second thoughts about Ceramic Braces..

[musclestarts]

im getting my braces within 2 weeks and i'm having second thoughts about Ceramic Braces because my ortho said i can only get Ceramic on top 6 teeth. The bottom is gonna be metal because of my overbite.

so my question is ...is it really worth it to pay $600 extra for Ceramic only front 6 teeth and metal bottom? should i get all metal and save $600???

Thanks

[Sunny]

It's totally up to you Musclestarts. We offer the upper six as part of our treatment, free of additional cost. The reason it's the upper six, is that these are the most obvious teeth when people smile or are talking.

In the early days of ceramic braces, mostly adults took this option, especially those who were concerned about looking professional in their work environment. Now we have patients of all ages chosing them.

Good luck with your decision ... remember it's all about looks and what you will feel most comfortable with.

[ksmoguy]

I have In-Ovation Ceramic on the top 6 teeth and if I smile and you within about 10 feet you can clearly see them, but I think its more so the arch wire than the brackets. The In-Ovation do have a silver "door" that is pretty visible as well.

That said I am happy with going the ceramic route. I do have metal on the bottom. The ceramic are much less visible than the metal.

[musclestarts]

I have In-Ovation Ceramic on the top 6 teeth and if I smile and you within about 10 feet you can clearly see them, but I think its more so the arch wire than the brackets. The In-Ovation do have a silver "door" that is pretty visible as well.

That said I am happy with going the ceramic route. I do have metal on the bottom. The ceramic are much less visible than the metal.

Yes my ortho is also using In-Ovation C braces for my top 6 teeth. Since u said it will be noticeable within 10 feet then I feel like what's the point of getting ceramic and pay $600 extra. Its really hard to decide specially if u are getting braces within 2 weeks. Aah

[Denise]

I have ceramic on my top six (and lower six) teeth, but my sister who is 24 has all metal and honestly with as common as braces are these days, I should have gone with all metal. I also paid an extra $600 for them and on my sister, you don't even notice them. I mean you do, but you don't see them and think 'oh she has braces'. Personally if I had it to do over I'd have saved the money and gone with all metal, but that's just me. Also, my ceramic braces stick out farther than her metal ones do.

[mikeg]

I'd go all metal. With ceramic on top and you can still see the wire very easily and I can think of quite a bit to do with the extra $600 in my pocket. You and your friends/family get use to the look of metal braces very fast. As you can tell from this site, you are 1 out of millions that are wearing them. Wear them proud

[annabella]

Our ortho doesn't charge extra for the 6. The other ortho we liked only charged 400 extra but it was for the full mouth of ceramics not just six. Sounds like alot 100 per tooth? wow...

[mariagn]

At first I wanted ceramics, but my ortho preferred metal. In the end I chose metal and I haven't regretted it. I love my metal braces and they are not that noticeable. People tell me I look cute in braces. That's weird. hehehe. One other reason I don't regret getting all metal is because with ceramic you have to be careful not to stain them; that sounds like a pain to me.

[ksmoguy]

Yes my ortho is also using In-Ovation C braces for my top 6 teeth. Since u said it will be noticeable within 10 feet then I feel like what's the point of getting ceramic and pay $600 extra. Its really hard to decide specially if u are getting braces within 2 weeks. Aah

Well they are noticeable, but not near as much as metal. To notice them a person has to be looking at your mouth/teeth..

[lauralea]

with the clear ones I have, they have asthetic wire. Its smaller/thinner then the regular wire, and from a not far distance, it honestly does not look like there are braces at all. I have had so many completments on them thus far. My ortho did not charge any extra for them, but I do only have on the top 6. If money is not an issue, i definitely recommend them!

[melgreen]

Our ortho doesn't charge extra for the 6. The other ortho we liked only charged 400 extra but it was for the full mouth of ceramics not just six. Sounds like alot 100 per tooth? wow...

I too would read quotes from people that would say 'my ortho charges $500 more for ceramics of social 6" and then "my ortho does not charge anything additional for ceramic on entire mouth, or social 6" etc etc. I'd wonder about the inconsistencies with all the various prices.

But the more research I did the more I realized the following;

First of all you have to consider what the total price is. For instance one ortho might charge a total of $6000 for braces - and you can have metal or ceramic, whatever you want. Another ortho might charge less, but then make up for it if you want ceramics. Some might feel they need to charge more for ceramics to cover overhead costs etc. It's like why does one person go buy a car one month from a certain dealership for X amount of money and then the following month the dealership sells the exact same car for a bit less. They make up the loss in various ways through different customers. Some orthos might charge different prices for different patients. Some orthos are bound by an insurance company they participate in and contractually must charge a certain price for participating patients but can charge more for patients who don't participate.

Lastly - - - different orthos use different products. There are less expensive brackets and wires on the market and more expensive brackets/wires on the market. Ortho A might charge less for overall treatment then Ortho B because he/she uses a less expensive product.

Big range here - overall price for metal, ceramic, self ligating, traditional and on and on.

[melgreen]

QUOTE=lauralea;15180]with the clear ones I have, they have asthetic wire. Its smaller/thinner then the regular wire, and from a not far distance, it honestly does not look like there are braces at all. I have had so many completments on them thus far. My ortho did not charge any extra for them, but I do only have on the top 6. If money is not an issue, i definitely recommend them![/QUOTE]

Hi - I'm curious what kind of bracket brand do you have? Do you have ligatures and traditional brackets or self ligating with no ligatures?

