Speeding up the speech process
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Speeding up the speech process
i have had my upper ibraces on for 6 days now and have been working very hard to improve my speach. i am going back to work tomorrow for the first time, and even if my speach is not perfect, i am hoping it won't be so noticeable. i chose lingual braces so that my treatment could be done discreetly, and i would only have to tell people if i chose to. i took a week off work to adjust, thinking that would be enough time to sound passable, but i really don't think i'm there yet. i have been reading aloud as much as possible (rainbow passage, comma gets a cure, arthur the rat), singing in the car etc. there have been definite improvements, but i still have a very noticeable lisp at times, and stumble over words quite a bit. the advice in this forum has been really helpful to get me to the point where i can at least be understood, but it's still very noticeable. i have to speak a lot at my job (as most of us do), so there is no avoiding it. does anyone have any more tips that have worked for them to improve their speach more quickly? i know it varies for everyone, but am curious as to how long it has taken people to feel like their speach was acceptable, if not perfect. any feedback would be appreciated
I don't have really any new advise (I also followed the very useful ones I read in this forum), just wanted to comment.
I have had lowers only, for the moment, for 10 days. My lisping is not that bad (I have only lowers, so actually it is easier) but what I noticed is that when I am too much aware of it, say thinking about it, it gets worse. With my kids, I speak a lot, and rarely make mistakes, At work, I sometimes just think I might fail in a word and... I fail. It is very much "emotional" for me. Another thing I noticed is that it is better not to hesitate, just go on even if you fail a word, people probably don't notice that much, they are focused on what you say more than on the way you pronounce it.
And, another thing I used, when I was tired and didn't really feel like talking properly, was to say I have a throat ache
I have had lowers only, for the moment, for 10 days. My lisping is not that bad (I have only lowers, so actually it is easier) but what I noticed is that when I am too much aware of it, say thinking about it, it gets worse. With my kids, I speak a lot, and rarely make mistakes, At work, I sometimes just think I might fail in a word and... I fail. It is very much "emotional" for me. Another thing I noticed is that it is better not to hesitate, just go on even if you fail a word, people probably don't notice that much, they are focused on what you say more than on the way you pronounce it.
And, another thing I used, when I was tired and didn't really feel like talking properly, was to say I have a throat ache
Thanks for the feedback fra. I posted a reply a day ago, but for some reason it has disappeared. I have also found that when I am speaking to my husband and son that my lisp is not as bad either. It's around other people that I am overthinking and hesitating, and not doing as well. I guess relaxing a bit about it does help. I also tend to speak very fast, and have found recently that when i slow down my speech I do alot better. I'm hoping for continued improvements. Since i first posted this I have had some improvement. Hopefully I'll be able to look back at this and barely remember when I had a problem with my speach. If not, I might be developing a chronic sore throat 
Your "chronic sore throat" made me laugh so much!!!
just wanted to ask, how are you doing? Did you improve further?
I did improve, but I am still fighting a bit with the "z" (I am italian and we have a "z" much harder than yours in English, and that is the worse I have). But I still have to put the uppers on, and the statistics here says that uppers are worse than lowers...
just wanted to ask, how are you doing? Did you improve further?
I did improve, but I am still fighting a bit with the "z" (I am italian and we have a "z" much harder than yours in English, and that is the worse I have). But I still have to put the uppers on, and the statistics here says that uppers are worse than lowers...
I am now on day 12, and feel that even though I am improving I still have words I slur or lisp with. I can imagine the "z" in italian would be difficult. I would probably be struggling with that also. I have trouble with words that end in th's. I find that a word may sound fine to say on it's own, but in combination with another word I can't get it out right. Like for example "this is their's" or something like that.
I actually didn't end up back to work until day 10. I thought I was doing pretty well that morning, but a co-worker I am friendly with actually asked me if I had braces before I told her about them. She said I sounded different, like I had braces. We have another co-worker who had traditional (on the front braces), and she said I sounded a lot like her when she had them on. I found that as the day went on and the busier I was and the more I had to speak to people, the worse my speech was. I tried to stay hydrated as much as possible. It was a little discouraging, because I was hoping to not be struggling as much. No one else asked about my speech though, whether they noticed or not I don't know.
The next day I got together with a good friend whom I hadn't told yet. She said she wouldn't have noticed my speech until I pointed it out, and then she could tell the difference. What I'm coming to terms with is that I will probably end up telling more people than I originally thought about the braces if my speech keeps being affected, but if I had chosen traditional braces, my speech would still be affected, and I wouldn't get the benefit of seeing the progress instead of the metal.
So you will be getting your uppers on next. That is the way my ortho was originally going to do mine- lower's first, then uppers, then extractions. That was until my braces were delayed and I had the time off work so it changed to extractions first, retainers (with false tooth for extraction gap) to maintain placement until braces arrived, then uppers with pontics (false teeth to fill in extraction gaps), then lowers last. I did the uppers first so that I would not have to wear the retainer to fill the extraction gap up top. They normally like to do the lowers first because they say that they are the most difficult to get used to, then the uppers are no problems. They didn't say if that was due to speech or just comfort in general. I'm hoping that the speech part is not worse. I can handle the discomfort, but this speech is really a challenge. When do you get your uppers? I'll be curious to see how you do. Hopefully for you, the uppers will be no problem. I'm getting very nervous about the lowers. Do you have incognito/ibraces?
