Metal Mouth Message Board

I just had my ceramic braces put on two weeks ago and the assistant did not ask me what color ligatures I wanted. I assumed she had put on clear until I got home and noticed that they were a shimmery pearl color. They are not terrible, but I feel like they make the brackets stand out and I would much rather have clear. I called to ask and they told me they stopped using clear ligs years ago and that they would turn yellow in a day. I don't smoke, eat curry, drink soda or coffee. Do they really stain that bad/fast? I'm debating on if it's worth it to buy my own and bring them to my next appointment or if I should just suck it up and deal with the pearl color for the next two years.

Thanks!!

sjj929 wrote:Do they really stain that bad/fast?

Yes. Yes they do. They stain ridiculously fast, and you may not think you eat a lot of ligature-staining foods, but you probably do without even realizing it. Mustard? Ketchup? Tomato sauce? Tea (the iced variety, maybe)? Unless you eat mashed potatoes and boiled chicken for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I think you'll find that they stain very, very quickly.

sjj929 wrote:I'm debating on if it's worth it to buy my own....

Well I wouldn't do that. Your ortho should still be able to order the clear ligatures, whether they choose to or not as a general rule. And considering it's part of what you're paying for or have already paid for, I would ask that they order you the clear ligatures to try. At the very least, they should offset some of the cost of your treatment if you decide to go that route. But I don't think you'll be happy with the clear ligatures, to be honest. Just my two cents...

Funny you mention mashed potatoes and boiled chicken because that's pretty much been what I've been eating, with the occasional soft tortilla and rice pudding. It's only been two weeks, so I know I'll eventually end up back into my normal eating habits. I'm sure they experienced people coming in unhappy with staining and that's why they don't use them, but I guess I was just surprised because clear ligatures are typically what I see online. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post.

Do they really stain that bad/fast?[/quote]

Yes. Yes they do. They stain [i]ridiculously[/i] fast, and you may not think you eat a lot of ligature-staining foods, but you probably do without even realizing it. Mustard? Ketchup? Tomato sauce? Tea (the iced variety, maybe)? Unless you eat mashed potatoes and boiled chicken for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I think you'll find that they stain very, very quickly.

I'm debating on if it's worth it to buy my own....[/quote]

Well I wouldn't do that. Your ortho should still be able to order the clear ligatures, whether they choose to or not as a general rule. And considering it's part of what you're paying for or have already paid for, I would ask that they order you the clear ligatures to try. At the very least, they should offset some of the cost of your treatment if you decide to go that route. But I don't think you'll be happy with the clear ligatures, to be honest. Just my two cents...[/quote]

Really? Mashed potatoes and boiled chicken?

Then by all means, give the clear ligs a try. I think you should try them regardless. (I didn't realize they were so cheap. $9.99 for 40 sticks.)

If they hold up without staining, beautiful. If not, oh well...

Do they offer any other color options? Lots of colors look fairly unobtrusive but really, you've got brackets glued to all your teeth with a silver wire running though them. Clear vs pearly really isn't going to make that much difference. I've had smoke, silver, and lavender and they all seem to blend in fairly well. I have all ceramic brackets.

And the previous poster was right. Clear ligs stain massively quick. Be happy they used pearl.

There are a few less noticeable options besides clear, maybe try what they call smoke, which is like a really light gray.

Even something with tomato in (e.g. ketchup, pizza) will stain them to look yellow. That looks a lot worse than pearl as they look dirty. They will then look like that until at least the next appointment (assuming your ortho then changes them or you ask for them to be changed - my ortho only changed ligs if they broke).

I"ve had my braces on for four weeks and my ortho recommended using the clear ligs. I have been carefully with what I have been eating and using straws when I drink anything other than water to try and prevent staining. Honestly, I've only noticed a little staining in the back and nothing in the front. My ortho said I wouldn't be happy with any other color ligs and told me if they did stain just to call the office and they'd change them out.

Hope this helps.

Braces47 wrote: My ortho said I wouldn't be happy with any other color ligs and told me if they did stain just to call the office and they'd change them out.

Pretty presumptuous of your ortho to assume you wouldn't want to have any other color but clear. Some people like to have fun with the colors. House colors, team colors, college colors, my kid has rainbow right now and I just came from having Harry Potter related colors. (I have lavender now and really like them)

Also, isn't changing ligs whenever they get stained not the best approach? I read somewhere, possibly here, that the standard 6 week time period between adjustments is because that's kind of how long the elasticity lasts on ligs and changing them more often puts too much force too often on teeth and can be harmful.

I hear smoke colored bands are the best

Thanks everyone for the advise. Does anyone have a picture of clear braces with smokes ligatures they could post.

I have a pic but can't figure out how to upload. I don't do any kind of online photo storage and apparently can't post one right from my iPad.

verso wrote:

sjj929 wrote:Do they really stain that bad/fast?

Yes. Yes they do. They stain ridiculously fast, and you may not think you eat a lot of ligature-staining foods, but you probably do without even realizing it. Mustard? Ketchup? Tomato sauce? Tea (the iced variety, maybe)? Unless you eat mashed potatoes and boiled chicken for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I think you'll find that they stain very, very quickly.

sjj929 wrote:I'm debating on if it's worth it to buy my own....

Well I wouldn't do that. Your ortho should still be able to order the clear ligatures, whether they choose to or not as a general rule. And considering it's part of what you're paying for or have already paid for, I would ask that they order you the clear ligatures to try. At the very least, they should offset some of the cost of your treatment if you decide to go that route. But I don't think you'll be happy with the clear ligatures, to be honest. Just my two cents...

I absolutely agree with this post. Pearl was the safest way to go and they were still stained so I cringe at how clear would look after six weeks. After sticking to pearl for the past six months I switched it up to pink for breast cancer awareness month and will likely do orange for Thanksgiving, alternating red and green for Christmas then back to pearl until Valentine's Day. Might as live it up as I do not plan to get braces again.

Beckett wrote:

Braces47 wrote: My ortho said I wouldn't be happy with any other color ligs and told me if they did stain just to call the office and they'd change them out.

Pretty presumptuous of your ortho to assume you wouldn't want to have any other color but clear. Some people like to have fun with the colors. House colors, team colors, college colors, my kid has rainbow right now and I just came from having Harry Potter related colors. (I have lavender now and really like them)

Also, isn't changing ligs whenever they get stained not the best approach? I read somewhere, possibly here, that the standard 6 week time period between adjustments is because that's kind of how long the elasticity lasts on ligs and changing them more often puts too much force too often on teeth and can be harmful.

Adults with coloured ligs I really don't get.

I don't think mine does either... but some months I have really clean looking brackets. Once I even went back thinking the ligs had broken of!

Don't worry about the staining cause I don't think it makes the teeth any less noticeable.