Metal Mouth Message Board

Whatever you (or anyone else) decides to do, please try to be respectful of others who may have made a different choice.

As a wearer of Damons for almost a year now, I will admit that I get very apprehensive when I read discussions on the board that equate Damons with the spawn of the devil. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I'm sometimes left with the feeling that those writers want me to go down to my ortho and demand that he pull those offending brackets out of my mouth!

My dental coverage is really good and my entire treatment will cost $3,600, with my insurance covering $3,000 of it. Cost isn't a factor, although at my consultation I requested ceramic and I think my estimate was based on that choice. Honestly, I don't care at this point who knows I have braces and how noticeable they are. There is a young lady at my office who wears what looks like Damons and they look great. I saw her from a distance and I couldn't even see them.

I'm leaning towards full metal, but am still on the fence. I guess it's a good thing that I have at least two months before being braced.

There are times when I wish I had ceramic on my social 6. My damon3 braces are very noticeable because of the way I smile, and the fact that I smile a lot. You see a LOT of metal. And as much as I like to pretend that I'm not all about my appearance, I just really don't like how I look with metal braces.

Then again, I think I'd be even more upset if I had clear brackets with stained ligs. And I thrive on foods that would stain ligs (coffee, tea, tomato sauce, the occassional curry, chocolate, etc). So unless I was in a situation where my ortho would let me change my ligs every week (or more!), I think I'm much better off with my metal braces.

Since I just got my lower braces placed and have ceramic on the front six and metal on the remaining teeth, I feel I can reply to this post with an opinion. I have ceramic on all of the upper teeth.

Personally I chose the ceramics because I didn't want my braces to be very noticeable. Yes, I know people will know I have braces but the ceramic are just not as noticeable as the metal. The metal brackets are a bit smaller than the ceramic. Both are very comfortable. I was previously told that ceramic braces in my case may add on about 2 months to treatment time. My orthodontist said if I wanted the ceramic on the lower teeth, he could put them on the front six and metal on the remaining teeth - I'm thinking probably due to the type of work that needs to be done and elastics will be used in the future but not sure if this was one of the reasons. When I made my decision to get braces, I told myself I would prefer ceramic braces but if metal was recommended then I would go with the metal. If you have an option, choose what makes you most comfortable. There are some people that gets use to the metal braces and that after a few weeks it's no longer a big deal to them to have to wear metal braces but there will be others that are very self conscious about their braces throughout treatment - just keep in mind that you are doing something for the good of your teeth. I'm kind of glad that my ortho did recommend the metal for the back teeth because it is giving me the opportunity to experience both types of braces.

Good luck and keep us posted.

ssfw

SSFW-I second your post!

I have ceramic on top (no bottoms yet) I personally like them, as SSFW said they are definitly less noticeable than metals (especially on pictures). I've had mine for about 1 month and I eat spagetti sauce and hot chocolate and they're not stained (knock on wood). I have to say that I try to brush immediately right after eating these kinds of food.

I myself wonder if duration of treatment is compromised with ceramics. I was told it adds months to treatment. I really haven't noticed any progress on my teeth, but I've seen pictures of others with metals and they've had a lot more movement than me!!! It's dissappointing you guys. I know everyone's different, but I just can't help thinking that maybe there is a difference. I have an appointment on Monday, and I can't wait to ask what's going on!!!

One last note... when I first made the decision to get braces I was going to get all metal (didn't care if they were noticable or not, or so I thought). I ended up changing my mind last minute! Honestly I was glad I did...I didn't realize how traumatic it was to see/feel these things in my mouth at first. Being an adult and being that they're less noticable, it helped me ease into journey. Good Luck with our decision.

I have ceramics on top nd metal on bottom.
I have been told that it all depends on ur ortho how long you keep em on.
Just bc u have metals does not mean that ur treatment time will be less than if you had metal.....

I have ceramics on top and bottom, and I chose them because I wanted them to be minimally visible. I was told that the pearl colored ligatures that I got resisted staining better than the clear ones, and so far I haven't noticed any stains (I've had them 3 weeks). I'm not a big coffee drinker, but I have eaten some of the "bad" foods like spaghetti sauce, mustard, etc. I just brush right away after eating and it's been all good so far!

