Reccommended type of braces? and Colour?

[Hanthala]

Hello
I've recently had 4 (first) premolars removed and 1/2 lower wisdom teeth. In about a week and half I will be getting my last wisdom tooth removed, this was all done in the span of the last 3 weeks so its been hell for me. After this ill be getting cleaning done and finally getting braces.
It seems kinda late for me to get braces since im a 19 year old guy but I wasn't able to get them earlier because my dentist explained that my lower jaw was small and thus caused crowding. When i was 14-15 he advised I wait awhile and see if it grows so as to avoid having teeth removed, I guess there really was no way around it.
I wanted to ask what type of braces would you recommend? I have my eyes on the typical metal braces but I also wanted to get ceramic braces yet I've been told that they may constantly get dirty and later wont hold to their original tone and colour. If i was to get the metal braces what colour would look best on me as well? (My ethnicity is African).

[Hanthala]

[quote="Hanthala"]Hello
I've recently had 4 (first) premolars removed and 1/2 lower wisdom teeth. In about a week and half I will be getting my last wisdom tooth removed, this was all done in the span of the last 3 weeks so its been hell for me. After this ill be getting cleaning done and finally getting braces.
It seems kinda late for me to get braces since im a 19 year old guy but I wasn't able to get them earlier because my dentist explained that my lower jaw was small and thus caused crowding. When i was 14-15 he advised I wait awhile and see if it grows so as to avoid having teeth removed, I guess there really was no way around it.
I wanted to ask what type of braces would you recommend? I have my eyes on the typical metal braces but I also wanted to get ceramic braces yet I've been told that they may constantly get dirty and later wont hold to their original tone and colour. The Lingual Braces seem nice as well but they apparently don't suite a complex case like myself. If i was to get the metal braces what colour would look best on me as well? (My ethnicity is African).[/quote]

[Beckett]

I've had ceramic braces, upper and lower, for just over a year. I haven't had any trouble with staining or discoloration of either the brackets or the ligatures. However, I'm not a coffee or tea drinker, or red wine, and I don't eat curry which I hear is a big cause of ligature staining. The ceramic brackets of today are very different than the clear brackets of decades ago which did discolor over time. But to be honest, if you're only 19 those days are before your time anyway. My orthodontist doesn't charge any more for ceramic over metal so that was a factor in my choice. I understand some charge hundreds of dollars more, though I can't figure out why.

Bear in mind I'm a Caucasian female, but I don't know if skin tone makes much difference in what kind of brackets you choose. Maybe ligature colors, as some will look better with different skin tones than others. And that will depend on if you have red or yellow undertones in your skin. I've been going with blue, turquoise, even red and green at Christmas. But I've stayed away from yellow and oranges because I don't like the way they look with my particular skin tone. What colors do you wear in your clothing? We tend to choose colors that compliment our skin tone, start with those colors for ligatures.

[Mpkh]

I have ceramic for the "social 6" and metal for the rest. I have self ligating braces and so far, I've have no trouble with them.

[FlowerPower]

I'm also African with clear braces. A few things, I've read clear braces work more slowly so it may add time to your treatment plan. They're also supposedly more difficult to remove from your teeth. Keep those things in mind before committing. They were the same price as metal braces for me. I haven't had any staining and I also have clear ligs. I don't drink coffee or tea outside of the occasional iced versions. I also don't eat curry. I like mine so far although I'm still hoping my teeth don't fall off when it comes time to reposition or remove them.

[djspeece]

I'm also African with clear braces. A few things, I've read clear braces work more slowly so it may add time to your treatment plan. They're also supposedly more difficult to remove from your teeth. Keep those things in mind before committing. They were the same price as metal braces for me. I haven't had any staining and I also have clear ligs. I don't drink coffee or tea outside of the occasional iced versions. I also don't eat curry. I like mine so far although I'm still hoping my teeth don't fall off when it comes time to reposition or remove them.

I would disagree. Clear and traditional braces work at the same speed; and removing them is not a big deal as long as your ortho has the proper tool. I had Damon clears for 3 years.

[FlowerPower]

I'm also African with clear braces. A few things, I've read clear braces work more slowly so it may add time to your treatment plan. They're also supposedly more difficult to remove from your teeth. Keep those things in mind before committing. They were the same price as metal braces for me. I haven't had any staining and I also have clear ligs. I don't drink coffee or tea outside of the occasional iced versions. I also don't eat curry. I like mine so far although I'm still hoping my teeth don't fall off when it comes time to reposition or remove them.

I would disagree. Clear and traditional braces work at the same speed; and removing them is not a big deal as long as your ortho has the proper tool. I had Damon clears for 3 years.

Well, that IS good to hear. I've read both things so it hasn't been clear to me. I also follow a few reddit subs and some of the professionals on there say they work more slowly. Whatever the case, I prefer to hear they work at the same speed and that they're not difficult to get off! Some of the comments from a lot of people make me paranoid.

