Build Stronger Teeth

If you have always had a few crooked teeth and your parents didn't opt to have them straightened when you were a child or teenager, then you may think that you are doomed to flashing a smile you are not proud of for the rest of your life. While you likely know that you can get braces as an adult, you may worry that metal braces will make you look younger than you are and hold you back in the career world or that the look of them will just make you feel even less confident about your smile than you already do. 

Don't worry, because adults today can straighten their teeth with traditional braces that are virtually unnoticeable, even up close, when they opt for the following three braces customization options. 

1. Choose Between Clear or Ceramic Brackets

Since you have never had braces before, you may not know that they are made up of many pieces, but the visible metal mainly consists of -- brackets and arch wires. Braces brackets are the small square pieces of metal that are bonded to each tooth, and the braces arch wires then run through each bracket to connect them all. There are both top and bottom arch wires in a full set of braces, but it is not uncommon for an adult to opt to straighten only their top or bottom teeth, if that is all that is needed. 

While braces brackets can be made of metal, they can also be made of ceramic material that matches the natural color of your teeth or of completely clear monocrystalline alumina material. That's right -- your braces brackets don't have to be made of metal at all, and brackets made of ceramic or clear monocrystalline alumina work just as well as those made of metal while remaining virtually invisible. 

2. Opt for White "Frosted" Archwires

Now that you know that your braces brackets can look virtually invisible, you may still worry that those metal arch wires will make it obvious to others that you are wearing braces. First, keep in mind that when you see a person wearing metal braces, much of the metal that you see on their teeth is actually the metal brackets -- braces arch wires are very thin and only one thin wire runs along all of the braces brackets that cover the top and/or bottom teeth. 

While already thin and not very noticeable, you can camouflage those arch wires even more by opting for white frosted arch wires. Frosted arch wires are simply typical metal arch wires with a white coating on them that does not rub or chip off when you eat, brush, or floss your teeth. 

3. Pick White Ligatures

To boost the teeth-straightening power of your braces, your orthodontist may opt to use additional braces ligatures. There are several types of braces ligatures, but the most common ones are single elastic ligatures and connected elastic ligatures. Single elastic ligatures are wrapped around each individual braces bracket while connected elastic ligatures run horizontally right on top of your braces arch wires. 

No matter which type you need, you will get to choose the color of your ligatures. To camouflage your braces even more, you can choose white ligatures or clear ones. In fact, if your orthodontist opts to use connected elastic ligatures on your braces, then you may be able to skip the white arch wire coating altogether -- white ligatures may cover the arch wire so well that it makes this coating unnecessary. 

If you are an adult who would love to have straighter teeth, but don't like the look of traditional metal braces, then realize that there are many ways to customize your braces to make them look virtually invisible. Find an orthodontist that offers one or more of these braces customizations, and you can then look forward to not only feeling more proud of your smile after your braces are taken off, but also while you are wearing them. Contact a company like Fayetteville Family Dentistry to learn more.