HELP, PLEASE! 3 weeks in and significant speech problems

[Anait]

Hello, everyone.

I've been lurking on this board for a while and sincerely hope for advice from people who've been there. Please, help, as I'm about ready to throw in the towel.

I got my linguals 3 weeks ago (both top and bottom) and speaking is very difficult. The fundamental problem is that the braces make the space so narrow between my first molars, that my tongue is just not able to stretch and bend into the shape it needs to produce those right sounds ('ch', 'g', 'str' and 'sh' sounds are the worst).

All the studies that I have read on lingual braces indicate that patients experience 'some' or 'minor' speech problems, such as a lisp, that was temporary and resolved itself within 2 weeks. This is not my experience at all; I wish the lisp was it! I actually had my GP write me a referral to a speech language pathologist, that's how bad it is.

The main reason I got linguals was that the vanity got the best of me and I wanted them to be hidden. I had to tell everyone that I was wearing them as everybody keeps asking me 'Why are you talking funny?' or 'What's wrong with your mouth?', or, my favourite, 'I didn't understand what you said.' (I practically want to cry after that one.)

I'm at a loss since I've been practicing outloud every day. I actually have a list 3 pages long of problematic words that I go over dilligently everyday. Can anyone, please, tell me what else I could do? I talk slowly since if I talked any faster, it would be incomprehensible. I drink water. I gargle with salt 5x a day to help my tongue heal.

Honestly, I cannot believe I'm actually saying this given the cost and pain and suffering to date, but if this does not improve soon, I'm seriously considering having them taken out. Unless I can produce more space between my first molars, I just don't see this for the next 2 years without the ability to talk properly. Please, help! Anyone experience anything like this?

I should add that before this I was told I had a linguistic talent as I'm fluently tri-langual and can speak 2 other languages in addition to that. Or, I should say, I was fluent, rather, as now I am just as stumped in all!

[LB]

Hi there, I'm so sorry to hear you're having such a hard time. I've had my lingual braces (Incognito/iBraces) for 19 months now. When I first had them fitted I had some problems with lisping and particular problems with 'g' - actually, I occasionally still have problems with 'g', but it's no big deal. My initial problems I think were partly because it was all new, but also because I had quite a lot of crowding on top and the wire was sticking out in odd places so I kept catching my tongue.

About 3 months into my treatment, my orthodontist put in a new wire on my lower arch and it really impacted my speech. It seemed to stick out more than the previous one I'd had, and I couldn't speak without slurring, no matter how slowly I talked, how much water I drank and no matter how hard I tried to speak clearly. It was exhausting, my face would hurt from trying to pronounce words properly. Luckily, I only had that wire in for a month, but I do remember thinking if it carried on I might have to change to ceramics on my lowers.

I guess my advice would be to see if changes to your teeth and changes in wires makes any difference and improves things. However, I understand how difficult it is when you are in the situation where you just can't speak effectively, so if changing to different brackets feels like the best solution, you need to consider what your options are. Have you had the opportunity to discuss this with your ortho? Is it just one arch that is causing your problems, or both? Try to be positive, you do have options and it WILL get better, whether you stick with the linguals or you go for brackets on the outside of your teeth.

[Ruby Tuesday]

Hi Anait!

I understand your problems. A lot of people seem to say that things settle in only about 2 weeks. That was not my experience either. However, in my case, things certainly did get better eventually. I understand it can be discouraging when you feel that you're experiencing something that nobody else is. Please be assured that you are not alone in this.

I know that, for me, the dr sound was particularly difficult, which seems to be sililar to what you're saying. I think it is different for everybody. I think the shape of some people's mouth must make a difference. Also, I think some people who comment here may just 'talk', whilst others do 'public speaking' for their jobs - and of a varying duration too.

Hang in there, take the weekend opoortunity for a rest, drink lots and lots of water. Then, rather magically, it will get better overnight! Best of luck!

[Anait]

Thanks to both of you for replying and words of encouragement.

I have researched this now and came across a scientific study from 2005 published in Journal of Orthodontics where 27% of lingual patients had severe speech impairment when they got the braces, and at 90 days 23% still had speech disturbances. Here is the study if you are interested:
http://www.angle.org/doi/full/10.1043/0 ... istoryKey=

I guess I fall into this group, which is almost 1/4 of people with speech problems. I've been experimenting with wax today to see if it would make a difference in my speech. I put it all along the front of my top arch and I find it really bulky. It causes a ton of saliva, so I'm constantly swallowing between words. I'm unable to eat but there is a tiiiny improvement.

I've been thinking about what you said, LB, and I do have 2 extractions which are just wire and then another 4 teeth in addition to that (2 top, 2 bottom, both at the same area) that are not attached yet, so again, a lot of wire. This is probably another factor, in addition to the narrow space between my first molars.

I don't see my ortho for another 3 weeks but I will have to talk to him before then if there is no change. I'm giving myself one more week to see if anything happens. If the wire gets changed in 3 weeks and it's going to be a lot stronger than this one, I could be in for even worse situation.

One more thing I wanted to ask you both since you are ahead of me time-wise, is do you have any regrets with the linguals, i.e. knowing what you know now what you have gone through with speech impediments, would you still choose this option of you had to do it again? Thanks!!

