Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello. Well I am getting my braces put on in about 5 weeks now and I am very excited about it!! I just can’t wait to start to see some changes.

I was though under the impression that I would be having the gold lingual ibraces that most people seem to have, however now I have found out that the ones my ortho has for me (which are a lot cheaper) are pretty much the same as normal braces except they still have to be specially made for me interstate.

Anyway I am wondering how many people have these regular braces on the back and if they are ok?? I mean they are quite big and I am thinking speech is going to be much harder with these ones. Especially seen as I have a deep overbite and I was told speech and biting down will be very hard for me anyway.

Oh yeah I know they are linguals!! (on the back) I am just not sure they are as good as the regular ibraces as they have a larger profile and may be sharper. So I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them?

they all look so different.. the last ones looks really good. i am pretty sure its the STB braces. hopefully they will work ok for me. its just my ortho is not very possitive about them.. he is the only one who will do them in perth though so i dont have much choice and i do like him.
i dont think he has ever done linguals before!!!

Oh really!! I just thought they looked the least scratchy!!

Yeah he has done all the training for them but seems to be against them… I am hoping they will work well for me and then he can recommend them to other people.
I have just had a look around at some posts and noticed people talking about their STB which now I know is most likely the ones I am getting.
I am definitely trying to information up!!!!! I just cant wait to get them and start the process of straightening up my awfully crooked teeth…. Its really exciting..

Hey Sonja!

I have the STb linguals, and within a few weeks I got to the point where they were just part of my life and mostly I forgot about them. Although these brackets are small, from my experience the brackets alone are just the starting point. The final "feel" of the lingual brace as a whole depends on many factors which include, but may not be limited to, whether it is the upper or lower arch or both that are being treated, the size of each arch, how many brackets are bonded in each arch, whether the brackets sit flat or are mounted on a block of composite, whether your treatment involves extractions, whether at any stage you have to wear elastics and last but not least, the arrangement of the archwire on the brackets and the ligatures.

None of these factors should discourage you, and I hope it all goes well. Like me, I'm sure you'll be helped through the process by the positive comments and support of others on this board.

Just looking at the pics above, the STb brackets pretty much look like what I had. They had a very low profile and I got used to them within a fortnight.

thanks, yeah i am hoping i get used to them easily enough. they do look fairly small when compared to the others in the pictures..

I have ibraces they are really flat on the tooth so basically they feel like there is just a little bracket there. In that picture the look so big. Mine are also more gold then that pic of ibraces so they mix in a bit better (closer to the tooth colour).

Has anyone used Stealth linguals or Forestadent Self-ligating linguals?

interested to know

you post 4 pictures different lingual braces , which are the most comfortable and easy to speak after you put them on?
what about cost?

I have STBs. In my experience they can be uncomfortable, though you will get used to them. It seems to me that it isnt the actual brackets that are uncomfortable, it's the metal wires (Ligatures I think they're called) that causes the problem. The ends are tucked or snipped, but when the teeth move (or due to cleaning, eating etc), the wires can move or jut out, which can leave you with a very sore tongue. Because my bottom set are now even (they moved into place within less than a month) my ortho put elastic ligs around the brackets and removed the metal ones. This made them so much more comfortable, and I barely even notice the brackets like this. The lisping completely stopped too, so for me it was obviously only the bottom set that caused me speech problems, and only because of the metal ligs. Maybe that's something you can ask your ortho about if you have problems. They may not be able to use elastics ligs on all your teeth depending on how much they have to move etc., but on some they might.

Another problem is the end of the archwire (?), which will poke out of the last two brackets of each set. It's very sharp and can get sharper as the teeth move, because it will pertrude. That will probably be no different no matter what type of lingual you have.

Looking at the pics of all the Lingual types, I would say the ibraces might be most comfortable, because although the brackets are largest, they seem to be rounded and less sharp. But I have no experience of them, and appearances can be deceptive. I've never seen the other types offered (not in London anyway, and even ibraces are rare here). I would imagine they would be really expensive, simply because they are rare.

Until you get them, you cant imagine how frustrating it is to have the inside of your mouth permanently full of metal. It takes a lot to get used to. When you first get them, you will constantly fiddle them with your tongue, but you should try not to, because once you get into that habit, it's difficult to stop, meaning you are constantly aware that you have a mouthful of metal. And that feeling irritates you like you have a niggling itch that never goes away. Ive felt like ripping them out on more than one occasion.

Cleaning is another time consuming task, particularly with the top set, and if it is less time consuming for different types of lingual, then that is a factor I would recommend taking into consideration. I would suggest anyone getting any type of lingual to bring a travel toothbrush with you everywhere you go, particularly if you're eating out. Food gets caught in them all the time.

The good news Sonja - I was told that stbs are particularly efficient and fast at opening up a deep bite. And you will get used to having them in your mouth. I was very concerned about what type of bracket I was going to get before I got them. Now that I have them I couldnt give a toss, and i'm sure you will feel the same.

IBraces are marketed under the brand name Incognito in the UK, and the rest of Europe, their website has a list of orthodonists offering this product.

Incognito uses elastic ligatures as standard, although I'm not sure if metal could be used in certain specific cases?

They are not bad in terms of comfortable, I'm six weeks in and love them. I found them much easier to adjust to that my lower ceramics.