When you experience teeth misalignment, crooked teeth, or a crowded smile, you might not feel as comfortable about your smile as you would with straight teeth. Ceramic braces are one of your options for improving your teeth alignment and bite function. These braces are less obvious than past metal bracket styles, so you’ll feel more confident while correcting your smile.
Traditional vs. Ceramic Braces
When you watch television shows from the 1980s, you see many examples of traditional metal style braces. For many years, these metal brackets and wires formed the framework for orthodontic smile correction and bite alignment. The orthodontist cemented these brackets to your teeth for several years of treatment.
As you can tell from images of the past, traditional braces were obvious to other people when the wearer smiled, ate, or talked. Today’s braces offer options for the same treatment with greater practicality and invisibility. Two good examples of newer, more inconspicuous teeth straightening methods include Invisalign and ceramic braces.
Ceramic braces work like traditional braces but use different materials. In the place of metal brackets are clear ceramic ones. You can also choose clear wires to connect your braces’ framework. The clear nature of today’s ceramic braces helps you avoid that “metal mouth” appearance while aligning your teeth.
Ceramic styles of braces cost slightly more than traditional braces. The difference is usually about $600. However, this varies according to where you live, your insurance policy, and other factors in your orthodontic care.
Effectiveness of Ceramic Braces
How effective ceramic bracket braces will be for you depends on what issues your orthodontist seeks to correct. If you suffer extreme tooth overcrowding, you might need traditional braces. The same is true if you have a major misalignment.
However, ceramic styles of braces work well for people with mild to moderate misalignment. You can talk to your orthodontist about your options to understand which type of braces suit your needs best. After examining your teeth, your orthodontist can also tell you which kinds of braces may extend your treatment time.
Taking Care of Your Braces
It’s your orthodontist’s job to correct your smile and bite, right? So your job in wearing braces is to care for these dental appliances as you should.
For clear braces, your brackets and wires connect using tiny elastic bands. These bands discolor over time when you eat highly pigmented foods. Therefore, you should avoid taking in too much tomato sauce, curry, or berries. Dark-colored drinks also cause problems, with tea, red wine, soda, and coffee also staining your ligatures.
If your ligatures stain, your orthodontist can replace these bands. Of course, you can maintain the invisibility of your clear braces better if you do your part to prevent staining. You’ll also need to brush your teeth twice daily, floss regularly, and use oral rinses to maintain your healthy teeth and gums.