Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi guys,

how does elastics works for lingual? Are they put internally or externally? Do they interfere with the speech?
I am considering to go for lingual but I have many question marks...
Thanks for your reply!

They go from bracket to bracket on the inside of your teeth.
They're more annoying to get on, but there's a small plastic hook your ortho can give you that's really helpful, and you get good at it quite quickly.

I only have to wear elastics at night, but I suppose they would be visible when you opened your mouth if you had to wear them all the time.
They do also affect your speech a bit as your tongue has less space and keeps hitting them! (Again, not such an issue for me with them only at night...) I suppose you'd probably get used to it pretty fast if you had to though. And you can always take them out if you had to do a work presentation or meeting or something.

The main problem I have is fitting them on the hooks on my brackets at the same time as a power chain! When I was in light elastics it was fine, but now I'm in thicker elastics there's really not a lot of space once you've got a wire lig, a powerchain and a fat elastic! I tried some really thick ones this week and they just fell off every time I closed my mouth, so I've had to go back to the next ones down.

My ortho only does lingual braces, and also made a decision to only ask his patients to wear elastics at night, as he gets much better compliance. It means the treatment might be a little longer, but I'm much happier with longer treatment and only having to wear elastics at night. It might be something you can ask about at consultations, as I'm sure all orthos have preferred approaches to that kind of thing.

Good luck with it all - I got my linguals in November and am really happy with them!

Thanks for your reply...
I have so many questions... I still have to decide what to do...
How are you doing with the speech problem? (Lisp)
Do you had the feeling that your mouth was full?
Did your tongue get used to? How long it took in your case?
...I suffer from ulcers in my mouth from time to time and I know how painful this could be...

My lisp was mostly gone within a couple of weeks, but yes it's taken time to get used to the "full" feeling - it's fine now though.
After the initial pain, my tongue has only flared up once since I started with braces in November, and is manageable with wax and some bonjela (ulcer gel).

I figure that normal braces rip the inside of your cheeks and lips, and linguals rip your tongue, so it's going to hurt whichever way you do it.
But at least with linguals no-one seems them!

I'm very happy with my decision to have linguals, and am seeing great improvements in my teeth.

my ortho insisted upon elastics on the outside. (See my blog). I had so many bite issues that it ended up looking like a second set of braces on the outside of my teeth.

I will hope that yours are just inside!

These are the invisible braces so it's not externally. Yes you will face some difficulties in the beginning but i am sure this will overcome in some days of practice. You will also face some difficulties in swallowing.

Hi, my ortho wants to place white brackets on my upper canines to use elastics (I had upper premolars extractions so this would be to close the gap faster). Not too chuffed about it since it would be visible... Linguals are annoying enough so if on top of that I get brackets on two of my front teeth... Really defies the purpose. He claims this will make things go faster though.
Anyone had something similar? I don't know what to do.

hey kitri, i remember my ortho saying something similar during our first talk, to "move my front teeth back as fast as possible" (ive had 4 extractions). im only 2,5 weeks in but im kind of expecting it to happen after future appointments. not looking forward to it either. i'd be ok with it during the night, but at work im having trouble keeping things clean as it is, let alone social situations...

Kitri - I think you're totally within your rights to say you don't want brackets on the outside and are happy to accept a slightly longer treatment time. That's entirely your call, and your ortho should be able to accept that.

Or maybe ask to start with elastics on the inside and see how things are progressing after 6 weeks or whatever.
If it really is horribly slow, then maybe the brackets on the outside will be a good thing, but if the movement gets going ok then you might be able to dodge them.

Never be able to ask for your options during this whole process - don't be rushed into things you don't want if the only reason is speed and you're ok with it being a bit slower!

Thanks for your advice! My appointment is on Saturday and after careful consideration I don't think I will accept braces on my canines. I have spent so much money on "invisible braces" (which aren't that invisible to me as they are so uncomfortable to wear) that I don't want to have braces on the outside now. What makes the treatment bearable is the fact that people can't see the braces. Having braces on the outside would destroy my confidence! So... Yes, it will be a longer treatment time I think.

Right, so here's an update on the elastics situation. I had an appointment with my ortho at the end of February and he showed me the attachments he wanted to put on my canines - turns out it wasn't a bracket but a small teeth-coloured button to glue at the very top of my canines. We tried them on, and weirdly enough, it was pretty invisible, so I agreed I would give it a go and see how I get on with them.

He glued them on yesterday and I have to say, it's really not noticeable. I think the elastics are not too visible when I speak either, and he said I could take them off if I have to give a presentation at work or if I go to parties. You bet I will.

They're a bit annoying to speak with and are quite uncomfortable (more than after a braces adjustment); but hopefully I will get used to them pretty quickly. Also the fact I have a terrible ulcer at the tip of my tongue since Thursday doesn't help!!! Iglü, my friend

Thank you for asking this so we can all hear about it!