Metal Mouth Message Board

Anyone else feel like there teeth look really yellow with the clear brackets? wow, i was looking in the mirror this morning was disgusted. i think part of the problem is my ligs look like they are stained. Is it ok to brush with peroxide and baking soda? it just looks gross.

Most likely the entire problem is because your ligs are stained. Your teeth will look less yellow when you get your ligs changed. Are your ligs clear? The clear ones usually stain pretty badly. There is nothing you do can to make the staining better or make it go away. Only changing the ligs will remedy the situation, and avoiding foods that cause the stains.

When I first started I opted for clear ligs with my clear brackets. Big mistake as it stained horribly, making my teeth look yellow. It didn't matter how much I brush and with what, the stain was permanent on the clear ligs. I switched to metal ties during my first adjustment, I can eat pretty much anything now and no staining with the metal ties

I do have clear ligs. i have a cleaning next week... i'll have to ask about the metal ties. Are they pretty visible? They also have glow in the dark but the assistant told me they stain quicker than the clear ones.

Any lig which is clear or light colored will stain, unfortunately.

I used to eat Indian food or Thai food only a few days before my monthly adjustment. That way they wouldn't be badly stained for too long.

My ortho put the stainless steel wire ties on mine. They look great in my opinion; you can hardly tell they're there. Insist that your ortho put them on next time.

I've noticed that certain types of artificial light tend to bring out the yellow, so you might want to check them under natural light too.

I usually get smoke coloured ligs and love them. They look clear but don't stain. This time round I needed a closed chain powerchain and it only came in clear. I've been really careful and I'm only 1 week in and already things are a charming shade of orange towards the back.

I've brushed with peroxide and baking soda before. Lightened things a bit but not enough for me to bother trying again

djspeece wrote:I've noticed that certain types of artificial light tend to bring out the yellow, so you might want to check them under natural light too.

I agree with this. My teeth look much more yellow in my bathroom then when I look in my mirror in the car. I have pearl ligs on clear brackets.

Try light grey, it does look a little darker than the clear and not as good initially but they keep their color. I had the clear ligs the first couple times, but I enjoy coffee way too much to keep them in good condition for long. The metal ties also look better, but at least in my case, they were only put on to stabilize my teeth so I don't think they're always an option.

SunshineRay wrote:

djspeece wrote:I've noticed that certain types of artificial light tend to bring out the yellow, so you might want to check them under natural light too.

I agree with this. My teeth look much more yellow in my bathroom then when I look in my mirror in the car. I have pearl ligs on clear brackets.

Pearl? do you have a pic to see what they look like? I was telling my husband they were stained yesterday and he said you should of just gotten metal, but i explained its not the bracket its the lig. im definately not going to do the clear or glow in the dark.

ST24085 wrote:My ortho put the stainless steel wire ties on mine. They look great in my opinion; you can hardly tell they're there. Insist that your ortho put them on next time.

That's what my ortho did too. I love them! Never stain, barely noticeable, no hassle. Takes a bit longer to put them on, though.

Ciara wrote:

ST24085 wrote:My ortho put the stainless steel wire ties on mine. They look great in my opinion; you can hardly tell they're there. Insist that your ortho put them on next time.

That's what my ortho did too. I love them! Never stain, barely noticeable, no hassle. Takes a bit longer to put them on, though.

Yeah I love mine too. True, but that's a very small price to pay for not having to worry about smiling with a mouth full of stained ligs .

Yep I went thru the same exact dilemma when I got my ceramic braces with clear ligs. I don't eat any curry and I use a straw when drinking tea or coffee but my clear ligs still got stained very quickly, which made my teeth look gross.

I switched to light pale pink ligs for my second adjustment, which were better than the clear ligs but I found that they faded a lot and looked dingy. So I decided to just take the plunge moving forward and get bright colored ligs. And let me tell you it was the best decision I made. I've had hot pink, electric blue, and teal. I think the hot pink are the most discrete of the 3 colors but I liked them all because they made my teeth look SUPER white. A co-worker actually asked me if I had my teeth whitened recently.

I'm a 34 year old female by the way. If you're interested let me know and I can post a picture of each color I've worn. But if you're looking to keep things discrete while minimizing the yellow stained look, then try gunmetal gray or silver ligs.

I definitely would like to see pictures of all the colors . I'm getting ceramic tops and would like to see the way they look.