Metal Mouth Message Board

Please nobody get offended,

but doesn't it defeat the purpose of having disceet ceramic brackets, if you are going to put colored lig's on them? If the ceramic brackets are free, then it doesn't really matter, but if you are paying for the ceramics, doesn't it defeat the purpose?

I must say that it does look cute on the ceramic brackets, and I was soooo tempted to ask for carnation pink ligs on my upper ceramics on friday, but then I thought, it doesn't make sense for me to shell out an extra $300 for disceet ceramics if i'm going to put colored ligs on them that will attract attention to my braces.

Please no one get offended.

Also, those of you that decided to put colored ligs on ceramics, did you regret getting ceramics.

Dang I am tempted, because they look cute on the ceramics. Oh well. I already decided to get colored ligs on the lower metals.

I got the ceramics because I just didn't want a whole mouthful of metal. If I wanted to be secretive about it, I would have opted for linguals. Regardless if I had ceramics or regular metal, people can still see them. The clear ceramics are not invisible so I think mine was just a preference if I wanted to have traintrack metals or pay a little bit more and have ceramics that didn't overwhelm my eyes with metal when I looked into a mirror.

I think colors on braces are cute, I'm just not into the whole metal look.

Okay I detect a little bit of offensive.

Again, I only asked a question and it's not meant to be offensive. Please don't go there.

I HAVE heard people say(with ceramic brackets) that people didn't notice there brackets until they got colored ligs.

People are going to notice whether or not you have ceramics or metal. It's just a mattter of them actually saying something. Most times, they won't unless it's your friends or family. I have silver and pink ligs and not one person has said anything. I had clear ligs and some friends have asked if I was wearing retainers. They didn't even notice the HUGE extraction gaps when I laughed just minutes prior, to realize that I was missing some teeth. Again, I just think some don't mind all the metal and others opt for ceramics just because it's not all metal. People don't always choose ceramics to be discreet.

If I could have afforded the extra expense, or if they were no additional charge, I would have gone clear instead of metal because:

1)I like how they look with colored ligs!

and

2) It would be nice to have the option sometimes to be a little more discreet.

But I REALLY love the contrast they have with colored Ligs after seeing Meryaten and a few other pics.

I think also people may start out wanting it all to blend in and then like the colored lig idea when they adjust to braces (my friend experienced this)

However, I also like fixing my teeth, so I'm totally happy getting metal.

I didn't take offense to anything. And I didn't say YOU wasted your money, I was talking about me in general. It WOULd be a waste for me, because I AM looking for discretion. I asked if people who wear ceramics are defeating the purpose of discretion by adding color. You said that you didn't choose ceramics for discretion, so be it.

If you want to wear colored ligs then do YOU.
It's a wrap...next.

came back to say, I do get what you all mean about ceramics over metal.

The ceramics do look good with colored ligs.

Pink and silver sounds so tempting...

Who knows, in the future I might add a little color, but right not, i'll go for colorless

I went with ceramics on top, just because I didn't want to look like a teenager with all metal. I already look about 10 yrs younger than I am, and it's hard! LOL.

So at first I had clear ligs, but they made my teeth seem HUGE and you couldn't tell what that was on my teeth unless you looked closely. After my first adjustment I went with purple ligs, and now I think it looks much better. Even my bf commented that he likes the color cause now it's right away clear what's on my teeth, instead of leaving one to wonder "what's that gunk on her teeth?"

But like a lot of people have said, this is very subjective, and every person will have their own opinion and their own reason for using clear ligs or colored ligs. This is one of those times when there is no right or wrong answer and no wasted money if the person with clear braces chooses colored ligs.

I went w/ ceramic uppers bc I wanted them less noticable and will most likely NOT go w/ colors. But for my metal I will put color to them for fun.

Nobody notices I have braces on my top teeth. I was asked 3 times today, "do you have braces on?"

I have ceramic uppers and bottoms. I rarely show my lower teeth as my smile just shows the top. I have white (or tooth colored lol i think) ligs on. People either comment and say "oh you have braces" or "wow you can hardly see them". The first couple of days I was nervous about it, but now I don't care.

I think having colors on ceramic isn't a waste. It depends on why you wanted ceramics and also how you feel at the moment. After all you are paying for it. I was actually thinking of getting orange and black for Halloween. LOL (My fave holiday) I am one of those people who would do crazy things just for fun. You only live once!

Okay let me point out that it being a waste was my own personal feeling for me personally, because for one, braces are expensive, and two, I have to pay extra money for the ceramics. I felt as if i would be blowing the extra fee that I could've spent on something else, and gotten all metal, if I added colored ligs. Afterall, I am going for discretion right???

