Metal Mouth Message Board

I apologize in advance for this extremely long post. Hopefully some will be able to read through it and give me advice. Here it goes:

I had braces on for about 3 years. Sadly at 11, I didn't take the whole retainer thing seriously and am paying for it now. My teeth aren't THAT bad, but they aren't perfect. What happened is this. I got my braces on for the first time when I was in 5th grade. I also had a pallet expander, tongue cradle, etc. My mouth is tiny and I had too many teeth, but by 8th grade things were looking good. I had my braces taken off, and the ortho told me how important it was to wear my retainer as often as possible but when I heard how horrible my speech was with them in I quickly ignored them. I was in 8th grade, and was too self-conscious about my speech so I figured I'd be okay. Sadly, I was wrong.. very wrong. Now at 23 I'm paying $7k for lingual braces. I got them put on on Friday and I should have them on for about 5 months.

Having a perfect smile is very important to me, but I never really did anything about it until this year. I had my wisdom teeth taken out in January - apparently 2 years too late and what happened was my mouth was overly crowded so my teeth shifted quite a bit. I went to my siblings ortho and asked about options. He told me about the conventional braces, but I'm a paralegal and didn't think regular braces looked professional - then he sold me the second i heard the word invisible. He also told me about wilkodontics, but I didn't read any good reviews on that so I opted out of that and just went with the Ibraces. I went for the molding in March. The braces came in June 13. That was definitely a draw back because I wasn't told it would be that long. I was told 5 weeks max.

Okay, so I went to the ortho on Friday. It took me about 2 hours to get everything put on. The process was quite painless, except for the cleaning surprisingly. That's only because my teeth are extremely sensitive and the water really affected it. After it was done my ortho told me to look in the mirror and asked me what I thought and how I felt. I forget exactly what I said but I freaked out the second I heard myself speak. I asked my ortho how long the lisp would last and he said it's different for everyone but will go away. He gave me a speech exercise to do 3 times a day. It's a passage with practically all sounds of the english language so my tongue gets used to the metal intrusion. So far, no success. My tongue is soo beat up that I don't even want to try to talk. It's not unbearable, but not being able to talk is very frustrating. I think I'd be okay with my speech if my tongue wasn't all blistered. Does this go away anytime soon?

I'm worried mainly because as I said before I am a paralegal and work from 8:30-6:30. I answer the phones and obviously do a lot of talking throughout the day. I have tried extremely hard to sing as often as possible and talk to get my speech to improve but I find myself curling my tongue to protect it from getting slashed.

Obviously, I keep thinking about the outcome in the long run and am extremely excited to have the perfect smile I always wanted.. but at this moment I just wonder why the hell I'm putting myself through this! There have been so many problems already.

Another issue is eating. The night after I got my braces put on I couldn't fathom the idea of eating. The morning after I woke up so hungry that I really needed to get something in my stomach. I did try to eat mozzarella sticks that night, but after I cut one up and tried to eat it I realized my teeth were far to sore so I gave them to my boyfriend. I tried the inside of a bagel but the bread kinda just stuck to my brackets. Eventually, after trying several foods, I settled for tea and cookies. I'm in Jersey and in the middle of a heat wave so the soup idea was out of the question. I had about 8 and gave up. Saturday I was able to eat a cut up hot dog. It was soo good, lol. And even though it took me about 40 minutes to eat, it was so worth it! I've also been eating ice cream like crazy. It's very soothing, but really any type of eating or mouth movement is killing my tongue. EVEN with wax. Now tonight, I have completely covered my bottom with wax, and am hoping to get a good nights sleep. I'm planning on maybe waxing everything for work tomorrow to see if that improves my speech.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Will my speech ever go back to normal while I have linguals on? What should I do about my tongue? It's hurting quite a bit. I've been taking Advil and Excedrin, but I still feel the pain. I am close to getting orajel and soaking my tongue with it just so I don't feel the pain anymore. However, that probably would not improve my speech - lol it's a lose lose situation. Also, one more question. When I got them fitted my ortho showed me two sets of molds. One was of my teeth now, and hte other was of my teeth in 5 months. The latter mold was absolutely perfect and got my excited and anxious to have those teeth. Has anyone else been shown their finishing molds? If so, how realistic were your results compared to the mold?

Hi perfectlystraight, and welcome.

The discomfort to your tongue will go away, give it around 10-14 days. I used a lot of wax in this initial period, also a product called Kenalog which I applied to and which soothed my tongue. Be very generous with the wax, cover all the brackets if needs be.

Your speech will return to normal, particularly once your tongue settles down.

As for food, sounds as though you're doing OK. I cut up a lot of stuff in the first few weeks, but it was better to eat it than sustain myself on a diet of liquids (I like my food!). This will become easier as well.

Thank you for the advice! I'm getting ready for work now. I had to get up a half hour earlier to leave me enough time for my new teeth cleaning routine. I guess I'll try cereal for breakfast. I just have no idea what I'll be doing for lunch. Usually I take a sandwich. Would peanut butter be okay? I really wanted to avoid bread.. (even though it's virtually impossible seeing as how i'm italian!) but what else could I bring?

Thanks again.

Try some pasta!

Yes, peanut butter should be fine.

The waterpik is the tool of choice. Get the one with the multiple tools so you can try them and figure out which one works best for you. For me (linguals on top and bottom) I found that the brush attachment works great at removing anything and everything between my teeth.

And yes, it will get better. I got my tops on first- they took about a week to get used to. Then 6 weeks later I got the bottoms. They took a little longer to get used to- almost 3 weeks. But now I eat anything and everything, and no lisp or anything. But if I have to talk a LOT my tongue still will get a little nicked up. Drink lots of water!

