Putting on braces for the first time can be a distressing experience for a lot of people. Some even call it traumatizing. It absolutely doesn’t need to be that way, however, and wearing braces has been getting more and more normalized and counter-stigmatized for years.
What’s more, with the improvement of dental technologies, braces today can be made not only better and more comfortable than they were before, but they also look better, come in all the colors of the rainbow, and can even be seen as an outright visual asset rather than a hindrance.
This does give us a lot of options to choose from, particularly as far as the different colors of braces are concerned but it also gives us a lot of criteria to consider too. For example, do you want braces that accent your teeth’s color or ones that don’t? Braces that aren’t overly visible or ones that are but make your teeth look whiter? If so, what color braces make your teeth look whiter? Let’s focus on that below and follow it up with 7 more tips for how to choose the best color for you.
What Color Braces Make Your Teeth Look Whiter?
The quick and simple tip here is that darker shades of braces make our teeth look brighter. This is a no-brainer – all darker colors such as navy blue, dark blues, royal blue, dark purple, black, brown, dark green, dark red, bronze, and other similar shades will contrast well with your teeth and make them appear whiter than they are.
On the other hand, lighter colors such as white braces, light yellow or gold, light blues, light violet, pinkish, oranges, clear braces, and other similar colors can make your teeth look darker than they are simply by being lighter than they are.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the best braces colors are always the dark ones, however. For one, you may just have whiter teeth that are bright enough to not look bad with lighter braces. What’s more, the darker bracer hues can be even more noticeable which a lot of people don’t like and some of them – brown and green, in particular – can often appear like pieces of food stuck on your teeth which is something that no one likes.
So, there are quite a few things to consider and we will go over some extra questions you should ask yourself below. But, if your main concern is which color braces will make your teeth appear as white as possible, darker colors are generally the way to go. Lighter colors can just make even the weakest yellow ting on your teeth appear way more significant than it really is.
Other Considerations to Keep in Mind Before Picking a Color
Braces are something we have to wear for months if not years at a time. This means that it can become significant for our overall appearance even beyond the question of whether or not they make our teeth appear darker or lighter.
So, this is a decision that should be looked at from several different angles. Here’s what else you might want to consider:
1. Remember that you can change the color whenever you visit your orthodontist
If you’re told that you’d have to wear your braces for just a few months, then the exact color you choose won’t be all that important. However, if you know you’re going to have to wear them for years, the issue can seem more significant.
Yet, that’s not really the case because you can still change your braces’ color any time you go to your dentist to get them re-tightened which typically is once every 4 to 8 weeks depending on your dentist’s schedule and how you decide to do things.
So, if you pick one color for your braces but then you decide that it doesn’t look good against your tooth color, you can just change it. This doesn’t make the decision completely insignificant as 8 weeks is still quite a bit of time to spend with a brace color you don’t like but it isn’t nearly as much as two or more years.
2. You can pick a color that best suits your fashion style
If you’re not self-conscious about the color of your teeth, you can instead just pick your favorite color for your braces. Or, you can pick one that matches your wardrobe, your hair color, or your eye color the best.
For example, if you have blue eyes, a nice blue color for your braces can work wonderfully both together with them and to whiten your teeth. Although, that logic may not always be sound – if you have brown eyes or green eyes, for example, you still may not want brown or green braces as those can look like pieces of food.
3. The color of your braces can be an expression of your mood and life outlook just like a piece of jewelry or a hair color can
It can seem silly to some people, but braces can absolutely be seen as a type of jewelry. This can make some more unorthodox colors from the braces color wheel such as turquoise, magenta, lilac, teal, and others great options for your braces. You can also go for some popular color combinations not just with your eye or hair color but with some of your favorite pieces of jewelry.
For example, if your engagement ring has a colored gemstone, why not pick that same color for your braces too?
4. Braces’ colors can also be tied to a season, an event, your favorite sports team, or anything similar
Since we’re usually able to change the color of our braces once every 4 to 8 weeks, this means that we can also take the seasonal approach with their colors – we can pick one color for spring, one or two for the summer, another for fall, and so on. We can even go holiday-specific – a pumpkin color for Halloween, bright red for Christmas, violet or pink for Valentine’s Day, and so on.
5. The color of your braces can be “gendered” but doesn’t have to be
For better or for worse, we often “gender” colors in our society – blue, green, and black for boys, pink, yellow, and orange for girls, and so on. Does this mean that all girls’ braces must be of warm and bright colors while all boys should use purple or blue braces, however? Not at all – you can pick any color that works for your teeth and style.
Something similar is also often applied to kids and adults – grown folks are expected to use “serious” colors such as black, navy blue, and white, whereas teens and pre-teens are “allowed” to use various other colors. There is no need for such distinctions either, however, and if you want to go with bright violet braces as an adult, you should absolutely do so.
6. Remember that braces can stain too and some colors hide such stains more easily than others
Another potential issue with brighter braces is that, just like our teeth, they can stain too. This isn’t such a long-term issue as you can change your braces’ colors from time to time. However, if you drink a lot of coffee or consume other foods and drinks that result in a lot of teeth stains, your braces can get visibly stained even in the span of a couple of weeks.
7. Keep your skin tone in mind too
This isn’t a hard rule but it’s something that’s also a matter of contrast – darker brace colors look better on people with lighter skin tones as they don’t make them look as pale whereas the brighter gemstone colors tend to look great on folks with a darker skin tone. This doesn’t mean that you must go with navy blue if you have lighter skin or that you have to go with gemstone violet if you have darker skin, of course. It’s just something to consider when looking at the color wheel.
In Conclusion
While there are many things we can do to keep our teeth healthy and with a bright near-white color, it’s almost impossible to keep your teeth perfectly white just with toothpaste, a brush, and some flossing. So, even if your teeth are perfectly healthy, clean, and good-looking, some braces can make them appear yellowish if they are of the wrong color.
That’s why it’s generally ill-advised to go with white, yellow, or other lightly-colored braces unless you’ve made sure that your teeth are as white as humanly possible. Fortunately, however, there are many other colors you can choose from including quite a few that can make your teeth look whiter in comparison.
What’s more, you can change your braces’ color every time you go to get them tightened so you’re not even locked into the same colors for months or years at a time.
