Help with Lingual Braces!!

hit_it_strong

I just got lingual braces today - "Incognito" is the brand. Here are the main issues as I see / feel them...

Difficulty eating
Speech / lisp
Tongue - pain / sores

Does anyone have any experiences to share or advice on coping?

Much appreciated!

vishal

you'll get use to them, just give it time. cut your food into small pieces, that will help

hit_it_strong

Thanks. It's faith that I'll get used to them that's getting me through at the moment.

What about speech though?

fonpokno

The speech is something you'll get used to too. Even for normal braces your speech is weird for a few days. Your mouth with adjust very quickly.

You can get dental wax for the braces to help with the braces irritating your tongue. If your dentist didn't give you any you should get it in any pharmacy or boots. You'll get used to the irritation very quickly too though. It just takes a little time.

kkth0360

Hi,
Congratulations on the new braces! They'll take some getting used to, but the end result will be completely worth it!

Lingual braces do tend to cause more tongue discomfort and speech difficulties than normal (labial) braces, as they encroach on the space normally occupied by the tongue. For most patients this disappears with time, but about a quarter may have some discomfort or problems with saying S and T sounds for 3 months or more, or even all the way through treatment (this is described in a bit more detail by Miyawaki 1999 and Caniklioglu 2005). Speech problems are definitely the biggest drawback to lingual braces, but that's the trade-off for the excellent aesthetics they offer.

But even if the problems don't completely resolve they will get much less severe than what you are experiencing over the first few days of treatment, and the vast majority of patients cope extremely well with these appliances. And any mild lisp that persists during treatment will disappear completely as soon as the brackets are removed.

Best of luck!

hit_it_strong

Thanks for the encrouraging words.

It's only been 2 days so far and everyone seems to be saying to just wait and I will adapt so I'm very hopeful.

I'm using a combination of wax and the odd painkiller and it seems to be working fine.

I'll keep you posted...

hit_it_strong

I've gotten a few PM's about this so I thought I'd give a update.

I got them from <snip>. The brand is called Incognito and they are absolutely great. Speech was affected for the first month but I eventually got used to them without any special effort. Results are amazing and we're way ahead of schedule with them.

I'd recommend them to anyone.