clear or metal?

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#1 Post by **nowiseethemoon** » Fri Oct 27, 2017 11:47 am

What's your experience--do you regret your choice and why? I have my bonding appointment in 3 weeks. I'm leaning toward metal brackets top and bottom. If you got ceramic do you regret it? If you got metal, do you regret it?

#2 Post by **Tyrantblade** » Fri Oct 27, 2017 9:55 pm

The most important thing to realize here is that most people wont care that you got braces.

Sure a lot of people will (probably) notice; but they wont be drawing attention to you for it or mock you or anything like that.

So; you should decide whats most important to you; clear often has bigger brackets/less comfortable size; also it can stain and so can the elastics and ligatures and power chains.

Clear/invisible will be very obvious when it gets badly stained; which is up to the patient and what they eat/drink.

Metal is often smaller/more comfortable size wise; wont stain but more obvious to yourself and others.

Whatever you choose; do it for yourself as most others simply dont care (even if they realize; which they (probably) will).

I simply went for metal as i wasnt stressing about if other people noticed; and even though i work for a company with hundreds of workers per shift very few people even said anything; though im sure most that ive worked with for hours at a time have noticed; most people just dont care enough to say anything.

The few people that have said anything were pretty supportive as they have had braces before or have a friend/family member that has had them.

#3 Post by **TaylerMegan** » Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:32 am

I have clear on top, but when I get my bottom teeth braced, they’ll be in metal. I can’t remember why I went with clear on top, but I actually wish I’d done traditional metal. They’re barely visible and most people don’t know I have braces at first, but I’m afraid it will look weird once I get my metal lowers on.

I do like my ceramics for the time being, though. I’ve never had major issues with staining - if I eat spaghetti or something like that, I just brush right after and they’re back to normal. I don’t have the metal yet to compare, but so far my ceramics have been comfortable and easy to get used to. It will be interesting to see what the difference is when I get my lowers on.

I totally agree with Tyrantblade, though - don’t make the choice based on being self-conscious about visibility, because there’s nothing to be self-conscious about. I’ve had mine on for almost 4 months and other than a few questions from people who have never had them like “oh is it hard to eat with those?” no one says anything or cares.

#4 Post by **nowiseethemoon** » Sat Oct 28, 2017 10:58 am

Thank you Tyrantblade. I have analysed and over-analysed the pros and cons of the different kinds of braces. One of my big reasons for tending toward metal is that for the first year, before the surgery to pull my lower jaw forward, I will have a bigger and bigger overbite (or is it called overjet?). I might as well make it obvious I have braces as a reason for why I look like a goof. What I'm really wondering is whether people regretted a choice they made and why. I can see that there are potentially lots of cons to the clear ones (staining, larger) and obvious cons to metal (more obvious). I am the type that would stress about people noticing but ironically I think if I have metal ones, people might look less because it'll be totally obvious what's going on. My aim at this point is to have as few conversations as possible about them. :)

#5 Post by **nowiseethemoon** » Sat Oct 28, 2017 11:00 am

Thank you TaylerMegan for the opinions and experiences! That's good to know about staining and information about them being comfortable. And also thanks for the personal experience about the last four months!

#6 Post by **strinder** » Sat Oct 28, 2017 11:12 am

Good luck for bonding!

I went with ceramic and I don't regret it at all. I've not really suffered from my ligatures staining (other than the time I ate Singaporean noodles that turns out were covered in turmeric). Having ceramic really helped me at the beginning when I got them to cope with the difference in how I looked.

I am not self conscious of my braces AT ALL and in fact I really love them (I think if I'm paying this much money and with them for this long I'd better love them) but I also like that when I smile in pictures if the camera is a bit further away you can't see the braces (whereas if you get metal you'd get the glinting of metal and if it's close up all there is is a metal wire.

I also had one occasion at work when someone asked me if I had my braces removed because where she was stood they just blurred into my teeth.

