My Linguals story

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#1 Post by **SparklySarah** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:42 am

11th Feb 2009
I finally got my linguals fiited yesterday! I'm 24 and have wanted my teeth straightened ever since I've had adult teeth! I have two front teeth that lean back and two front teeth that lean forward. I have finally took the steps as I want to get married, but have straight teeth in the photos!
I'm being treated in Birmingham UK and my treatment cost Â£5300 for top and bottom. I had the top brace fitted yesterday which wasn't at all painful, and took...about 45mins I think. I have to have a tooth extracted to make room in the next couple weeks and am having my bottom brace fitted in a month.
The back wires feel very sharp and cut my tongue within minutes of me leaving the dentist. Eating was ok but I cannot bite down as much as I used to so chewing is limited!
The worst thing about my brace is my speech, which is awful. I have only spoke to my family so far and am dreading going back to work (I rang in sick today!)
I covered the brace in wax last night to stop it cutting my tongue but this made the brace feel very thick and uncomfortable, so this morning I have just covered the sharp ends at the back of the brace on both sides.
I am extremely worried that my speech is not going to improve

#2 Post by **martinboyce** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:58 am

HI sarah,

congratulations on getting braced.

Your speech will get bettter, if there is any pertrusions that can be clipped or trimmed in your opinion contact your ortho and get them snipped, if its one of those bits thathas to be there then yes used your wax, ulcer cream and painkillers. Over the next few weeks those areas are gunna get raw but then will start to toughen up. Eventually those areas will never hurt again. Thats when your brace gets adjusted and it starts rubbing somewhere new lol.

Keep your chin up, read peoples stories in here, theres loads of great advice.

#3 Post by ***melissa*** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:43 pm

Hi Sarah! I got linguals 6 days ago and I can assure you, it does get better. The first 3 days were the worst for me. I could not eat, drink, or talk. But as your tongue begins to heal and adjust to the linguals, your talking improves. I am still on very soft foods, but eating isn't as worse as it was. I basically just ate frozen yogurt for 3 days...anything else seems to make the cuts on your tongue hurt. I rinsed with salt water, which really helped!!

#4 Post by **rolo** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:56 pm

Hi Sarah,

I got linguals 9 months ago, they did rub a bit at first, but I have been so happy with the results. Speech improves really quickly after the first week. I found lots of wax and drinking loads of water helped.

#5 Post by **SparklySarah** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:44 am

Thankyou for your helpful replies

This morning (day 3) my tongue was extremely painful, it felt very swollen and raw. I rang in sick to work for a second day because of the pain and my speech (I had to repeat myself twice before the person on the other end could understand me

)
I've took painkillers which have helped, and tried to repeat the alphabet a few times, which works, but when I'm having a conversation it all goes out the window.
I think I'll feel better when I've had the tooth extracted, as I feel at the moment my braces aren't 'doing anything' because there isn't the space for them to move yet. I haven't had much support...my mum asked why I didn't just get veneers like on extreme makeover (

) and my other half has had a but of moan saying I should be happy, and that I'm a bit ungrateful as the braces were so expensive. Surely I can be happy about the straight teeth in 18months time, not this painful awkward bit? I feel very guilty now

I do feel better however after you guys saying my speech and the pain will improve, thankyou thankyou thankyou, I'm very grateful for the reassurance.

#6 Post by ***melissa*** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:43 am

Hi Sarah!
Take advantage of this day off from work and let your tongue heal. (I took Thurs & Fri off from work, plus I had the weekend to "recover" - it really helped!)Put tons of wax on the braces and try not to talk much... I found I could not talk properly while my tongue was swollen and raw, wait until it heals better

#7 Post by LB » Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:24 am

Hi Sarah - I got my Incognito/iBraces fitted on last week on 5th Feb. Lower brackets and wire, and upper brackets only (got some extractions next week, so upper wire will go in once that's done). I'm also being treated in the UK.

My speech has been a bit of a mix - it veers between pretty much ok to sounding like Marlon Brando in the Godfather movies. I've noticed it's worse in the evenings, or when my tongue is sore. Wax is helping me loads - I've found I sound almost normal when I've applied loads of it! One thing I've noticed is that occasionally I'll get really tongue tied over a particular word, because my mouth and tongue can't figure out how to move around all the metal. My speech is a lot better when I'm relaxed - I think when I'm talking to people at work (particularly on calls) I'm quite tense as I'm not sure whether I'm about to have a Marlon Brando or Sylvester the Cat moment and this just makes it worse.

Anyway, I hope the speech gets better for you. I'm on day 6 now and I think today is much better as my tongue isn't so sore and I'm also getting a bit more used to it. Days 3-5 were quite difficult for me. Good luck!

#8 Post by **SparklySarah** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:45 pm

I've developed a habit of fiddling with the brace with my tongue which has obviously made tongue really sore! Today was my first day back at work and especially due to my sore tongue my speech was far from perfect, I did get a few funny looks espcially from customers but most people were just sympathetic.
I also find the wax is coming off everytime I eat, I have swallowed so much of it! I'm wondering whether to change brands? I'm currently using brace-eze, and ortho-care strips.