Metal Mouth Message Board

heya, im still giving a third thought on getting braced or not, i was at first ok but then i turned like...i dunno if i want to, anyways, the other day i just rememberd that when my brother got braces my cousin started to talk about when he got his, he said the he wore less thick braces, and it was hard on tae kwon do cos it was easy to get hitted and bleed etc, and he said that my brother's weremore thick you know?
and when ive looked to peoples teeth of course wearing braces i notice a differnce.
is that because of the person teeth size? or its because yeah braces are different.
and im talking about metals, all of them just metal

I think you are asking about the profile of different braces, i.e. their height, i.e. how far out from the tooth they extend. Having looked closely at self-ligating brackets vs. stainless, the self-ligating (the ones I looked at were GAC Inovation) definitely had a higher profile than stainless, even though the footprint of the GACs was smaller (meaning the area of the tooth they cover). I'm sure it varies between the brands of self ligating brackets, as well.

If you are concerned about thickness, in general (from my experience) the stainless would be "thinner." Hope that helps some.

When I think about martial arts, or any other scenario that involves a direct hit to the mouth, it would hurt with any kind of bracket!

Different brackets have different profiles. I wear Damon's and they do stick out quite far; however, a girl I work with commented on how much smaller they are than what she wore. If you're worried about the profile -- don't. No one will really pay <i>that</i> close attention to your teeth. After the first week or so, most people won't even notice them anymore!

I did the same thing to myself. I was so excited about getting braces up until about a week before the actual B-Day. I started getting scared and considered backing out. I'm really glad I didn't, though. I've only had them for almost 2 months and I've already seen so much progress.

So, don't worry

Hi Hollywood Smile. I was petrified before getting the braces on. Had to be dragged (or strongly encouraged) by my hubby to get to the appointment. A few weeks later, I'm fine and the braces are fine. I have the Damon 3 braces and they do stick out, but they're smaller, semi smooth and not an issue. I mountain bike and they don't cut my mouth or anything.

Good luck!

Hi Hollywood Smile. I've had my braces for about three months now. I really only thought the brackets would determine how "thick" they feel from your teeth.....but the arch wire plays a part in that as well.

I had just became used to the braces on the outside of my teeth and then at my last adjustment, the ortho explained that they had been putting a very thin arch wire on. This last time, they put a MUCH thicker gauge wire on both the top and the bottom and it felt like "day one" again. So the wire also can play a part in how "thick" your braces feel.

I have clear brackets on the top and stainless metal ones on the bottom. My metal ones feel very small in my mouth. I hardly ever feel them. The clear ones on the top feel "blocky" to me and do stick out more. I'm still glad that I got the clear ones on the top though. Most people never notice that I even have braces, even standing up close to me.

-Raleighsmile

hey you all thanks for your replies! well im worried about thickness cos i swimm and if they are huge then i wont be able to close my mouth while swimming, i can do it with my mouth open but swimming for hours like that well...kinda gross
i dont know if my ortho has ceramics, but anyways i think i rather metals, im always trying to look different lol, so metals will give me a total new look, perhaps after few months ill get bored and change them for ceramics, is that possible? i also skate, and i have to smile all the tim is part of the performance thingthe charm lol you know? so metal wont look hot, or charming, so.....perhaps ceramics is a better option, anyways back to thickness stuff, if they are huge as well theyll look awfull and also will be hard to smile.....

u see??? thats why sometimes im excited and just up to the sudden i backup lol this thoughts attack me...
but anyways thanks alot for your replies, you really help alot!! THANKS!