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I teach middle school and my students usually take about 2 weeks to notice that I have braces. Usually it's one kid who says it out loud and then the rest say, "I didn't even notice". It's not that they're not visible, it's that MOST people (present company excepted ) don't look at your mouth when you're talking/ smiling. With clear (ceramic) brackets there's nothing there to draw the attention (unless you are already looking at the mouth as I do )
If the invisalign might not fix the tooth that is high up, you may end up in braces anyway so why not just start there?
Just my H. O. Here's a picture of my opals:
THe major problem with any of these is the wire is visible. There are a few here who have a white wire but that's the ortho's decission now ours.
If I only had to wear them 5 months, I'd go with metal. I love ceramics and they are less noticeable in my opinion, but they can hurt coming off during debanding. It might be something to speak to your ortho about before you decide.
Hi Jennie, I teach as well (4-11 year olds). I'm surprised and reassured that your students didn't notice - even with a metal wire. The children are the least of my worries, in fact I think it might even make me look cool as they all seem to want them when they're a bit older!
Maryten - my ortho also said that only certain sizes of wire can be coated so I don't know which I'll get.
Anyone with a white wire - does it make a lot of difference to metal? Was it your choice or up to the ortho?
I have ceramics and here is a pic to show you how discreet they are.
I had the "tooth colored" archwire but like you stated earlier the coating does wear off. I find it that it is not worth spending the extra money to have the color coated archwire. Even with a metal color wire people still don't notice much.
Wow you can't see yours at all! I'm guessing that must be the tooth coloured wire? You say you have a metal wire now, do you find more people have commented? Any pics? I'd much prefer a tooth coloured wire but my ortho doesn't seem to think it makes much difference. And it's interesting to hear that your coating chipped off....
i have been stunned of late, i expected EVERYONE to notice my braces and within the last week or so i have had a full on conversation with people, one for about an hour, the other for about 20 minutes and when i said something about my braces they looked baffled. i had to point it out and they both said that they hadn't noticed! now with full metal and baby pink ligs this seems very strange to me but it's like someone else said, very few people stare intently at people's teeth the way we do! remarkable! when speaking to new people sometimes i feel a bit wierd but unless i point it out or speak about it, as yet no one has brought it up. at first i found the best thing to do was to tell everyone 'I'VE GOT BRACES' so then i wouldn't have to worry about them noticing but i don't do that anymore and no one's said anything at all. my boyfriend work's with a girl who has braces and he told her the other day that i'd had mine and she said to him 'they're not braces! they're fashion accessories!' which made me laugh. speaking of this, a colleaugue's fiance told me that he heard an article on the radio saying that because braces had become so fashionable and popular there were now fake braces on the market to put on yourself. i remember reading a post on here from another teacher who had coloured ligs and one of her kids said 'miss, it's like a rainbow in your mouth', awww how sweet. you prob don't feel ready for the whole coloured thing but if you do decide to have fun with colours i bet your kids would love it!
I have ceramic braces on the top and bottom and they are not that noticable. They can only really be seen close up. I have been braced for about 3 months now and some of my work colleagues who I speak to on a daily basis were surprised when I said that I had braces as they didnt even notice them. One bloke who I hadnt seen for ages thought I had collegen injections as I have a slight pout now. Though I have to say that if I am talking to someone I always feel the need to say I have braces cos I wouldn't want them to be talking to me and thinking what is wrong with her mouth, I even thought of getting a t-shirt made saying "yes I have braces, get over it, cos i have!"
For the first month I had a white wire, which was great as it really blended in. Now I have metal wires and they aren't that noticable at all. I met Simon Cowell last week at an awards ceremony and had my photo taken with him and I was really grinning and you couldn't see my braces at all!
this journey can sometimes be hard but I have to admit with the ceramics it makes it a little bit bearable - even though I am skint paying for them, but in the end it should all be worth it
Lau xx
Braced on 25 July 2006 Ceramic upper and lowers
Braces off on 3 April 2008
I also have the ceramics on top.
I at first had the silver wire but now have the white wire and must say I LOVE THE WHITE WIRE! I am going to need a heavier wire soon and don't know if there is a white bigger wire. But go with the ceramics if you like them. ONLT ONE THING about these things...the ones I have are the sharpest damn things! The edges are like razor blades! I have seen on this site ones that have rounded edges but again mine are not. They ate me up at first but now I'm used to them. When the teeth move I can feel it against the inside of my lip for a couple days so for your comfort look/ask about this issue. I wish I knew about the edges on mine.
I also expected that as soon as I got my braces people would say something but they really haven't. We pay a lot more attention than everyone else does apparently. For me this was years of agonizing and stressing over the decision to get braces but for everyone else they can't even see them because they're clear and I don't show much of my upper teeth when I talk. The edges were very sharp for the first few days but by rinsing with salt water (thanks KK) and just getting used to them it has not been too bad. The new game I play with my friends and family is to see how long it takes them to know I have braces without me telling them.
I have a friend her name is Lucia Williams shes very short and she wears braces . she is around 50 years old, even thugh she don't look like it, shes so adorable, back to what i was saying, yes she is also my mom' s friend, nd I am lucky enough to have her as my school guidence counciler.She wears braces, the reason she wears them is because if she didn't her teeth would fall out and her teeth would cut into the roof of her mouth nd would cause her such pain and she had a bad overjet, horrific, she describes it to me.well yes she is a guidence counciler and got the braces not too long ago. she has the Clear Ceramic ones on the top, becuase she talks to people teenagers like every minute of everyday and she dicided to go with the clear ceramic kinds on her top row of teeth and the Traditional Steel metal kind on her bottom row . though she has the clear on top she didn't want them to be that visable, all her 9-1 (Freshmen Division 1 {that's her division only}) can tell and all know she wears braces as much as she didn't want ppl to see they all know. But even though she says she hates braces her end resuklt will be her keeping her teeth nd having them be perfect for her and no moore pain. which is good, she's too mice a person to have to go through that much pain.
) don't look at your mouth when you're talking/ smiling. With clear (ceramic) brackets there's nothing there to draw the attention (unless you are already looking at the mouth as I do 
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