[Ruby Tuesday]

I think the biggest thing in all this is that without linguals, I would not have had any treatment at all. So, no, I don't regret going the lingual route..

[LB]

I also had two extractions on my top arch. I'd had two teeth taken out of my bottom arch when I was younger, so for that and a couple of other reasons, the ortho advised the upper arch extractions to sort out my bite. Anyway, the wire across the gaps did cause a few problems, because your tongue hits the wire, but there is nothing behind it. Also, like you, the wire wasn't completely attached to all my teeth at first - in particular for me it was one of my front teeth as I had an overjet which needed a bit of work before the wire would completely attach to one of the brackets. It all felt like a bit of a mess and most definitely had an impact on how well I spoke and how often I caught my tongue.

Do I have any regrets about linguals? Absolutely none. I love the fact that my teeth are just about perfect now and no-one can see the braces or even know I'm wearing them unless I tell them. Like Ruby Tuesday, I don't think would have taken the plunge without linguals. Having said that, when I was having speech issues with my lower arch, I really would have changed to ceramics on the bottom rather than struggle indefinitely with speech. Once I was in the situation, I was willing to look at other options. For me, I knew that the bottom brackets and wire were more problematic for me than the top - can you identify which is worse for you? It may be that if you did decide to change to different brackets, it would only need to be on one arch, rather than both and could result in a major improvement to your speech. You really do have a number of options, so don't get disheartened. I'd certainly recommend you wait for your next adjustment to see if that improves things - an adjustment can make a massive difference. By the way, a stronger wire doesn't necessarily mean that it feels bigger in your mouth - it can actually improve the way it feels. I have no idea why that one wire caused me so many problems, but I've had stronger wires since with no issues.

[upthebracket]

Sorry to hear about your problems. I've had mine about a month and am still getting minor speech problems, although nobody has mentioned it yet (I have to repeat myself more than normal).

Is there literally not enough room for you to form the sounds, even if you take time to form them carefully? I found in my case (obviously yours is different) that I could form the sounds but it involved pressing my tongue against various sharp bits of the brace, which obviously hurt. Over time, certain bits of the tongue would become tender and naturally 'shy' away from the correct position and lead to lisping. Once I got more adept at finding these painful spots and putting wax over the wire/bracket at that specific point, my speech improved a lot. Excessive saliva is annoying, and I was swallowing every other word at first, but again it seemed to improve with time.

I guess I would recommend sticking with it for a bit longer, and seeing if there's any improvement.

[RobinsonCruesoe]

Hi Anait,

I understand your frustrations, I have had linguals on for 6 days so far and for the life of me couldn't see how I was ever going to speak normally again. Today I seem to have made a bit of a breakthrough, I sang constantly for like 2 hours (my throat is sore), find an album you really like and know every word too. SING until it hurts...

I noticed you said your still struggling to eat, well today coincided with the day I decided to tentatively start chewing, once I knew I could chew I seem to gain confidence in my mouth and then my speaking soon picked up. I have now noticed when I really force the words out certain parts of my mouth/tongue hurt so I think i've been subconsciously avoiding saying words correctly to avoid the pain. My girlfriend mentioned that when I was speaking my mouth wasn't moving as much as "normal", have you noticed this? Today she says it's fine and my speech is much better.

I hope you adapt soon, my speech isn't perfect at the moment but my breakthrough moment seemed to happen when I gained confidence in my ability to use my mouth to chew etc. If it isnt too painful try eating, just soft bread if you have too...

Hope this helps

[katieGC]

Hey Anait - this was a while ago I know, but how did you go? Did it come good for you?

[lingual or nought]

Hi Anait

Like you, I would only consider lingual and went ahead. You will note that my username tells it all.

However, whilst I saw progress at first, things slowed down and most significantly, my speech never came right. I was always in pain from the irritating brackets and sounded drunk. Also little kids see your linguals and then bleat out embarrassing questions at the most inappropriate times. People around a dinner table see them too and then you feel you've lied to the world, and it’s irritating and you still can’t talk etc...

To help the linguals along, my ortho (yes, he is good, did great results for my wife with linguals that ended ten years ago and they still look great! and for other people), put ceramics outside on teeth 3,4,5 and a hookie thing on 6 (canine to molar) last Tuesday with a wire connecting them. Upon inspection they were almost impossible to see and so I phoned him and said I decided to take the jump and change the lowers to linguals. We planned it for today but I went to him last Wednesday to remove the lower linguals in the meantime.

The minute the linguals were removed from my lower arch, my mouth felt like a giant smooth cave and my speech improved immeasurably...

Over the week, I decided to go the whole hog and replace the linguals completely with ceramics. It was a hard decision being that I am very very shy and self conscious but I bit the bullet and did it today.

In defence of linguals, the removal of the uppers was nowhere as significant as the lowers. I would say 90% of your speech problems are from the lower linguals.

That being said, once the real braces were on and I forced myself to look in the mirror, I could not believe how little you see of them. My wife was amazed and I regret the time I wasted in linguals. The Normal braces system is simple, easier to clean and handle, faster and everyone's doing it these days anyway. After a day of facing the world I am almost over the shyness and am a better person for it and whooo! I can talk!

Think about it. Ceramic braces are a very good way to go.

Regards