Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm getting my braces in 1 day!! I'm very excited, but slightly confused. When I went for my consultation they only showed me the damon braces. Actually I think they're called Empower or something.. self-ligating nonetheless. Anyway, I originally wanted the traditional braces and not self-ligating because honestly I just like how they look and thought it would be fun to pick colored ligs haha (though my ortho said I could still get colors). I've been waiting to get braces for several years and have done lots of research but because I always assumed I would be getting tradtional braces, I never did much research about self-ligating ones. So I've been researching as much as I can.. as far as I know the differences between the two are: Self-ligating brackets are smaller, they don't use ligs which means you don't need to get them adjusted as often, and I've heard conflicting things about whether or not they hurt less and speed up treatment time.

Because I really, really like this orthodontist and everyone at the office is amazingly nice (they sent me a starbucks gift card?!) I decided that self-ligating would be fine. But on my ortho's website it shows traditional braces as well as lingual braces, etc. I wasn't sure if that meant that they offered those as well or if they were just showing what's out there (though it seems weird for it to be on the website if they don't do those). So I decided to call (because I completely forget how to ask questions when I'm actually at my appointments) and they told me that the self-ligating brackets they use are called Empower, and also said that when I get there for my appointment I'll get to choose what type I want. I'm not sure if that means like metal or ceramic or if they DO have tradtional..

BUT if they do offer traditional braces, I'm not even sure I want they anymore.. I honestly can't decide haha. I think the main reason I want them is because you only have to get them adjusted every 2 months which sounds better than once a month. At least for me, because I get lots of anxiety about these appointments. I'm sure after a while I would get used to it, but I don't know.. and twice as many adjustments means twice as much pain right? Do self-ligating braces actually hurt less? Help!

[quote="1398Days"]I'm getting my braces in 1 day!! I'm very excited, but slightly confused. When I went for my consultation they only showed me the damon braces. Actually I think they're called Empower or something.. self-ligating nonetheless. Anyway, I originally wanted the traditional braces and not self-ligating because honestly I just like how they look and thought it would be fun to pick colored ligs haha (though my ortho said I could still get colors). I've been waiting to get braces for several years and have done lots of research but because I always assumed I would be getting tradtional braces, I never did much research about self-ligating ones. So I've been researching as much as I can.. as far as I know the differences between the two are: Self-ligating brackets are smaller, they don't use ligs which means you don't need to get them adjusted as often, and I've heard conflicting things about whether or not they hurt less and speed up treatment time.

Because I really, really like this orthodontist and everyone at the office is amazingly nice (they sent me a starbucks gift card?!) I decided that self-ligating would be fine. But on my ortho's website it shows traditional braces as well as lingual braces, etc. I wasn't sure if that meant that they offered those as well or if they were just showing what's out there (though it seems weird for it to be on the website if they don't do those). So I decided to call (because I completely forget how to ask questions when I'm actually at my appointments) and they told me that the self-ligating brackets they use are called Empower, and also said that when I get there for my appointment I'll get to choose what type I want. I'm not sure if that means like metal or ceramic or if they DO have tradtional..

BUT if they do offer traditional braces, I'm not even sure I want they anymore.. I honestly can't decide haha. I think the main reason I want them is because you only have to get them adjusted every 2 months which sounds better than once a month. At least for me, because I get lots of anxiety about these appointments. I'm sure after a while I would get used to it, but I don't know.. and twice as many adjustments means twice as much pain right? Do self-ligating braces actually hurt less? Help![/quote]

Oh, and also do you need molar bands with Empower braces? I looked at the website for them and it doesn't look like make molar bands.. And after all the horror stories I've heard about spacers, that in itself might be enough reason to get the self-ligating lol.

Every clinic is different. Maybe your ortho has had really good results with Damon's and that's his preferred method. In my honest opinion, it doesn't matter to me what appliance I use as long as it does the job. I went with traditional because it's what my ortho recommended as giving the best result for my case, although he also offers self-ligating, lingual, and Invisalign.

Trust that your Ortho will use what is best for your case; if you have a preference, by all means tell your Ortho what it is, but there may be sound reasons for the choices. In the end, there really isn't much difference between the two; for a variety of reasons, Damon's don't actually cut your visits in half, because adjustments are more than just new ligatures.

As far as the bands go... Cases either need bands or they don't. It's not dependent on bracket brand. Bands are used when a solid bonding with a plain bracket is not possible. Any bracket can actually be turned into a band by welding it to the metal, although most bands are pre made.

(In the bad old days when my wife had braces, ALL teeth were banded... Because you can't put spacers on every tooth, the Ortho used a spring loaded hammer-thing to get the bands on. Yowza!)

You also have to take in consideration as to which style your ortho is most familiar with. If he does 80% Damon and 20% traditional, do you want to be in gear that he has only worked on 20% of his time?

But on the other side of things, I always wanted to get in sooner rather than later. I always had a ton of questions between each appointments and the quicker I could get in, the better I felt about things. Two months between appointments would have killed me.

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Also its the treatment plan that dictates whether or not you need molar bands not the bracket type. If you need a lot of molar movement they will probably band them. I preferred having my molars banded as I knew i could chew harder food with them and not risk popping off brackets.

My ortho only used Damon's. One thing I'll say is that they are much smaller and nicer looking, in my opinion, than traditional braces. I do feel like I'm missing out on colors though

I am three weeks into braces and honestly it's not painful at all. I have never had traditional braces so I can't really compare the pain levels. Braces feel more weird than painful in my opinion.

If you haven't gotten spacers and you're getting braces tommorrow , you probably aren't having molar bands. I don't. I have buccal tubes which are so hard to clean!!!

Good luck on your bracing day!

I had both (Damon and Traditional) and they were the exact same size. (Switched orthos and needed a couple replaced). I know some Orthos will actually allow colors on Damon once the majority of the front teeth movement is completed.

I did a lot of research on braces before going on 3 consultations. I was adamant about wanting self-ligating braces. I ended up choosing the one ortho who didn't work with self-ligating braces. He thought it was mostly a marketing ploy because he has been able to achieve the same kind of results with traditional braces for the same amount of time. I have been extremely impressed with his skill using traditional braces, so I can confirm that the type of braces should base entirely on the method your ortho is confident about using for your particular case.