Just after the orthodontist or therapist has checked your braces and removed any elastics or arch wires, a nurse usually appears with a colour wheel in hand to ask you what colour elastics you want on your braces this time. Now this, I can assure you, is a very difficult question and one where the answer you give can have consequences for many weeks to come. Do you go with a bright bold choice, a discreet neutral colour, something you have tried before, a combination of colours, a recommendation from the dental staff, something you have seen someone else have or what you had last month?
I had every intention of trying out lots of different colours but when it came to actually making a decision, found I often played safe and went for a colour I had either had before or one I had seen someone else have and quite liked. My favourite by far was black as these didn’t stain and I thought looked quite nice but also tried light blue, navy, teal, green, silver, grey and smoke. On several occasions I said the nurses “I don’t mind, you pick” and whilst expecting something quite daring, was rewarded with a safe choice. On one occasion I had my young daughter with me and asked her to pick, she went for hot pink of course but my therapist was kind and only put one on one of my side teeth so it wouldn’t show.
If I had my time again, I would certainly throw caution to the wind and choose many different colours just for variety but as a general rule, the bolder, darker colours do not stain so easily, silver and grey are discreet if you have metal brackets and don’t show up very much and the lighter colours, although they look nice, can stain more easily and won’t keep their colour for long.
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