To be honest, I think no matter what you get you probably won't regret it because you just learn to live with these weird things attached to your teeth.

Hope it all goes well!

#7 Post by **Nozzelnut** » Sat Oct 28, 2017 7:24 pm

I went with ceramic uppers and metal lowers. If I had to do it again; I'd just get all stainless. They can take more pressure without breaking and no one else really cares about your teeth. Metal come off easier too; whole instead of shattering like ceramics.

#8 Post by **Smileop** » Sun Oct 29, 2017 3:06 pm

When I had ceramics they were pretty discreet at first as I was pretty self conscious and honestly didn’t want anyone to know but what are you gonna do. By like the third month in I had a thick metal wire. Metal ties around the brackets and the brackets were all laced together so it was basically all metal inside with the exception of the brackets and at the point didn’t feel like there was a difference between what I had and if I had gone with metal

#9 Post by **nowiseethemoon** » Mon Oct 30, 2017 10:18 am

Thanks for the insights Strinder!

#10 Post by **nowiseethemoon** » Mon Oct 30, 2017 10:20 am

[quote="Smileop"]When I had ceramics they were pretty discreet at first as I was pretty self conscious and honestly didn’t want anyone to know but what are you gonna do. By like the third month in I had a thick metal wire. Metal ties around the brackets and the brackets were all laced together so it was basically all metal inside with the exception of the brackets and at the point didn’t feel like there was a difference between what I had and if I had gone with metal[/quote]

Good points! thanks!

#11 Post by **EmilyTravels** » Mon Oct 30, 2017 2:03 pm

Some of you have mentioned staining with the ceramic uppers, and I was under the impression that the ceramic material doesn't stain (like ceramic tile doesn't stain). I know that ligatures stain, but if you have self-ligating brackets, as I do, I didn't expect them to stain.

I have only had my braces for two months, so what do I know, but I drink coffee and wine and have eaten many stain-y foods, like blueberries and pasta (though no curry yet), and have experienced zero staining of the brackets themselves. The glue around the tiny metal brackets on my lower teeth has yellowed somewhat, but the clear brackets on my "social six" uppers still look clear as the day I got them installed. Comments/experiences/rebuttals welcome!

For the OP, so far I have been very satisfied with my decision to go with ceramic uppers and metal lowers, which is what my ortho recommended, since I am an older adult. He said "you don't want to look 13" (re. having metal uppers), and he's right about that!

#12 Post by **Tyrantblade** » Mon Oct 30, 2017 6:32 pm

Well theres quite a different variety of different "less obvious" brands/materials of brackets; so i think staining would vary as well.

But anywho; pretty much everything else is very likely to stain at some point anyways; so i think that kinda nullifies "less obvious" brackets anyways.

But as ive said its a very personal decision.

Also "you dont want to look like you are 13"; i sure wouldnt mind; the only inconvenience for me would be buying alcohol; lol.

#13 Post by **r1r1r12000** » Tue Oct 31, 2017 6:12 am

Full metal here, with no regrets. Nobody has mentioned my braces except for other adults in ortho. My braces have been low-hassle. If you want to minimize conversations about them, metal brackets make it obvious what's going on in your mouth.

#14 Post by **assertives** » Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:46 pm

I have full metal too, no regrets. I couldn't really care less what others say or think. I agree that going all out in full metal would minimize conversations about them. It's actually really not that big of a deal to anyone else but ourselves.

Also, ceramics are not as strong as metal, and hence treatment could take a little longer depending on what your ortho is trying to correct.

#15 Post by **nowiseethemoon** » Thu Nov 02, 2017 3:36 pm

[quote="r1r1r12000"]Full metal here, with no regrets. Nobody has mentioned my braces except for other adults in ortho. My braces have been low-hassle. If you want to minimize conversations about them, metal brackets make it obvious what's going on in your mouth.[/quote]

That was one of my thoughts: metal would minimize conversations about them!

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