Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 4:54 am
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.
[/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.