Ceramic or metal .........hmmmmmmmm????

[leigh287]

I am getting ceramic on my top teeth. I thought about going with metal but I changed my mind to ceramic. Who knows...I might change my mind again before I get my braces on...

[jem]

If you want to see how good clear brackets can look, see Kipepeo's recent picture in the "my story" section

[starfish88]

I got the ceramic too, SL so I don't have to worry about the ligs staining either. My ortho sees them as 'the norm' and doesn't charge extra. I'm pretty happy with them except when I smile I show my bottom teeth too (I'm a cheesy grinner) and Damon don't do ceramic/clear bottoms so I'm showing off my metal anyway.

[spudly]

Thank you all for your advise and comments
My appointment is tomorrow at 10am
So I am either going to wake up and have made a firm decision one way or the other overnight
Or
Go with what my lovely ortho thinks
It seems to me there are indeed pros and cons for both

I will let you know tomorrow !!!

Thank you again everyone I am always so pleasantly surprised how lovely everyone is on here taking their time to share and support their experiences

[CJP]

[quote="braceface46"]I got braces a month ago and I got the clear ones on top, metal on bottom. I wish I'd have just gotten the metal ones on top too. The clear ones stick out further, so my top lip gets stuck on it after I relax my smile. So then I have to hold my lip out real far to get it to go down OVER my braces[/quote]

I too had my braces put on just last month (June 21, 2012) with clear on the upper teeth and metal on the bottom. I think if I could do it over - I would go with metal all around. They are smaller (like Braceface46 mentions, the ceramics seem to stick out more and my top lip gets sort of stuck on top when I am lecturing for longer times.) Yesterday, for the first time I have light blue ligatures on the bottom and I really like them!!

I wonder how big of a deal it would be to remove the ceramics on the top (ten I think, I have metal in the back) and have the metal put on. Keep us posted if you do change. I don't have an appointment to return until September 19 (8 weeks) and I might ask about it then.

[Glandyover]

I will let you know tomorrow !!!

So what was the decision?

[spudly]

Hi everyone
Sorry for the delay I flew to Italy for my holidays thae next morning so didn't get the opportunity to share my big decision

I asked my ortho when I arrived and we decided to go with the CERAMIC

I asked her about staining and she didn't seem to think there would be much of an issue other than curry, and tomato based foods...... Which is of course a bit of an issue as I am now in Italy for 4 weeks holiday !
She put cream yellow colour ligs on so maybe that's why they don't seem to be staining much at all, I am skipping my black expresso and having cappocino and tea.

They are larger than the metal ones and because of my overbite my lip kind of sits on them when my mouth is relaxed, feels a little odd... I hope that as my overbite goes down so will my lip

I would say that I have made the right choice for me
They do look kind of odd as people can't see them that well they stare a little until they figure it out but I can Smile in all my holiday photos and you don't see them at all and that is just great

[trisportgirl]

I had to laugh as I was reading this...I have ceramic on top and at this exact moment I am eating curried quinoa! I had it for dinner last night too and didn't see any staining so I'm not too worried. I haven't had any staining in over 8 months, despite drinking coffee daily, curry and red wine on occasion and lots of blueberries. I'm more worried about stuff getting stuck in my teeth, and that will happen no matter what type you have! Personally I prefer the look of ceramic on top, mostly because it's not as obvious from a distance and metal seems a bit more "teenager-y". IMO.

[Skibunny]

In adulthood, I think ceramic is definitely a bit more inconspicuous :) Just avoid the red wine!

[junkfood1991]

ceramic is only invisible in photos and moves teeth slower than metal. as far as staining goes, i think ceramic ones don't stain???

[plugnickel69]

I believe it is a myth that ceramics move teeth slower than metal as it is the wires, elastics, etc. that actually do the moving.

[spudly]

Soooo 6 weeks of having tomatoe soup most days and espresso coffee most days and nothing ...zip... No staining at all of the bands
I must get through a tube of lip gloss a week to help my lips slide over brackets ( not recommended for guys I guess )

So there we are

[Glandyover]

Soooo 6 weeks of having tomatoe soup most days and espresso coffee most days and nothing ...zip... No staining at all of the bands
I must get through a tube of lip gloss a week to help my lips slide over brackets ( not recommended for guys I guess )

So there we are

I'm rockin' the silver and I go nuts with the Burt's Bees to keep my lips in shape. That and tripling my water intake from before becoming smile enhanced are what keep me from hurting.

[CJP]

I am an adult (55) that originally had ceramic uppers and metal lowers. From the beginning, the ceramic were definitely clunkier and bulky. Because of staining from antibiotic mouthwash (for the TAD), it stained by teeth terribly and really centered on the ceramics.

Last week, my orthodontist removed the ceramic uppers, spent much time getting all the adhestive bonding removed, scrubbed several times with pumice. etc. Then, I saw my teeth (as they were a couple of months ago) which were fairly white.

I had metal uppers put on (silver ligatures) and I cannot BEGIN to say how much happier I am!! I teach college and lecture for hours at a time (often back to back classes). Once I had metal, I noticed a positive improvement in my ability to smile (especially after talking for long periods of time) and my teeth feel and look so much cleaner. And no more worries about pasta sauce, red wine, coffee.... things adults enjoy.
AND - the endless time applying lip balm (I even tried Vaseline on top of the ceramics to 'help' my lips better glide.... but didn't work.)

The metal are so much smaller, and a much smaller profile (so they do not stick out so much) and quite frankly, once you have braces, no matter what type, we all can see that you have braces. I don't know why the big push for "clear" because it is still obvious that you have braces. Better still - not once have I had to even think about lip balm or something to help my lips not stick to the ceramic.

Metal just was the right move and I wish I had done it from the very beginning. Now - I don't mind at all how much longer I still have to be in them - and since I am just starting out, this is a good thing!

[Ashybear]

I have ceramic uppers and metal lowers and I only wish I could get ceramic lowers too. Apparently I could have insisted upon them, but I was told that ceramics tend to break more when they're on your bottom teeth, which can prolong treatment time etc..

But I love my ceramics! Mine haven't stained (yet)...

Do many people with ceramic uppers get coloured o rings on their metal lowers? I'm tempted to get pink o-rings, but I'm not sure whether they'll look weird because I have the ceramic uppers..