Metal vs. Ceramic

[missing_tooth]

Is there orthodontic treatment that would favor Ceramic over Metal?

I notice many forum posts regarding the question, what should I get. These threads are often littered with posts going both ways, and go with what your otho recommends. Other than asthetics, can there be a case where ceramic is prefered?

- Missing Tooth -

[fins]

I haven't heard from the ortho that one particular type is better than another. I think treatment time isn't necessarily extended by a certain type of bracket. I have metal and ceramic and I am most likely due to have mine removed earlier than the original estimate. I once had all metal and wore them forever but I don't think the fact that brackets are ceramic or metal really enters into the equation for a debanding date.

I guess each ortho has his/her particular type of bracket they prefer to work with and that's ok with me. I really didn't get a choice of brackets other than ceramic vs. metal and ceramics were only reserved for some of the upper teeth. Both seem to hold up well under what seems like a lot of force and I haven't lost a bracket or band yet.

[missing_tooth]

Thanks guys,

This confirms what I've believed all along, that ceramic is just asthetic. Metal was all there was for a long time. I do know of cases where metal is required. I know my ortho said that metal would be required for half of my upper mouth. ( can you imagine? ) I went with all metal, it was cheaper to. FYI, even if I could have all ceramic, I would choose all metal all over again. I wonder why it seems most orthos try to put ceramic on adults. Am I supposed to be boring and unfun?

Hmm... What color should I choose next?

- Missing Tooth -

[lionfish]

I think that most orthos assume that most adults would be more comfortable with the more discreet option available to them. And I reckon they'd be right in that assumption. How many people are not even willing to get braces at all if they can't do Invisalign (or similar) or linguals?

Guilty as charged.

I wanted everything to be as discreet as possible and signalled this to my ortho early on in the piece. Invisalign was out, just not suitable for my case.

The next best thing was linguals. It was suggested to me that full linguals might be too much to deal with, so I compromised on lingual uppers and ceramic lowers.

I'm OK with this so far, although the ceramics are noticeable at close range (with a metal wire running across the front, this is hardly surprising). But I can live with it.

Elastics are another thing and, to be quite frank, I'm dreading this (5 and a bit more weeks to go, but no-one's counting......much!) But I'm this far in so there's no turning back now.

[fins]

The ceramics do change the look and I much prefer it to all metal but that is just my preference. The debanding seems to go smoothly with the metal but with ceramic....I don't know if it will be as easy as the metal which is a drawback. If you like metal and are happy with it, I would go with it.

[maf]

I have a mixture of both. My orthodontist put ceramic brackets on all visible front teeth and metal on the sides of the molars, which I can assume is an aesthetic choice for adults wearing braces - and something I appreciate

[ASUDEVIL23]

I have ceramic brackets and basically I wish I would have gone with metal. Ceramics are SO fragile and in terms of them not getting noticed, well, people typically do a double take when they see you talking or smiling so I'd probably say they can be worse.

[Joual]

I'm getting ceramics on top and metal on the bottom. My ortho said that they don't do ceramic on the bottom because your top teeth can wear down against them.

The ortho I had a consult with before him was going to let me get ceramics on top and bottom. He made no mention of ceramics on the bottom possibly damaging my top teeth.

I know that some people on this site have ceramic on the bottom and as far as I know their top teeth are doing fine.

[nvcarissa]

I started my treatment with ceramic on my six upper front teeth, but soon tired of them. Aside from dealing with staining ligs (or putting colored ones on...which defeats the purpose of 'discreet' braces), I never got used to the slightly larger size of them and opted, three months into treatment, to switch to all metal. I haven't regretted it for a minute. The comfort factor alone, and this is just MY reaction, made it worth changing. Some are not bothered by the slightly larger ceramic bracket. I was, along with the sharper edges. (Maybe they just seemed sharper because they were bigger)

[violinist]

I have a friend her name is Lucia Williams shes very short and she wears braces . she is around 50 years old, even thugh she don't look like it, shes so adorable, back to what i was saying, yes she is also my mom' s friend, nd I am lucky enough to have her as my school guidence counciler.She wears braces, the reason she wears them is because if she didn't her teeth would fall out and her teeth would cut into the roof of her mouth nd would cause her such pain and she had a bad overjet, horrific, she describes it to me.well yes she is a guidence counciler and got the braces not too long ago. she has the Clear Ceramic ones on the top, becuase she talks to people teenagers like every minute of everyday and she dicided to go with the clear ceramic kinds on her top row of teeth and the Traditional Steel metal kind on her bottom row . though she has the clear on top she didn't want them to be that visable, all her 9-1 (Freshmen Division 1 {that's her division only}) can tell and all know she wears braces as much as she didn't want ppl to see they all know. But even though she says she hates braces her end resuklt will be her keeping her teeth nd having them be perfect for her and no moore pain. which is good, she's too mice a person to have to go through that much pain.

[Danielle]

So far I've been happy with an all metal mouth.

[EKline309]

haven't decided yet

[tracy729]

I choose metal due to the fact that I drink coffee and soda and I heard that the ceramics stains quite easily.

[maf]

Into my sixth month in braces (again). The ligs on my brackets only stain very slightly, and usually by the time the color is beginning to change it's my next appointment and they are replaced with new ones