Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm set to get my braces put on next Monday. The orthodontist assumed I would want ceramic on top, metal on the bottom as that's what most of his adult patients do. As far as I know the cost is the same regardless of whether I get a whole mouth of metal. The only thing I'm worried about is whether I will get the same caliber of results with top ceramics as I would with full metal. My case isn't severe by any means, but if I'm paying almost $7,000 for this I want the results to be as good as they can be! What are your opinions and experiences with this? I've done a board search and I see it's a debated topic, but I can't seem to make up my mind. I don't mind the look of either and I don't really care if ceramic slows my process down as long as the results are the same. FWIW, this ortho uses Clarity Advanced ceramics.

Well it's really a personal preference which kind you deside on. You have to ask yourself if you would prefer for them to be a little less noticeable and go with ceramic or if you completely don't care and go with the metal. As for myself, when I was a teenager I had full metal upper and lower and from what I can remember I was happy with them. In my 20's I lost my retainer and unfortunately my teeth relapsed so this time in braces I went full ceramic, upper and lowers. I have had no problems with them and my teeth are finally completely straight. It's true that my treatment plan has taken a bit longer than it would have been with traditional metal, but that didn't bother me. All that mattered was the end result would be the same regardless of which brackets I wanted. Ceramics are slightly bulkier than metal brackets but again, that didn't bother me either. I really like how they are hardly noticeable and that is the ultimate reason why I had chosen them.

If you search on sirwired's posts -- and he is one, if not the most well-informed non-orthodontist on this board -- you'll find that the final results will be the same.

My ortho said the same, most of her adult patients get metal on the bottom and ceramic on top. I went with her advice. I seriously considered metal on top. As others have said the ceramics are bulkier. I struggled to get my upper lip to go over the top brackets for the first two months, but I eventally got used to them. In hindsight I probably would have chosen all metal. The doc said the end result is the same with either type of bracket.

I got clear upper and lower - I didn't get a choice. Having had them for 8 months now i think I would rather have had metal on my bottom teeth as they are a fair bit smaller and much smoother than the clear ones. They just seem too big for my bottom teeth.

I agonized over what to get, too. In the end, I got ceramic on the upper 6 front teeth, regular metal for all the rest. I've been happy with it, would do it again. I don't find the clear ligs stain as much as people claim they do and I drink a metric ton of black coffee!

I'm set to get braces next month and I'm leaning toward ceramic on top? I've heard they are less fragile than traditional braces. Has anyone had any experience with ceramic braces breaking ?

Andre2003 wrote:I'm set to get braces next month and I'm leaning toward ceramic on top? I've heard they are less fragile than traditional braces. Has anyone had any experience with ceramic braces breaking ?

Neither type is fragile. I suppose the metal might pop-off slightly easier (because they are smaller; the same applies to self-ligating brackets), but I've never heard of one breaking.

I've had corners of 2 ceramic brackets break off. Not a huge deal, but the techs have to be a little more careful working around them. They can't put the same pressures on ceramics as they do stainless; so things might take a little longer.

Looking back; I was the only one that cared I got braces. I'd go with all metal if I had it to do again. Ceramics are less noticeable; not invisible. Especially if your wires are stainless, have elastics, like colored ligs....

I too have had corners of my ceramic brackets break off!(Forgot all about that) One corner was a part that an elastic rubberband would connect to, so that bracket had to be replaced since I was wearing elastics at the time. When the ortho went to remove the bracket, it "shattered". Was a big pain to remove and I was told that was common with ceramic. I'm not looking forward to the removal process of the brackets on the braces off day.

The question is whether you want less noticeable braces (they can still stand out for other reasons), or don't really care

Also if you want your case to be finished as quickly as possible, or time isnt a concern

You seem to not care about the time, so its just all about the aesthetics then

Result depends on the skill of the orthodontist and little else.

As my ortho doesn't charge any more for different brackets I went with all ceramic. So did my kid. When I first consulted with him a few years ago he said they usually do metal on the bottom but now the ceramic brackets at better than they used to be so he has no problem with them everywhere. I like them, haven't had any trouble yet with anything breaking, and I have to have bumpers along the bottom so my top teeth don't hit them. Even with that I've had no issues. The idea that they are bulkier doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal, I mean really, they are still pretty small, any difference is fractions of millimeters. My back most brackets with the molar hooks are metal though, for strength since that's the last place that anchors the wire. I like that all my brackets are the same, and with smoke colors ligs I haven't seen any staining. Yes, you can see the wire, but I knew going into it that there was no way to make them totally invisible and I'm ok with that. Ceramic just makes it a little less noticeable.

I got my braces put on at 28. They gave me the choice of all metal or clear on top and metal on bottom. My orthodontist doesn't do ceramic on bottom. I got clear ceramic on top and metal on the bottom. The top is hardly noticeable if you get bands that blend in. Usually I go with light silver, it makes them look whiter and doesn't stain bad. Today I felt brave and got teal bands on top ;)

What did you end up getting??

I have traditional metal on top and bottom..i'm 27 years old and i'm fine with them! Sure people notice them but they'll notice the ceramics too.