[verso]

If I could do it over again, I'd get metal on both the bottom and the top.

The ceramic were the same price as the metal, so I thought, "cool!" Yeah, well, unless you eat boiled chicken with rice and potatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I find it hard to believe that you won't see staining -- even with a perfect brushing routine.

It's not the brackets that stain; it's the clear ligatures that sit around the brackets and keep the wire in place. Sure, coffee, red wine, curry... all the "usual suspects" will stain the ligatures. But mustard, ketchup, sports drinks, and a plethora of other foods will stain them just as quickly.

But, then again, there are those members on here who will tell you the very opposite, that they've seen no staining at all. So you'll have to decide for yourself. And, to be fair, the worst case scenario with ceramics is that you see staining and simply ask for a different color ligature. You'll lose the whole incognito aspect of the ceramic braces, but you would never have had it with the metal braces to begin with. I just feel like the metal brackets are a little smaller and more comfortable, so that's why I say I wish I had gone with those.

[MelNZ]

This is my first post and I hope it's ok that I post o this topic thread.
I have had self-ligating ceramic braces (top and bottom) for coming up two weeks. I'm not sure what brand they are but my bottom ones seem very weak and 3 have broken. My middle four teeth are crowded and bunched up so two that are behind the others were not in the wire as they said the pressure would be too much. The archwire has been left straight and not bent. The first two broke and I didn't even notice and I have not eaten anything I shouldn't. The third one broke today when I was removing the floss gently from behind it. I think it was the ankle and it literally went ping and broke. The orthodontist just put ties on the broken ones as I'd had them on for under a week, so I assume this will happen again. Sort of defeats the purpose of self-ligating one. I thought they were meant to be strong. My orthodontist won't put metal on the bottom and clear on top I'm beginning to think the clear were a big mistake. Really disappointed!
Has anyone else had this problem?

[MelNZ]

[quote="MelNZ"]This is my first post and I hope it's ok that I post on this topic thread.
I have had self-ligating ceramic braces (top and bottom) for coming up two weeks. I'm not sure what brand they are but my bottom ones seem very weak and 3 have broken. My middle four teeth are crowded and bunched up so two that are behind the others were not in the wire as they said the pressure would be too much. The archwire has been left straight and not bent. The first two broke and I didn't even notice and I have not eaten anything I shouldn't. The third one broke today when I was removing the floss gently from behind it. I think it was the angle and it literally went ping and broke. The orthodontist just put ties on the broken ones as I'd had them on for under a week, so I assume this will happen again. Sort of defeats the purpose of self-ligating one. I thought they were meant to be strong. My orthodontist won't put metal on the bottom and clear on top I'm beginning to think the clear were a big mistake. Really disappointed!
Has anyone else had this problem?[/quote]

[r1r1r12000]

I think most people on here who've had braces for a while will tell you that eventually, you just get used to whichever type of braces you have. In the early days of treatment, some people prefer clear for the more discreet appearance. It is common on here to see someone say that if they had to get braces all over again, they'd just go for full metal. Either way, your teeth will straighten, so once you pick a type of braces, be happy with your decision!

[Hanthala]

Firstly WOW, honestly didn't expect this kind of response. Thanks people!
Okay so I've had my cleaning done and i'll be getting braces tomorrow.... Still don't know what to expect to be honest.
I'll be getting metal braces mostly because apparently ceramics would cost me an extra $400 so im surprised its the same price for some of you.
The mouth has so many empty spaces after all the teeth have been removed and so I was wondering how long it will take for the teeth to move in because as of now my smile is kinda scary.
I'll most likely have these braces on for quite a long times so im looking forward to it.
Also feel free to post anything and everything here; your experiences with braces, tips on maintaining them for people like me. Just anything.
Bye.

[bi167]

Hi, I am also getting braces soon in next week. And I have decided to get mater one. My ortho suggested having ceramic won't work for me as i have severe crawding in lower jaw. also they tend to break off if you don't take care much. He also said for Indian meals it is going to have stain pretty bad as we use lot of turmeric in everything. also matel one gives better results (personally i think both take same time) . But ceramic ones are bigger in size than matel and as far as i have read here.. the smaller you have something in mouth it's going to be easier. I have also heard ceramic braces are smoother than matel. So I have finally decided to get matel.
thanks all the folks here.. their content helped me lot to make decision.

[Tyrantblade]

It's all personal choice, I don't really care if my braces are more/less obvious, so I just went for metal Damon Braces, now I'm almost done (so says my Ortho and I can see the end in sight, but no debrace date yet).

Ceramic brackets are usually bigger and more likely to break instead of bend and can discolor (as can any elastics/powerchains, even if you don't get Traditional braces with ligatures), but are smoother, Metal brackets are usually smaller but can have sharp edges.

Traditional braces would allow you to switch ligature color for whatever reason (favorite color, seasons, etc) at regular intervals

[BlondeCam]

Good luck!!!