This is how the various teeth braces systems look like:
Background
Straightwire Appliance (USA) and Begg Appliance (Australian)
Pros
Straightwire appliance is the cheapest, most popular, effective, coloured rubber bands are placed by our orthodontist to hold your archwire.
Cons
Obvious to the eye, less comfortable, needs patient cooperation to keep it clean of trapped food.
Ceramic Braces
Upper Teflon coated & lower metal wire
Pros
Not very visible, the porcelain brackets blend in with the color of your teeth, our patients enjoy choosing the color of the elastics to match their outfits and mood!
Cons
Teflon coated or fibre glass archwires (Simpliclear) tend to be less flexible, tooth movement may be slower, rubber elastics which our Specialist Orthodontist will put on the brackets also tend to stain from strongly colored food, and are more expensive than metal brackets. The latest Damon Clear Braces do not need to utilize rubber bands and hence are not only more efficient in treatment, avoid extractions in some cases but do not stain as the wires are held in place by a patented “locking system”.
“In fact", said Dr Kenneth Lew, "our school going patients plan their weekend outfits around the color of their elastics, every three weeks or so!”
