Linguinal braces
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Linguinal braces
Hi, first posting on the forum. I was wondering if any members have experience of using linguinal braces, and if so what they thought of them. I am waiting for my initial assessment appointment with the orthodontist and this is an option I want to ask her about. I work in healthcare and feel really difficult about the prospect of dealing with the public all day with a very visible metal brace.
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JessicaInCanada
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2004 6:47 pm
- Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Lingual Braces
Sorry Dee, just can't resist and have to interject.....
Linguinal braces.....go best with red clam sauce and a nice crusty bread!
OK, now seriously... it's lingual braces.
I know there are a few readers on this board who have them, and hopefully you'll hear from a few!
There is one reader in our ArchWired photo gallery who has a lingual story:
http://www.archwired.com/Photos-Philipp.htm
Linguinal braces.....go best with red clam sauce and a nice crusty bread!
OK, now seriously... it's lingual braces.
I know there are a few readers on this board who have them, and hopefully you'll hear from a few! There is one reader in our ArchWired photo gallery who has a lingual story:
http://www.archwired.com/Photos-Philipp.htm
I'm the owner/admin of this site. Had ceramic uppers, metal lowers ~3 years in my early 40's. Now in Hawley retainers at night!
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Smileybrace
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2004 11:39 am
I have linguals on right now.
At first I thought I'd made a huge mistake. I'm not gonna lie to you...they really feel weird. Not only that but I had such a hard time talking at first. I'd say my lisping is pretty much gone; I sometimes do it when I'm tired, maybe towards the end of the day, but for the most part I can talk fairly normally now.
Brushing is a new challenge too, since you must concentrate tremendously on the back sides of your teeth.
I'd say there are 2 big plus sides:
1. You don't have to deal with the soreness of your cheeks since the braces are not rubbing on them.
2. Only you know you're wearing braces. I work full time and not one person at my job knows I got braces almost 2 months ago.
I am getting ceramics on the bottom eventually and that will surely be a whole new experience but for now I'm still adjusting to life with linguals. Hope whatever you decide to do goes well.
At first I thought I'd made a huge mistake. I'm not gonna lie to you...they really feel weird. Not only that but I had such a hard time talking at first. I'd say my lisping is pretty much gone; I sometimes do it when I'm tired, maybe towards the end of the day, but for the most part I can talk fairly normally now.
Brushing is a new challenge too, since you must concentrate tremendously on the back sides of your teeth.
I'd say there are 2 big plus sides:
1. You don't have to deal with the soreness of your cheeks since the braces are not rubbing on them.
2. Only you know you're wearing braces. I work full time and not one person at my job knows I got braces almost 2 months ago.
I am getting ceramics on the bottom eventually and that will surely be a whole new experience but for now I'm still adjusting to life with linguals. Hope whatever you decide to do goes well.
I considered lingual braces quite seriously as I was quite concerned about the appearance myself, but in the end I decided against it. The major factors were that they were almost twice as expensive (which translates to three times the amount out of my pocket due to the limit on my benefits), and I read a bit about them and a lot of emphasis was put on the speech problems. Also, if you're going to have extractions and therefore have gaps to close, it's a moot point because in my opinion it's better to have the braces covering the gaps than having gaps and people thinking you need braces really bad!
Smileybrace sounds like he/she didn't have much of a problem though with the speech aspect, so maybe it's not that bad. But me personally, I'd choose the 'visual handicap' over the 'speech handicap' any day. Regular braces are self explanitory, lingual braces are not!
Smileybrace sounds like he/she didn't have much of a problem though with the speech aspect, so maybe it's not that bad. But me personally, I'd choose the 'visual handicap' over the 'speech handicap' any day. Regular braces are self explanitory, lingual braces are not!
Braces on: 04-09-18
Braces off: 06-03-18 (or so)
Braces off: 06-03-18 (or so)
Linguals
I tried linguals and just could not get along with them. The main problem I had was with speech. I just couldn't talk properly and felt "tongue tied". Speech was particularly bad while eating. I persevered for a few months and in the end gave up and switched to ceramics. I've had no trouble adjusting to ceramics and wish I'd started that way.
There really is no way of knowing whether or not you will be able to adjust to them. Some people do, others like me cannot. One thing I would do before you start is discuss with your ortho what will happen if you can't get along with them. In my case he replaced them with ceramics at no extra cost [actually he reduced my total cost because regular ceramics require less of his time during an adjustment].
