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I have a couple of questions that some of you may be able to help with hopefully!
1) Do ceramic brackets stain easily, the clear ones? The idea of going 18 months without a curry and red wine is a horrible thought to me but I'm not sure I will be brave enough to get the full metal ones.
2) Can anyone recommend a good water flosser? A lot of people are talking about the Waterpik on here, but is that the best choice?
The brackets shouldn't stain if you brush and rinse really good after eating those kinds of food. If you have the ligatures those are what will stain. I've eaten all sorts of chilis and curry foods and the brackets are clear as ever (damons).
Honestly if I had to do it over again I'd go for the full metal braces, people notice the braces anyways and you might save 500 bucks.
Can't tell you much about water flossers but I do know vigorously swishing a cup of warm water after meals clears 95% of food out, brush the rest away.
That's great, thank you! I'm getting them on soon so I need to make a decision about ceramic or metal. I've looked at pictures online and I feel that it does make a difference but people will notice them still, like you said. With the treatment being so long, I don't want to make the wrong decision!
Np! I'm confident that whichever you will choose, you will be happy for getting braces either way. Think about the end result! Really can't go wrong on metal or clear.
Hi, you will find it is the elastics that will stain, not the brackets. If you get self ligating brackets, you won't need the elastic modules that hold the archwire in the bracket but may need elastic powerchains to close any gaps or to align your teeth. If you have clear brackets that require elastic modules, you may find them staining after eating curry / tomato sauces etc. unless you pick some of the stronger colours that don't appear to stain quite so easily. I went with traditional metal brackets for a number of reasons and apart from one mishap (see my story) have not had too many issues with staining whilst also enjoying some great colours that have brightened up the experience.
I have not used a water flosser but use interdental brushes and have found them really useful. Many people on the forum swear by their waterpiks and there are many posts on the subject if you want to get some opinions on which one to get.
I have traditional ceramic brackets, but my ortho uses wire ligatures instead of rubber. Therefore, there is no staining at all.
I do own a Waterpik and I love it and often wonder what people did in the "olden" days before such a device existed. I am so addicted to it that I own two of them - one for home and one travel one that I use on business trips. I was in Europe this past summer and my North American sourced Waterpik wouldn't convert to EU power, so I had to go without for 2 weeks. Longest two weeks of my life....
mapleleafman888 wrote:Honestly if I had to do it over again I'd go for the full metal braces, people notice the braces anyways and you might save 500 bucks.
Yeah that's why I picked metal.
You can go for steel ties but that just makes tooth coloured braces look more weird.
As for oral irrigation devices, I don't use one and question their usefulness. A pikster plus swishing is effective.
Thanks for your opinions everyone! I really do love this forum. You are all very helpful.
I saw a girl today with the braces that my orthodontist recommended (the clear top arch and metal bottom arch) and actually really liked them. I thought that I might just go for the metal but that's really changed my opinion. I will still ask to see both before I have them put on and hopefully the pressure of the moment will help me decide ha.
I shall look into getting a waterpik, and the interdental brushes but I'll look through the posts that are on here about them.
Another thing to consider is size of the brackets. Ceramic are much larger as you can see. If had to pick against I would still do ceramic on top and metal on bottom. The color I have on bottom is coral. I like that you get to have fun with the colors on bottom but they are not too noticeable normally. Don't mind my rubber bands they come in white as well.
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I have the portable Waterpik and find it works well as my teeth are very crowded and flossing is difficult. At my recent dental check and clean my dentist said it was doing a good job at cleaning and keeping gums in top condition. I use it three times a day. It has to be refilled three or four times when I use it because of the small capacity but that doesn't bother me as I haven't been used to the large one.
The size of the ceramic brackets v metal is not an issue for me as the smaller metal brackets on the bottom irritate my gums more than the larger ceramic on the top. As an "older" person I prefer the fact that the ceramic are less noticeable when I talk and smile. After seven weeks of drinking coffee, some red wine (mainly white) and eating most things the braces do not appear to be stained. I will be getting new ligs on Tuesday anyway.
Uptown Girl, do you find that the portable Waterpik does a decent job of getting the food debris out from between your teeth? It has seemed to me that it isn't powerful enough. It isn't as powerful as the regular Waterpik. I'd love to know what sort of job the portable model really does.
I'm the owner/admin of this site. Had ceramic uppers, metal lowers ~3 years in my early 40's. Now in Hawley retainers at night!
As I have only used the portable I can't compare with the large model. I use the regular tip on 2 to remove the debris and the ortho tip on 2 to clean the brackets. There are only two settings, 1 and 2. Along with brushing and using mouthwash I occasionally use the threading floss and the smallest size of Pikster. The Waterpiks are so expensive in Australia that I decided if I could only have one, it would be the portable because I travel a lot.
I imagine if you are used to a more powerful water jet the portable might seem underpowered but I am happy with it and especially with the fact it only needs charging about once a week.
bbsadmin wrote:Uptown Girl, do you find that the portable Waterpik does a decent job of getting the food debris out from between your teeth? It has seemed to me that it isn't powerful enough. It isn't as powerful as the regular Waterpik. I'd love to know what sort of job the portable model really does.
I have the portable one and I'm thinking about replacing it with another model. It was great at first, but after a few months, it started to only have "full power" if it has been plugged in over night. After two days (4 uses for me) it doesn't work at all and needs to be charged again. When it is charged, it does a good job getting food debris out, but I'm pretty sure that the regular Waterpick would be much better. Maybe I got a lemon, but I wouldn't recommend the portable....
Braces installed on March 25, 2014: Damon clears on top and metal on bottom. I had braces for 25 months!
TheProfessor,
You have me worried now that my Waterpik won't last the distance. I see on the box it has a two year warranty if I have the receipt with proof of purchase so I have been looking for it "just in case". I imagine the rechargeable battery may be the problem. Have you had yours less than two years? If so you may be able to get it replaced free of charge.
Uptown Girl wrote:TheProfessor,
You have me worried now that my Waterpik won't last the distance. I see on the box it has a two year warranty if I have the receipt with proof of purchase so I have been looking for it "just in case". I imagine the rechargeable battery may be the problem. Have you had yours less than two years? If so you may be able to get it replaced free of charge.
Good idea, it is only 9 months old (nearly the same age as my braces). I'll have to see if I can find the receipt.
Braces installed on March 25, 2014: Damon clears on top and metal on bottom. I had braces for 25 months!
