Terrified of Linguals but Vain

Discussions relating to Lingual Braces (behind-the-teeth) only, such as iBraces and LingualCare.

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lionfish
Posts: 2635
Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 4:16 pm
Location: emerald city, oz

#16 Post by lionfish »

As a lingual wearer, I'd like to add my 20 cents worth to some of the comments below.

[/quote]Linguals are attached to the backside/inside of your teeth, not the front like traditional braces. As such, it is much harder to see them. [/quote]

They are completely hidden.

[/quote]One of the major drawbacks with linguals is that they really can mess up your speech. The tongue hits up against the back of the lower teeth virtually every time we speak, and if you have all this metal piled on the back of your teeth, your speech CAN be seriously inhibited. I have read of it taking people weeks to develop a normal speech pattern because the tongue just can't get used to the metal sticking out.[/quote]

There is a period of adjustment, certainly, but with the newer generation of lingual braces which have a lower profile, adjustment can now be much quicker. My speech returned to normal within a couple of weeks.

[/quote]Another big drawback is the fact that there is such direct contact between the tongue and brackets that a person's tongue can get really gashed up, which hurts and makes speech even harder. There are some orthos who will do linguals upper jaw but not lower because of this exact problem. Maybe not all people have problems but that is what I have read.[/quote]

Linguals do impact on your tongue. It took roughly two weeks for my tongue to "toughen up" in the same way that one's inner cheeks would need to toughen up to regular braces.

[/quote]Also, not very many orthos are trained in linguals. Linguals were extremely popular until the advent of Invisalign, which has now captured the market on "invisible braces." So, not that many orthos do linguals nowadays. Makes finding a good person harder.[/quote]

The additional training required dictates that there will be fewer orthos offering linguals as a service. Another factor is cost: linguals cost far more than traditional braces, which would also reduce demand - and therefore supply - of suitably trained orthos. I would not agree that Invisalign has necessarily captured the market on invisible braces, as this technology is only suitable for mild cases, whereas linguals can be used to treat almost any case in the same was as traditional braces.

[/quote]Please don't restrict your brace selection to linguals. Yes, they are much less visible, but they also interfere more with your life (assuming you are like me and like to talk and eat!). [/quote]

As someone who also likes to talk and eat, let me assure you that I've suffered no ill effects through wearing linguals.

pucca26
Posts: 108
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:16 am
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#17 Post by pucca26 »

Please!!!! Have a positive thinking!!!!
Linguals are not as bad and regular braces either!!!
I got my upper linguals 3 days ago and I’m so glad I took that decision, it doesn’t cut my tongue but the first day it was a LITTLE painful because it was touching my tongue all the time and I was not used to, but now it has improved a lot and I didn’t have problems with the speech, at the beginning I talked a little rare, but LITTLE, and I go on improving, when I came back from the dentist I was talking to my father and he didn’t realized any difference in the speech, I have to admit that I thought it would have been to much worse, but it wasn’t.
The only problem I have is for eating because I do it slower, but that's all I don’t live eating yoghurt and soup.
I personally didn’t chose invisaling because it was 3 times more expensive than linguals and the results are poor many times.
Just relax and take a decision

pucca26
Posts: 108
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:16 am
Contact:

#18 Post by pucca26 »

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Last edited by pucca26 on Sat May 13, 2006 8:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

missingu
Posts: 259
Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 2:18 am

#19 Post by missingu »

De gustibus non est disputandum.

To each their own - it's important to know both sides when making a big decision, though.

meep
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2006 12:10 pm

update

#20 Post by meep »

I got upper linguals on two days ago, and I am SO happy with them. It was such a great decision and well worth the money.

I have a very slight lisp if I'm not thinking about it, but it's very easy to hide. I was talking normally by the end of the first day. They are almost completely invisible except for one small spot where I have a gap in my teeth, and even there, it's really hard to see the dark metal next to the interior of my mouth. No one can tell I have them.

As far as pain goes, it's more annoying than anything, but I've been using a lot of wax which completely solves the problem. It never really hurts your tongue- it's more just a soreness from constantly rubbing. At worst, it feels like I bit my tongue a couple of days ago and it hasn't quite healed- definitely something that I can live with. I'm a little more nervous about my lower linugals since it will be a lot harder to avoid those with my tongue. Hopefully I'll be completely used to the top ones by the time they go on in a month or so.

Eating is pretty difficult but I'm only two days in. I can chew but only really, really slowly. I've just had a nasty jaw surgery about 3 weeks ago though so I'm pretty used to the whole soft food idea.

All in all, it's really not painful like I thought it would be. The worst part is that one tooth where the bracket is peeking through and sometimes my lip gets caught on it- that seriously hurt. Thank goodness I didn't get outside braces:)

lionfish
Posts: 2635
Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 4:16 pm
Location: emerald city, oz

#21 Post by lionfish »

I'm glad you're happy with your decision, meep. And it's great that you're adjusting so quickly.

Steph
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 9:38 am

How much??

#22 Post by Steph »

Im currently 2 weeks away from my 16th birthday, and just been to the dentist.
He told me 6 months back, i would need 4 teeth pulling, Since im petrified of needles its taken me a while to appcept this, I know that having 4 teeth pulled would mean me passing out a few times, and passing out isnt a good thing. But i decided its around a few hours of pain and passing out, and then i can start treatment.
However, hes now saying that orthoworld wouldnt treat me as i would be past 18 by the time treatment would of finished.

However iv been researching fairly hard and im really looking into Lingual braces! They sound perfect for me, and im willing to suffer for that fab smile as iv been self consious for a few years now, since all my friends have had braces and always talk about braces and i sit there quietly when ever the subject comes up.

I was wondering how much Lingual braces are approx around as iv got no idea. Are we talking hundreds, or thousands?? (Im guessing hundreds)

Thanks alot
Steph xxx

lionfish
Posts: 2635
Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 4:16 pm
Location: emerald city, oz

#23 Post by lionfish »

It depends on where you are and what you need done, Steph.

But I'd say it's more in the realm of thousands rather than hundreds.

I was quoted A$7,000 for metal. I'm paying almost double that for linguals on top only (I have ceramics on the bottom). If I'd gone fully lingual, it would have been another A$3,000 on top.

TX26
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:52 pm
Location: texas.

#24 Post by TX26 »

Steph,

My lingual braces (top and bottom) treatment total was $6,500. If I had gone with traditional braces it would have been around $4,000.

The best advice I can give you is to go to AT LEAST 3 consultations for quotes. See my advice and reason here: viewtopic.php?t=8712&start=0&postdays=0 ... highlight=
4.18.05 - lingualcares - top & bottom
estimated time - 18 months
READJUSTED treatment time - 16 months

sharonm
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 5:26 pm
Location: Sydney Australia

#25 Post by sharonm »

Your teeth look amazing in those pics!!!You can't see anything.It's great!!!I hope mine will be like that because I have heard a few people say that you can see the bottom ones sometimes

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