Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi there, I'm from Cork, in Ireland, I have my braces on since January 08, have another year and a half left. The ligatures are driving me mad! I have the Ice braces and clear ligatures and find that they change colour very easily esp after certain foods. I've trying my best to stay away from curries etc. There are times after getting braces tightened when practically I live on soup which doesn't help the ligatures. Can anybody suggest a different colour that wouldn't stain as much or do you know if the dentist can put the white wires on other teeth also?

I don't have ceramic braces, but just from reading other members stories they have recommended the following colours instead of clear:
smoke, pearl, periwinkle, and even silver or grey. I also know that some orthos offer wire ties - which do the same thing as ligs, but are wire, so they can't stain at all.

Good luck. Pearls

Sally,
I had ceramic braces put on back in Sept. 06 and have tried opaque, smoke and silver ligs but what my favorite was was just plain ole wire ties. They have a nice clean look to them.

I totally feel your pain!

I have ceramic on top and bottom, and although I haven't really thought to ask my orthodontist whether he offers other colors or not, I really should. I had NOT heard about the whole CURRY thing and went and had curry within 5 days of getting my ceramic braces on... WOAH! that was rough. I had to walk around with bright yellow looking teeth for a whole month, not to mention the pain of putting my braces on first!! ouch!

I am definitely going to ask about the "smoke" colored ligatures, it sounds cool. Also, you're lucky that your bottom ones are metal. In my experience, the bottom ones stain faster than the top ones.

I have ceramic top and bottom and have clear ligs. I dont eat curry but do drink tea and coffee and like soups and tomato based dishes etc. I have found the best way to keep the ligs clean is to always drink water with food and swish right after eating - one can do this quite discreetly in restaurants with practice, behind a napkin (you'll also get the bits out too and the back of a spoon makes a great mirror for dicreetly checking you have no spinach etc in your brace!).

I also use 6% hydrogen peroxide solution which I buy from Boots. You are meant to dilute it to use as a mouthwash but if you use a cottonbud, you can carefully dab it undiluted on the top of each bracket and watch it migrate round the ligature, without it getting on the teeth. Leave for 3/5 minutes (one has to maintain a silly smile for this time btw!). Dont let it get onto your gums/lips etc or it may burn if you have sensitivity - just place a little cotton wool under your teeth just in case. I only really worry about the front ones so it doesnt take long and does work.

Thanks everyone. I drink tea regularly and also when my teeth are sore, I have a lot of soup, my favourite is basil & tomato which creates problems. My first experience was a korma which gave the ligatures a flourescent yellow colour which did make it awkward when people were asking about my braces and expecting me to show them off!! My next appointment for getting the braces tightened is the 1st of May so I'm going to ask about getting the tie wires put on the front few teeth. I'm 29 and feel a bit strange having braces now, most people I see with braces seem to be teenagers but I'm glad that I got them now because it'll be worth it in the end.

Hi everyone. I was interested to read all the comments about stained ligs. I too are having trouble preventing the clear ligs from staining. After my last apt. it was only about 5 days before they stained again so have to go another 5 weeks before they are changed! Most foods have colour in them of some sort and it would be difficult not to drink tea or coffee again for a while. I will try Britlaw's helpful advice about the hydrogen peroxide. My sister is getting married at the end of May and my apt was for the following Mon, luckily enough i've been able to change the apt for the Fri as i didn't want to go to the wedding with a yellow grin! I'm sure i can keep them clean for 1 day.lol My ortho has never mentined coloured ligs so i wil ask if they are available, i hope so.

I have found the silver to be great at stain resistance. I avoid curry but eat lots of other staining food like tomato sauce, tea, and lots of coffee.

On my brace day my ortho assistant didn't even ask me what color ligs I wanted. I was an adult. I had clear brackets. So she just whipped out the clear ligs and started placing them. Luckily I had been lurking on this site and stopped her in her tracks. I got smoke that day, and found that those did turn yellowy after awhile. At my next adjustment I switched to silver. (But once again had to make it a point to tell them NOT to put on clear.)

Hi Sally. Just wondering did you get the ortho to put on wire ties? and if not what colour did you chose out of interest. My apt. is another couple of weeks away and i'm wondering what colour to pick but i've a feeling he won't have other colours in stock.

Hi Deborah, sorry about the late reply. I did get the ortho to put the tie wires on the front teeth only. He was quite happy to do it. I got white tie wires and have clear blocks so I'm doing okay with them now. I still have clear ligs on the back and side teeth which are kinda yellow at this stage but as you can't really see them it doesn't bother me as much. I'd recommend them, if I'd known I could get them earlier I could of saved myself a lot of embarassing smiles!!