my orthodontic goals, it was clear I had become obsessed with achieving as broad of a smile as possible. In fact, I am more interested in maximizing my smile’s width than I am about having perfectly straight teeth.

Like many of us, I, too, had braces growing up. At the time, the standard treatment was to extract perfectly good teeth (ugh) and then use braces with ligatures to “pull” everything together straight. This resulted in a disappointing thin/narrow smile. (I didn’t really recognize that at the time) Now, fast forward 15 years and some crowding came back on both sides, particularly on the bottom while my front had some overlapping in my two front teeth.

I ended up selecting the Damon system for a handful of reasons-- but from the research I did (I know, their marketing is very, very good); I did not find any other results that seemed to consistently obtain as “wide” of an arch when complete. Not that you can’t get wide arches with other products, I’m certain you can, but Damon has at least positioned themselves as a leading product that’s known for broad arches.

After selecting a bracket, I moved on to the precious metal plating piece. I ended up finding a company who was willing to gold plate the Damons using the thickness I believed necessary, however, my orthodontist (who I also researched obsessively and interviewed 5 others to find and who teaches other ortho’s how to install Damon) was concerned about additional friction, tolerances, etc.. (makes sense) He said he would be willing to try it, but ultimately, I decided it was more important to prioritize results vs. vanity... :)

With that being said, I got my braces installed in November, 2016— and in just 3 short months, the results have been pretty amazing. My orthodontist suggests that the width development occurs in the last couple stages of treatment, which makes sense, so nothing really on that front has happened yet.

A couple photos: (day 1)

http://cigarinfo.com/images/aw/1.jpg

and: (+3 months)

http://cigarinfo.com/images/aw/2.jpg

I'll try stopping back from time to time in an effort to update this thread.

[Ravenclaw]

You've made great improvements already. How many more months do you have left?