Picking out the colors for your braces can be one of the most exciting parts of an appointment, but it can be a little stressful for someone who’s new to the process. They might think, “What kind of colors look best?” “Aren’t there certain colors I need to avoid?” Don’t worry, Craig & Streight is here to help you out! We understand how daunting of a task it can be for someone to pick out a good color combination for their braces, but we like to think of it as an added accessory to your overall look and a fun part to your treatment with braces. If you’re stuck waiting for inspiration, we’re here to help give you some ideas to pick the right color for you!
How to Choose the Best Braces Color
We know how many patients worry about picking the best colors for their braces, but the good news is, there’s no such thing as the “best color” for braces. The choice is completely up to you and can be tailored to your individual style. There are plenty of colors to pick from, and at Craig & Streight, we will let you choose multiple at once! We know how overwhelming that must sound, so here’s some ideas to help get you started:
Colors based on natural features
Choosing colors that work with your natural look is always a safe option. You could choose a color based on your eyes, whether you want to match the color or choose a complementary color to them. Blue and green eyes can be matched easily, and brown eyes can be complemented by earthy colors, like dark greens and blues. You can also choose your colors based on your hair and skin tone. Lighter skin and hair work well with either bright or dark colors, such as pink, light blue, navy, light purple, violet, red, and even bronze colors. Darker skin and hair work well with darker jewel colors, like turquoise, emerald, violet, and navy blue. Pastel and neon colors also work well to provide contrast.
Colors based on your style
Another idea for choosing the color for your braces is by choosing from some of the colors you like to wear every day. If you like wearing more bright colors, you can choose from colors like bright pink, blue, and green to match your outfits. If you like more subdued or darker colors, you can choose colors like navy, light blue, red, or light pink to work with your outfits rather than clashing against it.
If you don’t typically stick to just one color palette in your wardrobe, here are some ideas of a few smaller things that you can match your braces to:
- A favorite pair of shoes
- A hat or headband that you wear often
- A nail polish you wear often
- A color of eyeshadow you like to wear
Colors that mean something to you
We all know braces are temporary, so you might want to decorate yours with colors that mean something to you right now. A lot of our younger patients like to choose their school colors for their braces. If you like to play a school sport during a particular time of year, you can coordinate the colors on your braces to your team’s colors in the season you play to show off some team spirit! You can also choose the colors of your favorite professional or college teams. Since fall is coming up fast, a lot of our patients like to get their favorite football or basketball team colors. At Craig & Streight, we love getting the chance to help deck our patients out in the colors of teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder with colors like orange, navy, and light blue.
If you support a special cause or organization, this can also be a great opportunity to spread awareness through your braces’ colors. Not only are these colors important to you, but they can also give you a chance to connect with people or talk with them about your organization’s message. For example, if you feel strongly about a cause like the Alzheimer’s Association, you can choose dark purple as your way of showing support.
Colors centered around holidays
Nothing says festive quite like holiday-inspired braces! The holidays are a fun way to get creative with your braces’ colors and to showcase your love for a particular holiday being celebrated. Here are some fun ideas for holiday colors:
- Halloween is right around the corner, and there are several possibilities for your braces on this holiday. You can choose traditional Halloween colors like black and orange, or you can even coordinate your colors to the colors of the costume you’ll be wearing. This is also a fun opportunity to try out glow-in-the-dark bands for your night of trick-or-treating!
- Dark green and red are a great way to spread some Christmas cheer during the month of December.
- Give a little love by wearing colors like pink, purple, or red on Valentine’s Day!
- Easter is celebrated through pastels, which work well on just about everybody. Light pinks, blue, purples, and greens are a great idea for this holiday.
- It doesn’t take much to light up the Fourth of July with the classic colors of red, white, and blue!
Color tips
One of the things that can stress patients out during this process is picking the “wrong” color. While we don’t believe there are any wrong colors, there are a few shades of colors we might caution you about:
- Clear bands are a good choice for anyone who wants to add some subtlety to their braces. Unfortunately, clear bands sometimes have the tendency to look different as time goes on. This can happen from food getting trapped between the bracket and the tooth. Drinking sodas and coffee can also lead to staining on the bands. However, some of these issues can be avoided by taking care of your teeth and following Dr. Craig’s and my instructions.
- Choosing white as the primary color for your braces may seem like a nice idea, but for some patients, this can actually highlight the yellow undertones in their teeth. Yellow and gold can also have this effect sometimes. The great news is that you can combine these colors with others to lessen the yellowing effect that it can have on teeth. Darker colors, like blue, green and purple can actually make teeth look whiter, so a combination of one of these darker colors with the lighter ones should resolve the issue.
Choosing colors for your braces is meant to be a fun way to express yourself and your creativity. So whether you like the most bright colors we have or more subdued ones, Craig & Streight has all of the color options you can think of! If you are stuck thinking of a color combination, our friendly staff is more than willing to help you choose a color combination that fits you best. Schedule a visit with us at our Dunwoody office or give us a call at 405.321.1926!
