Talking with expanders...

[theschnitzel]

Hi, my name is Josh, I just got my braces put in today...and the orthodontist also placed an expander at the top of my mouth.

The pain is bearable, and the look is fine, but the one major problem I am having is an artificial speech impediment(in other words, I sound weird).

The dentist said it would dissipate in about a week; but, I thought I'd get the inside scoop from some of my fellow brace wearers...(just in case he was trying to appease my disapproval of the way I sounded).

So, will this trouble talking go away as the braces and expander settle in?

Thanks immensely,
Josh.

[HeadgearJoe]

Hi, my name is Josh, I just got my braces put in today...and the orthodontist also placed an expander at the top of my mouth.

The pain is bearable, and the look is fine, but the one major problem I am having is an artificial speech impediment(in other words, I sound weird).

The dentist said it would dissipate in about a week; but, I thought I'd get the inside scoop from some of my fellow brace wearers...(just in case he was trying to appease my disapproval of the way I sounded).

So, will this trouble talking go away as the braces and expander settle in?

Thanks immensely,
Josh.

hi josh , welcome to the expander an braces world , it's fun , i to have an expander an it will get better in about a week or two , the worst part i found with mine is food getting cought on it , how many mm do you need to move an how long will you need the expander an braces , hgjoe

[butterfly]

HI Josh

Bet you cannot neither say Schnitzel right now nor eat it I got my expander 2.5 weeks ago. The first days were truly awful. I was in pain and could not speak at all. Even my accent became worse - like it used to be 5 years ago! I felt like I lost my ability to speak. S, SH, and F sounds would sound like a 80years old with a denture! (And I had to buy denture cleaning tablets... how embarrassing is that!) For every phone call I would remove the expander! But about 10 days later it just "disappeared". I don't feel it anymore unless I touch it with my tongue on purpose. Speech became normal again!

Trust me: This thing will magically go away. It's related to the brain (someone explained it to me). If the brain is being flooded with the same specific sensation all the time it filters it after a few days.

[ssfw]

Hi Josh,

I got my expander 8 days ago and have not had the braces placed yet. I had a slight problem with my speech on the first day and haven't had much of a problem since then. The only reason I am having a little problem now is because my tongue is sore (from my tongue hitting against the hook on the band) and my orthodontist said soon my tongue will 'toughen up' and get use to the expander). I haven't had any pain from the expander and hope that continues after I get my adjustment.

Yes, food will get caught uner the expander, but you just need to bring an interdental brush with you so that you can get it out easily.

Good luck and keep us posted.

ssfw

[missy]

It's good to hear that speech returned so quickly to most of you! I wasn't so lucky, but then maybe it depends on the expander. My d's and k's didn't sound normal to me until the expander was removed, but with everything else, you adjust and it gets much easier. Try reading aloud to yourself for practice. That will speed up the process.

~Missy