Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello. I wanted ceramic braces to have them less visible. However when they were put on i was surprised by how much they looked. I've now noticed that the rings on the sides of the brackets are in metal, which i thought they would not be. Anyone know of a reason why i didnt get all ceramic braces? Would the whole braces be needed to be removed and put back on to switch to clear rings?

When you say the 'rings', are you referring to the little elastic rings (ligs) that wrap around the outside of the braces? If so, those are available in many colors, including clear or silver.

I have ceramic braces on the top and metal ones on the bottom. As such, I get clear ligs on the top and silver ones on the bottom. It sounds as if they may have given you silver ligs instead of clear ones. If so, ask your ortho if they can give you clear ones. The only downside of the clear ligs is that they tend to stain a bit over time.

If I missed something and you are not talking about your ligs, then perhaps you can post a picture.

Do they look like this?



If so, you have wire ties on your ceramic braces. The orthodontist uses them to encourage the teeth to move a certain way. Also, some people like to have them on their ceramic braces because they don't stain the way clear ligs do when you eat certain foods.

smilesunset wrote:Do they look like this?



If so, you have wire ties on your ceramic braces. The orthodontist uses them to encourage the teeth to move a certain way. Also, some people like to have them on their ceramic braces because they don't stain the way clear ligs do when you eat certain foods.

No, they look way more metallic than that.

Sounds like you have silver colored ligatures on your brackets. Annoying that your ortho didn't even ask what color you wanted. But luckily ligatures are very easy to change out. Call your ortho and ask if you can come back in to have clear put on. But as it has been mentioned---the clear will stain over time.

Sounds like we might have the same type.

I can't remember what mine are called but they're ceramic 3ms that are self-litigating.

On mine, it looks like there's a thin piece of metal holding the wire on either side of each bracket. This is the self-litigating piece.

If you read the boards, you'll see pros and cons for the self-litigating v. ceramics needing ligs. If you didn't get the self-litigating you'd have to pick a lig color that wasn't susceptable to staining (and thus, probably more noticeable). I'm happy with mine though as I don't have to worry about a staining issue and while they're not "invisible" they are certainly less noticeable than the metal which I just had put on my bottom.

IMO, I think the sapphire's look VERY discrete but they weren't an option at the ortho I chose.

3M's Clairty SL is their ceramic self-ligating bracket. They are ceramic with metal clips.

In their ads, they use models with teeth are relatively straight. In this situation, you won't see as much metal because the sides of the bracket are not visible. In real-life situations, most people who get braces have some rotations, so in the early stages of using this particular bracket, you will actually see more metal, and will become less apparent as treatment progresses.