Switching to metal brackets (anyone done it?)

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lildropofsunshine
Posts: 30
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:47 am

Switching to metal brackets (anyone done it?)

#1 Post by lildropofsunshine »

I've had my braces since May of this year, top only so far, and I have ceramic on the first 6, metal on the rest. I absolutely hate my ceramic ones because they're so big and bulky, and I feel like they've made my speech so much worse because I feel like I'm always "tripping" over them.

At my last appointment, I asked my ortho about Invisalign, and he advised against it, but said that I should think about trying metal brackets because of how much smaller/low profile they are. At first I really didn't want to, since I got ceramics for a reason...but at this point, my braces aren't a secret, I'm not trying to find a new, professional job (I got one), I'm used to them and no longer embarrassed, and they're making my life harder, not easier, so I decided to make the switch.

My appointment for the switch and adjustment is Tuesday, and I couldn't be more excited! Well, not quite true...I made the appointment not even thinking about Thanksgiving being 2 days after, so I hope I'm not too sore to eat! But since I am a teacher, and live an hour away from my ortho, I had to wait until I had some days off because bonding appointments always take longer than regular adjustments, which I can get done in the afternoon, after school, but bonding appointments are only done in the morning, so I'd miss half a school day if I did it not on break.

Even though it would only be about 5 weeks, and I usually go every 6, I want to try and make my next appointment right at the beginning of the new year, when I'm still on Christmas vacation. Then my next appointment can be in mid February, when I've got another break. I'm going to try to schedule those two before I leave this one, just to make sure that I get them, since many people might want them because they're school breaks.

I'm hoping to get my bottom brackets on soon too. My ortho said probably 6-8 months of just tops, and we're almost at 7, so :?:

Has anyone else switched from ceramic to metal? (Or metal to ceramic)...why?

Jami1
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2018 4:45 am

Re: Switching to metal brackets (anyone done it?)

#2 Post by Jami1 »

I did not switch but can definitely understand your reasoning. I too, feel that I am always talking with a lisp although others have told me they don’t hear it. My ceramic brackets are much larger than my teenager’s metal ones and I think this is why eating is so much harder with food constantly being stuck. I am nearing the end, but if had to do it over again, would consider metal. Best of luck to you!

lildropofsunshine
Posts: 30
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:47 am

Re: Switching to metal brackets (anyone done it?)

#3 Post by lildropofsunshine »

Oh, people comment on my speech all the time. I hear "what?" so often! I've gotten better with it since September, when I started teaching full time, and therefore needing to speak more clearly, but it has been a struggle! I only ceramic on my first 6, so I can see how big the size difference is, and it's kinda crazy.

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Nozzelnut
Posts: 657
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 10:34 pm
Location: Rochester, NY

Re: Switching to metal brackets (anyone done it?)

#4 Post by Nozzelnut »

I should have switched from ceramic to metal right after the newness of having braces (again) wore off.

Slower treatment, more prone to damage, and physically bigger brackets. They're less visible; not invisible and no one cares about you having braces...

I had all metal brackets the last year of treatment after several ceramics chipped and my archwire broke...
Round 3 (lifetime) Damon stainless applied 3/16/20 (after 4 weeks attempting invisalign) On for about 18 months
Night time elastics with invisalign retainers; still...
Double jaw surgery was 6/18/15...
Orthodontics never really ends...
I'm emphatically against extraction orthodontics!

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