Metal Mouth Message Board

Well, after posting about my bad experience with invisalign on the other board (3 years of treatment left me with uneven teeth vertically, an open bite, cross bite and a 6mm overjet!!), I had my lingual braces fitted today. So far so good - it has only been a few hours. They are really comfortable (relatively speaking), and speech is only mildly affected (less than it was when I initially got invisalign). Now I'm sure things will deteriorate as my tongue reacts to the brackets, but so far I am very pleasantly surprised.

Hi amber, it took my tongue a day or two to figure out that it was hitting these foreign objects, then the discomfort set in. It only lasted a fortnight, and hasn't recurred.

I'm interested to hear that your speech was more affected with invisalign than linguals.

I was also pleasantly surprised with the effect of linguals (I only have them on my uppers) after all the negative stuff I'd read about them.

Yes, I'm sure this is too good to last - I have the wax and silicone earplugs (somebody suggested those!) ready and waiting. Glad to hear you got over the discomfort quickly.

Well, it's day 2 and so far so good.
I have stuck with a soft diet (my teeth are sore if I try to chew), but my tongue is ok. I have put wax on my lower braces after rinsing with peroxyl wash (a hydrogen peroxide solution) and seeing one or two white areas under my tongue (can't feel them though). My orthodontist gave me strips of wax which you heat under hot water and just press onto the braces. Very easy to apply (10 seconds) and so far has been no trouble at all. With the wax on, it almost feels as if I don't have lower braces at all.

Good to hear, amber. Wax is marvellous stuff.

Day 3 and the metal brackets are starting to feel familiar to my mouth and not like foreign objects. My tongue has settled into a new and comfortable position. (It's wierd when your tongue doesn't know where it "lives" anymore). There is a lot of pressure on my front teeth so hopefullt they are on the move. My teeth are pretty sore - still on a soft diet, and only able to chew with my back teeth. My tongue is fine - after waxing the lowers yesterday to give the underside of my tongue a rest from the minor irritation, it is back to normal today. I guess I will wax intermittantly so that I strike a balance between toughening up my tongue and not allowing it to get too irritated.
My challenge is a farewell dinner for my son tonight at a Brazilian steakhouse!

Good luck with the steakhouse dinner.

I was out to the pub last night and cooked a sirloin. It took me four times as long to get through it as it does my husband and my lowers are a bit tender this morning, but I cleared the plate. I also experimented with 'shaving' corn off the cob - works just fine with a sharp knife.

I've made it through week one - and that included a 4 day trip up to New York. The steakhouse dinner was a challenge as expected - taking very small bites was the key. I used wax on the lower braces for about 4 days - the underside of my tongue is a lot more sensitive than the upper part. I guess I have to credit the peroxyl mouthwash with helping avoid any really sore spots. I haven't needed wax for the upper brackets. My speech is OK - no one has commented on my mild lisp, but I am conscious of it. My s's need a bit of work.
The wire has slipped off the bracket of the tooth that has retreated up into my gum - so I am back to the orthodontist to get that fixed tomorrow.
With one week behind me I am very pleased. Someone had posted earlier that they could never tolerate linguals as they couln't tolerate the burr on the bands on their molars. I also had to have my burrs ground off when I had ceramics - but lingual barces are a lot smoother. Lots of bits of metal for sure, but they are not sharp.

Glad to hear you're travelling well, Amber. The 's' sound is probably the one that wants to disappears the most for me and I have to work hard to enunciate it. I think the earlier generation linguals were more difficult to adjust to because they had such a deep profile, or that's what I've been told.

Thanks lionfish. My speech is back to normal to the point that I don't notice a difference at all. The Rainbow Passage helped me. I read it relentlessly, and it really helped.
I have had my linguals on for 2 weeks now and couldn't be more pleased. My front tooth that had retreated up into my gum with invisalign is now almost level with my other front tooth (yay!). Hopefully the bite alignment will be good in time too.
For anyone who is hesitating to get braces becuase they don't want the metal mouth look, I highly recommend linguals. I would choose them over invisalign anyday. More effective, less noticeable (invisible!) and more comfortable IMHO.

Hi amber, it is very good to hear you are doing so well with your linguals!
It is hope for me also, I am about 10 days behind you with my B-day

Have you posted any pictures yet, or do you plan?

That's good news, amber.

I stuck my dive reg in my mouth last night and reckon I'll have to adjust the mouthpiece because it feels way too narrow (last dive was over 2 months ago). Another way to measure progress, well, for me anyway!