Alex needs braces

[chichi]

Not sure where in the US youre located, but a $1000 upcharge for clear on top only seems like a lot. I live in Los Angeles and saw several orthos and they all charged an extra $500 for clear uppers, which is what I went with along with metal lowers. I mostly got the clear so that theyre not noticeable in pictures when I smile. Clear also didnt add any extra time to my treatment, but then its my bottom teeth that need the most fixing.

Agreed. I'm also in a city, so it may be different if you're in a less populated area. My clear uppers cost me an extra $400, and the bottoms would have added another $300 if I had chosen them.

[AlexO890]

I've done some checking and it seems like $1,000 is too much. I don't know why the ortho would price them that high. Though I've been reading and I hear the ceramic braces have issues with staining from food, and they're still visible. I might go with all metal.

[chichi]

Ceramic brackets don't stain. What does stain is the ligatures. If you end up with self-ligating brackets, you should have no worries. If you have traditional ceramic brackets, you might have to look into lig colors that are less prone to staining. Mine are self-ligating, so I don't know about lig colors, but there are plenty of others here who can offer suggestions should you go the ceramic route.

[AlexO890]

Ceramic brackets don't stain. What does stain is the ligatures. If you end up with self-ligating brackets, you should have no worries. If you have traditional ceramic brackets, you might have to look into lig colors that are less prone to staining. Mine are self-ligating, so I don't know about lig colors, but there are plenty of others here who can offer suggestions should you go the ceramic route.

Newbie question here: What are self-ligating brackets? And what's the difference between those and normal brackets?

[chichi]

Newbie question here: What are self-ligating brackets? And what's the difference between those and normal brackets?

As you probably know with traditional brackets, the archwire is held in place using ligatures (the colored 'o' rings) on each bracket. With self-ligating brackets, there are little doors on the brackets that hold the wire, so they don't need ligs to hold the wire. The marketing behind self-ligating brackets is that there is less friction because they don't use ligs so the treatment times are shorter and that they apply a gentler, more constant force so patients experience less discomfort. Those statements are debatable and I only have self-ligating brackets because my ortho uses the Damon system.

If you look at the Damon website (http://www.damonbraces.com/choose/), there's a side-by-side view of Damon vs traditional brackets. There are many brands of both self-ligating and traditional brackets, but that should give you the general idea.

[AlexO890]

Newbie question here: What are self-ligating brackets? And what's the difference between those and normal brackets?

As you probably know with traditional brackets, the archwire is held in place using ligatures (the colored 'o' rings) on each bracket. With self-ligating brackets, there are little doors on the brackets that hold the wire, so they don't need ligs to hold the wire. The marketing behind self-ligating brackets is that there is less friction because they don't use ligs so the treatment times are shorter and that they apply a gentler, more constant force so patients experience less discomfort. Those statements are debatable and I only have self-ligating brackets because my ortho uses the Damon system.

If you look at the Damon website (http://www.damonbraces.com/choose/), there's a side-by-side view of Damon vs traditional brackets. There are many brands of both self-ligating and traditional brackets, but that should give you the general idea.

Thank you ChiChi! Self-ligating brackets look cool! I'll need to ask my ortho if those are available.

[chichi]

Not a problem! I'm a big fan of my brackets and how quick and easy my wire changes have been.

With that, choose whatever the ortho is comfortable with. He/she is going to have to be able to manipulate and tweak and you want to make sure they're using what they know best.

[Featheryy1221]

Only certain ortho's offer damon braces so if you want them you have to go to an ortho that specializes in them. When I did consultations the guy that offered damon braces was actually more money. Really they're not much different from traditional braces. As chichi said, they market them as being "less painful" but really pain is different for each person. Some damon ortho's will also claim they have quicker treatment times, but actually my ortho gave me a 18 months estimation time, while the damon provider said it'd be at least 20 months if not longer.
I almost went with Damon's because of their marketing and I saw a lot of people on here that had them, but i felt like that specific ortho was just pushing a brand and i didn't feel as comfortable with him.

Really bracket brand doesn't matter. Or if they're clear braces or metal braces. In the end you're going to get great results regardless.

[nicolie825]

I also have self-ligating brackets (Damon) and love that i dont have to worry about my clear brackets staining =)
There's no way for me to know whether I can attribute this to the Damon brackets, but I'm 6 weeks in and have had zero pain, not even in the first few days and no issues with my brackets rubbing or cutting up the inside of my mouth. But like Featheryy said, pain is different for everyone so its possible my lack of pain and irritation would have been the same even with traditional brackets

[chichi]

The benefits of my brackets that I appreciated are all temporary. Wire changes are always quick and easy since they open the doors, slide the wire out, stick a new wire in, and close the doors. A regular wire change adjustment lasts about 10 minutes, including brushing and the ortho check up. This doesn't change the fact that, eventually, adjustments involve more than a wire change. I also liked only having adjustments every 8 weeks instead of every 3-4. Again, as I'm nearing the end, adjustments are more frequent and I've been going every 2-3 weeks. Finally, I enjoyed the benefits of no ligs to stain. The problem with that is that everyone gets powerchains eventually. Mine are white and they definitely get dingy-looking, but I'm also not going to avoid the foods that stain.

Do I experience less pain than if I had traditional brackets? I don't know, but I can tell you that it did hurt after some of those adjustments. Is my treatment time shorter with self-ligating brackets? Again, I don't know, but an 18-month estimate seems petty standard regardless of bracket type.

My ortho is the best in the area and the only one most people trust to do the best job possible. If he only offered traditional metal brackets, I still would have chosen him. I just can't argue with his results, regardless of bracket type.

[AlexO890]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful info! Tomorrow I have two consults back to back. I'm going to take the advice and focus on finding a good ortho I trust and worry less about bracket types. Hopefully come tomorrow I'll have decided on an ortho and I'll have a records appointment scheduled.

[pjade1]

I am also getting self ligating brackets (Innovation) next week. I went to 3 different consults and got estimates on prices and length of time in braces. I didn't really notice a difference in the price of traditional vs self ligating. I went to one ortho that had Damons and the one I am going with uses Innovation brand. The only price difference was for the ceramic uppers in all the different braces. I was told the power chain will stain when I get that if I choose the white/clear one but they can change that out for me if it gets too bad. They also have a grey that they say looks good with the ceramic brackets. As far as length of time in them, I was given 18-24 mo in traditional, 24 mo in Damons and 30 mo in Innovation. I actually think the 24-30 mo is more accurate as I am getting an overbite/overjet fixed. My teeth themselves are not that crooked. In the end, I will be curious to see how long I am actually in them. I think 18 mo is too early for me in any kind of braces though. Time will tell.

[SpottedPickle]

Good luck at your consultations tomorrow! I hope you find a keeper

[AlexO890]

Good luck at your consultations tomorrow! I hope you find a keeper

Thanks! Actually it's today (cause I posted it yesterday). I'm off right now to consult number 1.

[SpottedPickle]

Nice! good luck