[lauralea]

They are the Damon Clear brackets (top 6 only). Self Ligating, no ligs. Although they did have to put ligs on the bottom because they put on a stopper pad so that my top teeth dont hit against my bottom brackets.
Hope ths helps

[melgreen]

Oh okay thks. From what I've seen written, seems people are quite happy wit them.

But I do have a ortho who will brace me top and bottom in ceramic (self ligating) - because I have an open bite and there is no risk of hitting top and bottom and chipping teeth.

[annabella]

Yeah completely clear I think they look awesome. Here is a link to the only up close foto I found.
Sanborn Orthodontics's Photos | Facebook

[lauralea]

Ah yeah thats nice, I dont completly mind if i have the metal on the bottom, as they arent that noticable anyway. They are still new, not much info about them to be honest. When my ortho said he wanted to put those on, he said they had just gotten them in, and they were like cutting edge. But no were on the damon site is there any info on them, thats actually what led me to this site (which has become myfav site next to email). My ortho is pretty cutting edge too, hes always offering the newest technology and advanced ortho stuff, which is kinda nice to have. Anyhoew if you go to my blog, i have a pic there, although at a distance its much harder to notice anything.
PS CANADA WON GOLD IN WOMENS HOCKEY!!!!!! GO CANADA, I BELEIVE!

[melgreen]

Yeah completely clear I think they look awesome. Here is a link to the only up close foto I found.
Sanborn Orthodontics's Photos | Facebook

Whoa that looks like a cartoon! Really can't tell anything from that - even if you saw them in a brochure, because the brochures show models with perfectly straight white teeth. LOL. But I've heard of a small # of people describe them (so new on the market I don't know how common they are yet) and they sound nice. But - i honestly must say that no matter what your have something on your teeth. I've seen people who look great in metals and people who look great in ceramics with ligs, or self ligating ceramics with the tiny metal piece on the door. I guess to me, EVERYONE looks great in braces - - - because they are doing something FOR themselves, to improve their health etc. So metal/ceramic - - there is something on their teeth that you will notice no matter what, and it's all good!

[melgreen]

PS CANADA WON GOLD IN WOMENS HOCKEY!!!!!! GO CANADA, I BELEIVE!

Uhh yeah that's nice too.
I felt the SAME way when the men's USA team beat the men's Canadian team!

I BELIEVE too!

[annabella]

Awesome...... Yeah and the men beat out Russia in the quarterfinals. My hubby(who's Russian) was quite upset.

Well second ortho actually gave us the price for metal first and I ask about the ceramics and he said $400 more which was his cost above. He had the inovation-c and clarity, but prefered the latter. And he uses smartclips other wise. But the ortho we liked best uses Damon clears for social 6 and metal. One ortho uses the traditional and he was the highest but not by much. So we went with the ortho we felt most comfortable and connected.
I would say the costs varied by a couple of hundred dollars up/down.

[lauralea]

Yeah, I was actually refered to my ortho from my regular dentist, but the current ortho took over my old ortho' practice (back when I had braces as a kid).
I did not go anywere else for a consult, because I felt comfortable with the ortho, and the entire practice team. At my ortho, we actually have our own treatment coordinators, basicaly they are dental assistants that are always available for us to ask specific questions to, and to liase with the ortho with anything. Its actualy really nice to have that resource. Also, My ortho has all kinds of like extras available at the office, its kinda funny, Hot towel service, coffee, hot chocolate, internet, playstation, wireless internet...I think its kinda perhaps funny, but nice. I have not availed of any of the 'extras' yet. But I hear great stuff about the hot chocolate!
Do your ortho offices do anything extra?

[annabella]

Yeah those little xtras. My daughter love the arcade they have a wii,xbox &playstation. That partially sold my daughter. Big screens for movie watching at the stations. And Wadler bucks you get them everytime you come in, once you accumulate 30 W bucks you get to spin the wheel. The wheel has all sorts of goodies, whitening kit, smoothies , spa day, etc. Plus A variety of hot drinks for moms. And always hot chocolate chip cookies and heathly snacks. I think it's awesome that they do that. I love the chai tea.

[Sunny]

with the clear ones I have, they have asthetic wire. Its smaller/thinner then the regular wire, and from a not far distance, it honestly does not look like there are braces at all.

Hi Lauralea, these thin wires are the ones that most ortho's use to begin treatment, no matter what brand or material the bracket is, as these are the archwires that do the most work when it comes to getting teeth to loosen and align.

What we need to remember is that people who are having or considering ortho treatment are focused on all things 'orthodontic' ... as for the rest of the world, well they really don't care, and why should they? We may notice a person has braces, but rarely will a person who's not having treatment notice. Obviously if you're talking to people who are close to you, they may notice you have metal braces, but mostly that's it. Rarely will a person notice the ceramic ones and mostly don't care enough about the archwire to look hard enough to notice.

Brackets don't move teeth ... so the decision is about what you're prepared to pay and what you're comfortable with.

The additional cost is mostly about overheads ... and it does cost more to invest in more than one type of brackets. The brackets themselvs may not cost more, or only a little more, but there's purchasing costs, storage costs and often there's additional tools and training involved.