I actually didn't end up back to work until day 10. I thought I was doing pretty well that morning, but a co-worker I am friendly with actually asked me if I had braces before I told her about them. She said I sounded different, like I had braces. We have another co-worker who had traditional (on the front braces), and she said I sounded a lot like her when she had them on. I found that as the day went on and the busier I was and the more I had to speak to people, the worse my speech was. I tried to stay hydrated as much as possible. It was a little discouraging, because I was hoping to not be struggling as much. No one else asked about my speech though, whether they noticed or not I don't know.
The next day I got together with a good friend whom I hadn't told yet. She said she wouldn't have noticed my speech until I pointed it out, and then she could tell the difference. What I'm coming to terms with is that I will probably end up telling more people than I originally thought about the braces if my speech keeps being affected, but if I had chosen traditional braces, my speech would still be affected, and I wouldn't get the benefit of seeing the progress instead of the metal.
So you will be getting your uppers on next. That is the way my ortho was originally going to do mine- lower's first, then uppers, then extractions. That was until my braces were delayed and I had the time off work so it changed to extractions first, retainers (with false tooth for extraction gap) to maintain placement until braces arrived, then uppers with pontics (false teeth to fill in extraction gaps), then lowers last. I did the uppers first so that I would not have to wear the retainer to fill the extraction gap up top. They normally like to do the lowers first because they say that they are the most difficult to get used to, then the uppers are no problems. They didn't say if that was due to speech or just comfort in general. I'm hoping that the speech part is not worse. I can handle the discomfort, but this speech is really a challenge. When do you get your uppers? I'll be curious to see how you do. Hopefully for you, the uppers will be no problem. I'm getting very nervous about the lowers. Do you have incognito/ibraces?
I do agree with you, there are words that are difficult but also words that in themselves are not difficult but they become so in combination with others.
I also experienced that when I talk much it gets worse, but also that in the morning, when tongue is still "lazy" it is also bad. Also, there are situations that I cannot really foresee. Sometimes it is like I am normal and sometimes it is really noticeable.
In my case, (I have Incognito) I cannot really say who noticed. At work, my colleagues are mainly males, and I guess that they do not really "dare" to ask since I am a woman. I am pretty sure some have noticed, and I think I will have to tell to some people, also because the uppers will be worse and possibly visible a bit (I have gaps and there will be changes pretty visible in gaps being moved and filled). However, I still think I prefer this (if speech will be not worse than this) to normal braces. It is really reducing the impact with your life and interactions with others (if it does not get worse!).Think about the many situations in which you just have a quick interaction, and can just forget about braces.
I had lowers on 18 days ago, but I will have to wait until July 13 for the uppers. It is a long time because the orto was traveling up to the second half of June, but then I have some important stuff at work during the first week of July and I did not want to risk not to be used to the uppers (I will also have to talk a lot and in English which I did not trained with braces... I am very scared about it)
I think you should not be scared about uppers. There is a post here that compares uppers with lowers, and most of the people said lowers are not as bad as uppers (for speech). The discomfort does not seem to me that bad, I mean I can manage it...
I also read that some people recorded themselves to check the speech. Have you also tried that?
I also experienced that when I talk much it gets worse, but also that in the morning, when tongue is still "lazy" it is also bad. Also, there are situations that I cannot really foresee. Sometimes it is like I am normal and sometimes it is really noticeable.
In my case, (I have Incognito) I cannot really say who noticed. At work, my colleagues are mainly males, and I guess that they do not really "dare" to ask since I am a woman. I am pretty sure some have noticed, and I think I will have to tell to some people, also because the uppers will be worse and possibly visible a bit (I have gaps and there will be changes pretty visible in gaps being moved and filled). However, I still think I prefer this (if speech will be not worse than this) to normal braces. It is really reducing the impact with your life and interactions with others (if it does not get worse!).Think about the many situations in which you just have a quick interaction, and can just forget about braces.
I had lowers on 18 days ago, but I will have to wait until July 13 for the uppers. It is a long time because the orto was traveling up to the second half of June, but then I have some important stuff at work during the first week of July and I did not want to risk not to be used to the uppers (I will also have to talk a lot and in English which I did not trained with braces... I am very scared about it)
I think you should not be scared about uppers. There is a post here that compares uppers with lowers, and most of the people said lowers are not as bad as uppers (for speech). The discomfort does not seem to me that bad, I mean I can manage it...
I also read that some people recorded themselves to check the speech. Have you also tried that?
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tangobanna
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 9:06 am
re: speech
I have only had braces for 3 days but the horrible thing (becides the pain) is the teporary lisp I still cant talk normally but I've figured out that if you slow down its not as noticeable.[size=12][/size]