Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi

I hope someone can assist. I'm 37 and have a deep bite (top teeth almost cover bottoms) and class II maloclusion. My teeth are perfectly straight and even (individually) and not crooked its just my bite thats out. I've been offered damons for two years - which the orthodontist claims will result in a bite that properly supports facial muscles and gives wider smile (which are my aims in that order).

The problem is I'm 37 and while I want to change my bite enough to see braces as a good thing and don't really mind wearing them at my age - the next two years are going to be very busy professionally for me and ortho says the only option is metal damons both upper and lower and not ceramics. Also she mentioned elastics at some stage - which i didn't know where part of the damon system.

Anyway....I'd be really grateful if anyone knows why for certain conditions, metal are considered better than ceramic...or are ceramic just not an option with damon. Would ceramic produce a similar result just not quite so good (I'm willing to compromise on result to cut treatment time as the situation isn't too dreadful to start with).

Can ligual braces do most things Damon braces can..would these be an option? I'm in contact with an ortho re six month smile but not sure it will be possible due to my problem being bite basaed.

Very grateful if anyone knows of any alternative to damons for very deep bites. The problem for me is that I'm in France where orthos can't just advise (against health regulations)if i was in the UK I'd simply google the various types of braces and contact possible contenders but thats not an option here/

I can’t answer your specific questions, but I hope you won’t mind a bit of input from me anyway . I do understand that you want your braces to be as discreet as possible. I thought like that myself when getting mine. But the thing is: other people don’t care! Really they don’t! There are plenty of stories on this board of people who have carried on high profile professions with very visible braces and suffered no disadvantages whatsoever.

FWIW I have ceramics on my “social 6â€

yes, i agree with all the above - but i think my main fear is due to duration of the treatment, if i do find the braces very obvious, its a long ol' while to live with them - at this point in my life anyway and its so costly, i dont want to risk thinking about quitting. I was hoping six month smile would help - as Id probably even exchange walking round in headgear (during the day!) to cut 18 months of treatment - especially as have career change next summer and until them am home based a lot of the time - perfect time to look silly - but after the summer it might be a bit of a problem.

Have you thought about lingual braces? Consult with an ortho who does it and see whether they think it can help your situation.

They're a bit more costly, and affect the speech more than anything. But you get over the speech problem after a month.

Just a thought, but could you mention your concerns to your general dentist and ask him/her to point you in the direction of a suitable orthodontist? Or, assuming you speak French, look for a forum like this one and ask there? (Tho' you do need to be a bit cautious joining a continental forum -- I don't know what it's like in France but some of the German ones have, shall we say, a slightly less straightforward idea of "adult braces forum" than Archwired does )

re continental forums..ooh lala! Sadly my French is still rubbish.
I have managed to find an ortho that does linguals in France though and they have agreed to look at my xrays by email before i visit them as they are some way off.

I know there are people on the board who will disagree with me, but I am in the camp that says that Damons are just a particular type of bracket and nothing special. They will move your teeth just like all the other brackets out there. It's really the skill of the orthodontist that matters. That said, the Damon system does have a half clear option--Damon 3's. As for ceramic/clear brackets, they produce the same result as all other brackets. Some orthos use them, some don't. Some orthos will claim that they require slightly longer treatment time due to not being able to put as much force on those brackets as the metal. But then there are some people on the board who have clear brackets and their ortho told them it would take no longer no matter which they chose. It probably depends case-by-case. I've yet to hear what defines "longer". My guess is it's only a matter of a few months--if anything. I know very little about 6 month smile, but I think that system does not really address the bite--it's focus is more on aligning the front teeth to correct crowding. I can't comment on linguals as I know nothing about them. Many people end up needing some form of elastics no matter what bracket system is in their mouth.

With a deep bite you may not be able to have clear brackets on your bottom teeth. The clear brackets are harder then teeth and you will risk chipping/wearing down your front teeth.

I will second the poster who said that people do not notice your braces. I have a professional job and getting braces was not an issue at all. The people who did notice them literally said to me, "Good for you!". I know it seems like these little things are going to be a huge deal in your life when you are starting out with treatment. You think that everyone will be staring at your mouth but you need to trust us when we tell you that this is just not the case.

My advice is to go to a few more consults. Find an orthodontist that you trust and trust in the system of brackets he or she uses. Whatever that system is it's what they are comfortable using and what gets them the results they need.

Best wishes.

Hey, I have ceramic uppers and metal lowers, and I also have a very deep bite. (In fact, my top teeth did completely cover my bottom teeth) Anyway, my ortho told me that because of my deep bite, I could not have ceramics on the bottom because the ceramic brackets can break easier from my top teeth hitting them all the time. That being said, I dont see why you couldnt have the ceramics on the top though. I have the front 8 teeth in ceramic on top and so far, no problems there

I have to agree about people not noticing the braces and here is an example of it....I was 2.5 years into a 18 month estimate and was outside talking with a friend that I see on a daily basis and he looked at me funny, and said when did you get braces....I answered about 2.5 yrs ago and we had a good laugh as he had never noticed them. I have a full metal mouth and supported all sorts of different colors on them through my journey. So if someone that I see daily didn't notice them for 2.5 years...how much will any other random person see/notice or say anything....Most people if they do notice will not say anything, or they may ask questions because they are curious about getting braces themselves.

I was told lingual (Incognito / IBraces) could achieve anything conventional (Damon or otherwise) could. The advantages of self-ligating brackets (clarity maybe?) my ortho gave was no ligatures to stain and work slightly faster, disadvantages, they have metal in them. As my uppers were expected to take longer and they are lingual anyway, I went with regular ceramic brackets. Sometimes the staining drives me up the wall. I have six months to go and additions to archwire so far...but watch this space.

When I was getting initial consultations, I went to one ortho who told me cosmetic (tooth coloured) wires could not move my teeth, my current ortho has moved my bottom teeth with them, without problems. I think it has to do with ortho preference and skill rather than types of brackets and wires. Some on the board say lingual braces are better at widen arches, but no idea if that is ortho preference or scientific.

Try the Incognito website for a list of orthos that use their product in France.

I've just discovered that damon braces will be introducing clear brackets in the UK in Jan / Feb 2010 which sound ideal for me.

Any type of brackets would make use elastic bands to change your bite if it is needed. What damons don't use is ligatures.

Does your ortho offer the half ceramic half metal damon's? Thats what i have on my top arch and i have full metal on the bottom.