Good luck
Steve
There really is no way of knowing whether or not you will be able to adjust to them. Some people do, others like me cannot. One thing I would do before you start is discuss with your ortho what will happen if you can't get along with them. In my case he replaced them with ceramics at no extra cost [actually he reduced my total cost because regular ceramics require less of his time during an adjustment].
Good luck
Steve
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Smileybrace
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2004 11:39 am
I wanted to answer some of your posts.
First of all, I'm female. Hi!
Anyway, back to linguals. I agree TOTALLY with the poster above about having extractions. I had to get a baby lateral pulled (there was no saving it; root gone). Once it was pulled I had a huge gap. My lingual braces were already in place so I didn't have the opportunity to change to getting ceramics instead, which I might have done because like the person said above, they would have covered the gap. How nice that stevenm's ortho didn't charge him to switch! I'd actually like to know how that could be, since wouldn't they need to do another mold and make the braces for you? I don't know. But it's great that you got to switch like that.
The speech issue is a problem with linguals but I seem to be doing ok. I definitely hear a little difference in how I talk but it's much improved over the last month. At first I couldn't talk normally whatsoever.
The other issue is that when I go to the ortho I have to see HIM, and not an assistant, because he is the only one qualified to work on me (and linguals). This can be a problem when trying to schedule an appt. (not as many slots open) but then again I am always guaranteed to see the ortho himself and not just one of his staff for an adjustment. Pluses and minuses!
First of all, I'm female. Hi!
Anyway, back to linguals. I agree TOTALLY with the poster above about having extractions. I had to get a baby lateral pulled (there was no saving it; root gone). Once it was pulled I had a huge gap. My lingual braces were already in place so I didn't have the opportunity to change to getting ceramics instead, which I might have done because like the person said above, they would have covered the gap. How nice that stevenm's ortho didn't charge him to switch! I'd actually like to know how that could be, since wouldn't they need to do another mold and make the braces for you? I don't know. But it's great that you got to switch like that.
The speech issue is a problem with linguals but I seem to be doing ok. I definitely hear a little difference in how I talk but it's much improved over the last month. At first I couldn't talk normally whatsoever.
The other issue is that when I go to the ortho I have to see HIM, and not an assistant, because he is the only one qualified to work on me (and linguals). This can be a problem when trying to schedule an appt. (not as many slots open) but then again I am always guaranteed to see the ortho himself and not just one of his staff for an adjustment. Pluses and minuses!
I do a lot of lingual ortho and most people adapt wonderfully.
Speech is the hardest but I tell all my pts to practice reading out loud to get better at it. All have done very well.
The problem seems to be that some cases just never should have been tx'd with lingual in the forst place. Very narrow arches, LOTS of crowding. These are harder for pts to adapt to.
Speech is the hardest but I tell all my pts to practice reading out loud to get better at it. All have done very well.
The problem seems to be that some cases just never should have been tx'd with lingual in the forst place. Very narrow arches, LOTS of crowding. These are harder for pts to adapt to.
Developer of:
The Powerprox Six Month Braces(R) Technique
http://sixmonthbraces.com/
Powerprox Six Month Braces(R)on ABC News
The Powerprox Six Month Braces(R) Technique
http://sixmonthbraces.com/
Powerprox Six Month Braces(R)on ABC News
to: smileybrace
He did not need to take another set of molds when I changed. The explanation I was given was as follows.
Linguals are custom made to fit the backs of your teeth as the shape of back varies widely person to person (hence the need for molds). Regular ceramics and metal brackets are not custom made as there is less variance between the shape at the front.
Once I was in regular ceramic brackets the ortho himself had to spend less time doing adjustments (i.e. his assistants were not qualified to adjust linguals) the result was a modest price reduction.
I liked that outcome so I didn't question him further!
steve
Linguals are custom made to fit the backs of your teeth as the shape of back varies widely person to person (hence the need for molds). Regular ceramics and metal brackets are not custom made as there is less variance between the shape at the front.
Once I was in regular ceramic brackets the ortho himself had to spend less time doing adjustments (i.e. his assistants were not qualified to adjust linguals) the result was a modest price reduction.
I liked that outcome so I didn't question him further!
steve