Hi, sorry to hear that things aren't so good for you at the moment.

Here is my advice. As the others say, stay really well hydrated. Use the weekend as a time to recover. Get lots of sleep and before you go to bed have a huge drink, and smear Bonjella (baby teething gel) all over your tongue and cover all your brackets with wax. I found this to be a good way to let my tongue recover and it really did work.

As for speech, yes it does get better. It seemed all of a sudden things suddenly were OK! Hopefully that will be soon for you.

As for food, I think it varies from person to person and exactly what the situation is in your mouth. Some foods that you would expect to be fine are actually a nightmare (eg rolled oats). I found that I just about lived on smoothies and those breakfast drinks for a long while. I kind of felt bad because I kept reading that it itn't a big deal to get back on with normal foods etc, but I have come to the understanding that everybody is different. So, just do what is good for you, if fruit isn't in season, use tinned fruit for smoothie. Also, soups are good.

Hope this helps..

Just to add to all the good advice already given, swilling your mouth with warm salt water twice a day will ease the painful tongue situation and should help it heal up quicker.

I find mash potato with peas, gravy and cut up sausages quite easy to eat, breakfast cereal is good for a snack if you let the milk soak in til they go fairly soggy! Eat lots of chocolate mousse and ice cream to keep your strength up

I found my speech drastically improved after 2-3 weeks.

Good luck with it

Wecome to the world of linguals- its certainly an experience you will never forget?
I have had lingual uppers and ceramic lowers for 21 days now- I still have a slight lisp, but it really does get better day by day. However I have noticed that if your tongue is sore then this affects your speach. I use wax at night and as much as I can during the day and this helps with speach.
If you can heal your tounge then you will find your speach improves.
I have a very small arch so my brace really did cut my tounge up- but as long as I use wax it seems to be ok.......
Eating is another huge thing for me at the moment- I cant chew and have lived off pasta since b'day. I take soft bread rolls to work with tuna and mayo - and swirl out well with water after......I also love mousse! thats my treat as I cant eat/chew chocolate anymore.
It does get easier though..... I was able to eat pizza at the weekend!

You have to remind your self that is is all worth is- 5 months you will look back at this and be proud at what you have done- I ahve another 17 months left but I dont regret at all having a brace....
Its the best thing I have ever done.... and although its a lot to deal with at the begining it only gets better.... leading to a perfect smile....

Not to sure about the moulds- I was never offererd to see any of mine- it would of been nice but I suppose its difficult to predict exacly how mine will turn out as mine are so over crowded- so sorry- cant really comment on that-
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Hi there-I totally agree about the waterpik. I also got the kind that has the attachments and it is great! I am so glad to hear that the bottoms take longer to get used to--since I have had them on for 8 days now--it was rough going in the beginning, but everyday gets better. I am getting my tops on Aug. 21st....wish me luck. Noellenoelle

Volare wrote:The waterpik is the tool of choice. Get the one with the multiple tools so you can try them and figure out which one works best for you. For me (linguals on top and bottom) I found that the brush attachment works great at removing anything and everything between my teeth.

And yes, it will get better. I got my tops on first- they took about a week to get used to. Then 6 weeks later I got the bottoms. They took a little longer to get used to- almost 3 weeks. But now I eat anything and everything, and no lisp or anything. But if I have to talk a LOT my tongue still will get a little nicked up. Drink lots of water!

Hi everyone. It is my first time being on this site...thought it might give me a little understanding with the whole 'braces' experience. I have worn the iBraces for only four days and yes, it is a big pain in the buttocks! I have never felt so apprehensive in my life! It feels like a pile of rocks are in my mouth. This being said, my speech sounds like I have a lisp. As mentioned in prior posts, it seems pretty normal. Is is true that it typically takes appx. 7-10 days for your speech to come back to normality? God, I hope so. Otherwise, I am going to be a hermit!

I have used silicone to place around the brackets (upper/lower), but it seems some of it falls out when eating. Are you supposed to change this stuff each time prior of eating and afterwards? Also, brushing seems challenging. I have a battery operated OralB toothbrush, but it really doesn't quite feel like my teeth are clean. Any thoughts on what to use?

Any comments/suggestions are much appreciated. Hopefully, there will be light at the end of the tunnel!

Hi Rockmouth-Well...I have had my ibraces on the bottom for 3 1/2 weeks and it DOES get better! I now only have to use wax on the back brackets on both sides, and what I do is, I brush in the morning, and do the waterpik and floss a little (I find the waterpik to be a Godsend!) Then I wax up and leave it on for the day-I do swish my mouth with water when eating, and then I do brush my teeth after lunch--if the wax comes off, it does I just replace it. When I get home, I take all wax off and waterpik and brush with my sonicare and before I go to bed, I put wax on the back brackets so my tongue doesnt' get cut up while I sleep. Then when I wake up, I take the wax off, do the whole routine over again...it will start to feel better, believe me.
I am getting my top ibraces on Sept. 4th and am flipping out a bit about the speech thing since no one but family and close friends know about my braces...don't know why I am so self conscious about it, but I am...Hope this helps!

I'm sorry you are feeling so bad. All i had put in at first was a bar (on the back of my bottom teeth) to hold everything in place) and when i heard my self lisp i cried so hard the doctor thought something was seriously wrong with me. (my name also starts with an S so it was extra devastating).

I hope things get better for you - i get my full braces put on Sept 11, and i am thinking my teeth and pain situation will be similar to yours.

Hang in there!


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