FWIW I am considering getting colored ligatures later. I just didn't want them to be very noticeable when my teeth are still cuckoo.

How could a drama queen not want to be seen?

- Missing Tooth -

I have the brackets I have- self-ligating metal- because that is what my ortho works with. I am really happy with my braces.

I never, ever wanted ceramics- when I was younger I had a few friends who had them and they looked gross! I don't know if it was the brackets or the ligs or what, but yuck! Now I see people in ceramics and they look fine. But they weren't for me- and it was moot anyway because I wasn't given a choice.

It's really a personal preference. My ortho does invisalign, lingual, ceramic and traditional metal.

I opted for lingual on top and ceramic on the bottom. All my wires have been metal and I've always gone with pearl ligs and/or powerchains (call me conservative....).

I also eat liberally of the staining foods. I was a bit fussy about this at first, but I'm so over it now. Perhaps it's because I only show lower braces.

And as for one bracketing system being faster or slower than another......yes, please, can we bury that forever?

I am new to braces as I just got them on the 7th of this month but I can say that I opted for the traditional metal braces. I really do not know what brand they are.
I opted for them because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of the ligs staining for the clear or ceramic braces.
Yeah sure I knwo people have said that I could have gotten colors for the ligs but to me that kind of defeated the purpose of clear or ceramic braces.
I just figured that I would rather have people see me with metal braces and know they are braces than to see me from a distance with ceramic braces with stained ligs and think until they get close that I do not brush my teeth.
Anyhwo I just thought I would share my thoughts on this subject.

Not all drama queens want to be noticed! I just make a bit deal out of things and worry about things that I really shouldn't be - thats why I am such a drama queen!

xx

I've got ceramic top and bottom - I was pretty good at avoiding the naughty stuff for about 4 weeks and then was over it!! So lots of red wine, spaghetti, choccy, coffee and tea...ligs were a bit yucky when I got them changed but not so much that anyone else would notice. Had them changed to silver ligs whcih are pretty, make my teeth look whiter and after two weeks hammering with the red wine are resisting all my best attempts at staining them

progress wise I have seen major changes in only the first few weeks so can't imagine all metal going any faster - the only reason my ortho was dubious about all ceramic was in case they ruffled my lower lip too much being slightly bigger than the metal....but all was well and I can't even feel those ones. Go with what you really want - that's all that will really matter

I have ceramics on top and metal on bottom. I've found the ceramics feel really big, rough and dry comparing to the other brackets in my mouth and wondered if the metal brackets would have been more comfortable. My ligs are also stained cause I eat curry and drink coffee and red wine so I'm going to try silver ligs next.

The ceramics still look better I reckon but I think the metal ones would be more comfortable and you wouldn't have to worry about the ligs staining.

I have traditional metal braces and I'm 23. Most people don't even notice I have braces!

I originally wanted CLEAR braces. I read about the clear ligatures staining easily and since it's all clear, sometimes if it's stained, it will look like you have stuff stuck to your teeth (until you get your ligs changed). So I chose metal because treatment time would have been longer for me and it would have costed me more $$$ if I had gone the clear braces way. I'm actually pretty happy with my metal ones. At first, I hated them, thought they were ugly, etc. but after like a day, I was used to them.

Another reason why some people choose traditional because CLEAR braces might be NEW to your Ortho and he/she may be more knowledgeable about tradtional metal braces.

Also, I read that CLEAR braces are actually bigger so it's better for some people to get metal braces if their top teeth will constantly be biting/touching the lower clear brackets and could possibly knock them off

I still think the choice should be totally up to the individual because clear brackets are pretty cool and good for cosmetic reasons if you don't want your braces to be noticeable, let's say for work or social reasons. Just make sure to brush well to keep them clear. I think someone mentioned using baking soda - that sounds like that would help whiten teeth (I might have to try that since I learned I have to be careful when eating mustard!! LOL)

Either way, make sure you get the braces you want since that will make you happy!

Good Luck!


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3 teeth extracted: Thursday, July 20, 2006
2 teeth extracted: Thursday, July 27, 2006
5 spacers put in: Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Spacers out, full braces in: Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Brace Treatment Time: 22 - 26 months.