Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello everyone. I got my braces on about a month and a half ago and got one bite turbo behind one of my front teeth because I have a slight overbite. The problem is that it has given me a lisp and has not gone away nearly as much as I would have hoped. Its better than the first day and I've gotten used to eating with it but I can't stand the lisp. So my questions is this: if I request to have it removed will the dentist listen? I REALLY want them out as I have a lot of social obligations this fall at college and the lisp is making speaking difficult and I'm self conscious because I'm trying to make my words come out fluidly and it is requiring more effort than it should. My sister and others I know had overbites and never needed a turbo. If it is simply to speed up treatment then I am ok with having the a braces on another half year if the turbo can be removed.

Thanks for reading this

I think it serves 2 purposes, one is to speed up progress, the other is so you cant bite down on a bracket.

I like to think the 2 are connected as you may not have gotten the bottom brackets for possibly 5 or 6 months, which may have slowed you down.

Since you have full braces i don't know if they will want to remove the bite turbo, but it will get a lot better soon, bite turbos seem to wear down quick and as they do and as your bite improves, talking and eating will be much easier.

I was in the exact same situation - college obligations and all. The lisp was I think one of the worst parts once I got my braces on because of the bite turbos. I actually went to my orthodontist two days afterwards to wear them down a bit because of this. I would try doing this first since it did help a bit. She also said the lisp could be increased because it was making my mouth dry, so she told me to get a mouth spray (I think it was called Biotene or something?) and I used this before presenting speeches at college or situations where I had to talk a lot.

The reason mine were in was so that my teeth wouldn't collide with the brackets and grind against each other. It also speeds up the treatment.

If you want to, I'd call up your orthodontist and ask if it could be worn down a bit to help you with speaking because it's possible they didn't anticipate your speech to be an issue and didn't wear it down as much as possible.

ask if they can put them on your molars instead of your front teeth. it may make chewing a little harder but that may be better than having a lisp.