I noticed this forum has gone quiet over the past few months so I thought it'd be nice to open a new thread so everyone can share their latest update.
I got this idea because next Sunday will be my one year anniversary with lingual braces! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. I still remember my first few days with the braces and how terrible I felt about speaking and eating.
One year later, things have definitely improved.
On the speech front, I don't have a lisp anymore and I can speak almost normally, although my speech has never been the same as it was before I got linguals. The funny thing is, I cannot remember how I spoke before the braces! Many people find the upper braces the most annoying, but for me it's always been the lower ones ever since the beginning. They caused the speech problem and they are still painful especially at the back they hurt my tongue. I have hooks at the back and at the moment they hurt like a b--ch, I have to put wax on them all the time.
Also my entire mouth gets sore if I have spoken too much during the day (for ex. after spending a day with friends) so from a socializing perspective they've definitely had a negative impact, I get so tired and often prefers to stay at home than getting sore from speaking. Sad, I know.
I've been wearing elastics for the past couple of months and they've made a huge difference progress-wise - so I highly recommend to anyone to be good with their elastics and wear them as instructed!
Food wise, I can eat almost anything, but there are foods I stay away from because they're such a pain in the bum to eat with linguals: nuts, very crunchy crips such as Tyrrells, under-cooked broccoli and green beans, sandwiches using baguette bread because I can't bite into it without risking to lose a bracket, muesli, granola... you get the gist. I get quite nervous when I go to the restaurant and I order something which I realise is going to be tough to eat with the braces.
For example the other day I ordered some calamari which was very chewy and cut into huge chunks and there was no knife since it was a thai restaurant... had to give it away to someone else! 
Progress wise, it's been really good. My teeth are now straight, according to my ortho my bite is getting good and the spaces from my extractions are almost closed. I think I have between 6 and 12 months left, but I know my ortho will push me to go to 12 months so I'm not getting my hopes up for a shorter treatment. On the plus side my ortho has been amazing, he's definitely a perfectionist who's passionate about what he does, I never feel anxious before my appointments and that makes the treatment much easier to deal with.
Overall I am really happy with my teeth. It's been difficult and frustrating but the result is so rewarding. I love the fact that no one can see the braces and I'm reaping the benefits of a beautiful smile while still going through the treatment. I smile and laugh all the time now because I'm feeling much more confident about my smile. I used to be awkward because I hated my teeth. Now I make jokes, I put red lipstick on and I laugh a lot. It's all worth it in the end.
What about you? What's your latest update?