Well...I have been thinking about it all morning, and I understand what you all are talking about when you say it's about the overall look, as to preferring a mouth of ceramics over metal. I think I have come to this conclusion as well. I just like the way the ceramics look, and they look great with ligs. I guess by me feeling a little guilty spending the extra money for ceramics, my conscious is telling me, you might as well have gotten metal all the way if your going to add ligs. But the more I think about it,I really do want carnation pink ligs, and no one will probably notice anyway. I've heard members say people noticed with colored ligs, and some say people didn't notice with colored ligs.
I don't know, I'll have to see tommorrow...my ortho may not even have colored ligs

But nevermind me, I guess it's just a guilt trip.

I am one who opted for ceramics (@ $400 extra!) and then realized they were not only far from invisible but HUGE.

If I had to do it again, I'd go with metal.

My first ligs were "platinum" and they made my teeth look yellow.

I tried baby pink and it looked like I had bubble gum in my teeth.

Then silver for a "braces look" which was better than the others.

Since then I have had metallic purple (February).

Then metallic blue, which made my teeth look whiter.

Then black (a mistake for me because the way the ligs were criss-crossed that time gave me vertical black lines on the upper front teeth.

Then metallic green, the spinach in your teeth look.

Right now I have a combo of light blue and purple (they didn't have light blue powerchains).

Next week, I'm thinking about light blue and carnation pink. My favorite color combo.

I think I just like variety. And color.

I still would rather have metal, not for the way it looks but for comfort. The metal brackets are tiny compared to the ceramics I have. I've had a few that came off and had them replaced with metal and they are so much comfier.

I just haven't had the time or patience to sit through having them all changed out and I suspect I'd be charged for the time and materials.

So I'm changing them out as they pop off and now have a random mix. And to be truthful, no one has noticed or asked about the mismatch. It's that unnoticeable.

Anyway, I think many of us start out self conscious about braces and want the most discreet look but pretty soon we could care less who notices them and decorating them with colored ligs in a way celebrates our confidence and security about being an adult in braces.

My two cents.

Elle

I had a situation recently where I needed a powerchain on my lowers and the ortho only had a choice of clear or blue. Since I thought the clear would stain, I opted for the blue powerchain. I also only had a couple weeks between apointments since he was going to reposition some brackets, so I decided "what the heck" and got blue ligs on my ceramic uppers to match. I thought it looked pretty cool, but I was uncomfortable with the number of people who were noticing my braces for the first time in six months. When I went in for the bracket repositioning, I went back to the 'discreet' look! I posted a picture with the blue ligs in the 'Lig Colors' thread.

Dimples,
I had the choice of clear uppers or all metal. When the ortho said "no additinal cost because I am an adult" then I say HEY why not.

But the real issue wouldnt be color ligs, but how comfortable you are with braces which goes back to the question you asked about discreetion. Like many who has posted to this particular thread, they started out with clear for the discreetion, but realized that the braced look was more important to them than to someone else. If you feel that you can get the same effect from metal brackets that you can get in clear, then why spend the extra money. Now I was fortunate that my ortho doesnt require extra fees for your choice of clear uppers vs metal lowers, but if I had the choice I would still go with clear uppers. The reason why I personally chose them was not because of the look ( because I never cared what people said about me in the first place ) but because I dont need as much aligning on my upper as I did my lower. What I mean by that is that my upper arch only needs to have gaps closed. My lower arch would need to be shifted from left to right to match my upper midline. The ortho suggested the clear at no charge but preferred metal on the lower, he said that clear bottoms would take to long to close up extraction gaps.

To sum it all up in a nutshell, if you really want to be 100% discreet then invisilgn ( if you are a canidate) would be the way to go. With the clear vs metal discussion for the fancy lig colors, treatment time would determine which way I would go before colors, but clear does look good with pink Remember that this is something that you would have in YOUR mouth for 18-24 months or longer. Also consider how it would affect your total treatment time. Why drive an oldsmobile when you can have a cadillac Good luck on whichever you choose.

http://www.alstonortho.com/colorplanner.asp
Play with the colors and see what you would like to start off with.

I went with the ceramics on top and the metals on the bottom. $500.00 extra for the ceramics tops and another $500.00 for the ceramic bottoms if I wanted them. I didn't on the bottom. The ceramics are a little bigger than the metal brackets. I like that they aren't in your face when I smile. If I want to add color I can but I haven't wanted to add any color to my tops, I like the clear tops with white metal ties, They are way less noticeable! The bottoms are fine with the grey ligs. If you want a bit of added color welp, then the colors. As a adult I don't want the apperance of having the darker metal mouth for two years so the ceramics were way worth the extra money. (No insurance here)
I like that you can do what ever it is you want with this set up, I'm not stuck with the braced look, it was well worth the little extra money for me.