Regrets on ceramic?

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#1 Post by **petitcanard** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:11 pm

Hello everyone,

I'm a newbie.. just made the decision to finally get braces (at age 37). 3 months until D-Day! Ack.

My big agony right now is the decision to go with all metal, or get the 6 top front ceramic. The metal-mouth thing has always deterred me, and I work with the public, so I was keen on ceramic. However after doing some research, my big concern now is staining - I love coffee, tea, red wine, curry.. all the verboten items! So figured maybe I should put pride behind me and just go with traditional.

This forum has opened a new window for me: the world of colored ligs on ceramic. I hadn't thought about it, but am still a bit unsure. I've read that sometimes ceramic in general can make your teeth look discolored as they are a bit large and may not match your teeth - mine aren't pristine by any means.

So a couple questions in the hopes this will help with my decision..

- does anyone regret getting ceramic?

- is it just the clear ligs that stain, or do certain colors stain as well?

- any advice?

Thanks so very much! I have a feeling I'll be on this forum a lot over the next 2 years

#2 Post by **socksy** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:40 pm

I love my ceramics - I have NO regrets. You can barely even tell that I'm wearing them. I started out wearing clear ligs and they do stain from coffee, but not enough so that anyone but me can tell. The two things I avoid now that I have the clear brackets is yellow mustard and curry - I've learned the hard way that they DO stain badly enough for anyone to notice. Lately I've had pearl white ligs put on and I'm finding them more resistant to stains than the clear. I have a silver powerchain on the bottom - just because silver is the strongest powerchain - and I also think silver isn't very noticeable with the clear brackets. I highly recommend going with clear brackets!

#3 Post by **Dutchess** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:04 pm

I love them! I also wasn't sure to get either metal or clear because of the staining but I haven't regret it. At first I got the clear ligs, they stained but it wasn't noticeable for others until after 3-4 weeks. Now I switched to cloudy/pearl colored ligs and they hardly stain!

My appointments are every 6 weeks but I come in to have the ligs changed in between my adjustments.

I drink coffee and love red wine. The coffee I just drink with a straw since I got them en for the next 2 years I switched to white wine! Luckily I don't like curry or mustard so I don't know how they stain, but I found no problem with tomato sauce or orange juice since I got the pearl colored ligs.

Its been easier for me to deal with them for the first few weeks, knowing they were less noticeable than metal. But now I honestly couldn't care less, never would have guessed that though!

Good luck with your choice and your braces journey!

#4 Post by **TumbleDryLow** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 10:45 am

Keep in mind that, except for black, no lig or powerchain is going to resist staining from curry. I know from personal experience that even dark metallic silver ligs turn into dark metallic green ligs when curry is eaten. So if you eat curry on a regular basis, you will be dealing with staining no matter what bracket type you choose.

#5 Post by **blueeyedboy** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 12:29 pm

I have ceramics on top, and I drink a cup or two of coffee every day. I did find that they stained with clear or gray ligatures on top, but then I learned that the orthodontist can use wire ties instead of ligatures, and the staining went away. I have no regrets at all, and would recommend you asking about wire ties on the ceramic brackets.

#6 Post by **smilesunset** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:43 pm

I would definitely recommend wire ties for ceramic brackets. I struggled with clear ligs for months (I eat a lot of curry and drink red wine and coffee -- all the bad stuff!) before asking my ortho's assistant if she there was any other way. She suggested wire ties and they are great. You really can't see them, as they tuck the ends behind the ceramic bracket, and the ties are the same color as your arch wire, anyway. But no regrets on ceramic, here. Go for it!

#7 Post by **ScubaJeff** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 5:34 am

Can anyone post a picture of the wire ties for ceramics?

#8 Post by **browneyedgrl** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:48 am

I never had any issues with my ceramics! I wore metals way back when. I only had ceramics on my upper social 8 and was wire tied from the very beginning. I'm a coffee drinker and I couldn't deal with stained ligs. Once I started wearing powerchains was a different story, I would go in to have them changed inbetween appointments. At that point I was on a four week schedule.

Scuba Jeff - if you go to my www below, I have pics of my braces throughout my treatment and you can see my wire ties there.

B

#9 Post by **ScubaJeff** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:00 am

browneyedgrl - Thanks for the pics. I think I'm looking at the right one: http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... 1008-3.jpg

How much longer does it take to get the wires installed over the elastics? Did your orthodontist charge more for them?

I've found that my coffee drinking and pasta sauce are already taking their toll on my ligatures.

#10 Post by **browneyedgrl** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:36 am

Jeff,

That is the right pic and that was within a few hours after my braces were placed.

My ortho didn't charge extra for ceramics, which I was grateful for. I hardly ate pasta sauce once I started wearing powerchains because I couldn't stand the orangy color. I just started cooking some of my favorite sauces again since my braces are off! How do you drink your coffee? I drank mine lite so my chains didn't stain to bad, but I was in the office getting them change inbetween appointments. After doing it on a regular basis, I did bring in breakfast one morning as a thank you for being so accomdating. The staff enjoyed it!!!

B

#11 Post by **PrincessPeach** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:45 pm

I have ceramics, i dont regret the decision because they're so much less visable
However, i look at them closely and see that they show that my teeth arent as white as i want, but no-one else see's this, only me.

I have had to give up curry, but nothing else, i just make sure that if i'm eating anything that will stain i go clean my teeth immediatly afterwards, so that nothing can stain.
But if you cant live without coffee, red wine & curry, i'd say go for metal.

#12 Post by **blueeyedboy** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 5:38 pm

ScubaJeff wrote:How much longer does it take to get the wires installed over the elastics? Did your orthodontist charge more for them?

I've found that my coffee drinking and pasta sauce are already taking their toll on my ligatures.

It does take longer to put wire ties on rather than normal ligatures, but they don't remove or replace at most visits - only when they replace the archwire.

My ortho did not charge extra for wire ties.

#13 Post by **petitcanard** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:16 am

Thanks so much for all the feedback you guys!! I think I'd die (or want to die) without curry & coffee especially... specifically if I "wasn't allowed" to have them haha! So I'll check into whether they do wire ties for ceramic at my ortho. That will help with the decision - I'd rather be "metal mouth missy" than live without all the badly-staining foods\drinks!

This forum is such a big help! Now if only Nov 5 would get here, I just want to get them on & get it over with

#14 Post by **pixelbrace** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:36 am

Love mine!
so happy i have them! i notice the staining since i drink coffee daily. my white wire is also getting a little worn. i go tuesday for a new wire!

good luck with your decision. it was tough for me but then i thought- the sooner i get them on the sooner it will be over!