Hi! I'm new to this forum although I've been a lurker ever since I started to plan my braces journey. I know there are numerous threads about this but they are all short. I wanted to hear from you guys and what you think.
I got lingual braces on top five days ago. My bottom ceramics will have to wait to january for unknown reason. My tongue has been absolutely fine. I have not used any wax at all. The pain is also okay. Surviving on soup is totally doable. But ... my speech is awful. My lisp is very pronounced and I try to practice but I simply cannot form a good sounding "s" sound, no matter how hard I try. I don't see how I'm ever going to sound less lispy than I do now. On this forum and on various blogs, people write that practice will make everything better, but it all feels so damn hopeless.
I currently study psychology and meet patients every week. I also have super serious stuff in school, and I sound ridiculous. All. The. Time. I'm ready to rip this thing out with my bare hands, but I paid a lot of money for this lisp machine so I have to endure. It's very obvious to me and my social surroundings that something's up with my speech. I don't demand perfect speech, but this is crazy.
What can I do to make it better?
Did you become less lispy with time? How long did it take?
Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you so much.
Top linguals, speech is TERRIBLE
Moderator: bbsadmin
Re: Top linguals, speech is TERRIBLE
Some random thoughts from me:
- some people do see their speech improve significantly or completely, after a few days or max a few weeks, and find that practice does help. I hope you turn out to be one of those!
- others (i.e. me!) suffer forever.... for me this is the REAL problem with linguals, and frankly if I could find someone to sue, I would. I cannot believe how much I was lied to by the orthodontist, and how much I believed (or wanted to believe) the marketing hype ("some people find their speech affected slightly but that it recovers after a few days") - utter rubbish in my case. I am now 5 months in and the speech issue is by FAR my biggest concern, and it has not really improved, nor will it. The only thing that does change is your ability to cope with it, as at some point, especially when you start seeing your teeth move and get encouraged by results, you start to worry less about the speech and lisp. But it is embarrassing, annoying, and as I've said many times on this forum, if your reasons for getting linguals are because you don't want people to know you have braces, then you might be in for a big disappointment. Sure, no-one can see them, but I now have to continually explain to people why my speech is so impaired, so these days I just say I have braces. I might as well have saved myself a lot of money and just gone with visible ones, it would have been much easier
- the appliance does work, i.e. it moves the teeth. Sounds obvious, but you have to stay focussed on why you are doing it, and once you start to see results (in my case it did take a few months) then you can put up with a lot more and you almost don't care about the things that worried you at the beginning
- time goes by very quickly.... again, when you're on day 4 or 5 or week 3 etc. it feels like a life sentence. Then all of a sudden you're a few months in, and one day you're nearing the end (that bit can't come soon enough for me, but is still a long way off!)
I'm encouraged by the fact that everything else seems fine for you.... if your tongue isn't sore then you are really lucky and have one less thing to worry about (my tongue was just cut to shreds for weeks). So I reckon you're going to have a much better experience, and if your tongue doesn't hurt AND you are having lower ceramics then your speech probably will be fine quite quickly!
I wish you all the best on your journey!
PS Don't rip them out with your bare hands, give it a few weeks and you'll probably be fine.
- some people do see their speech improve significantly or completely, after a few days or max a few weeks, and find that practice does help. I hope you turn out to be one of those!
- others (i.e. me!) suffer forever.... for me this is the REAL problem with linguals, and frankly if I could find someone to sue, I would. I cannot believe how much I was lied to by the orthodontist, and how much I believed (or wanted to believe) the marketing hype ("some people find their speech affected slightly but that it recovers after a few days") - utter rubbish in my case. I am now 5 months in and the speech issue is by FAR my biggest concern, and it has not really improved, nor will it. The only thing that does change is your ability to cope with it, as at some point, especially when you start seeing your teeth move and get encouraged by results, you start to worry less about the speech and lisp. But it is embarrassing, annoying, and as I've said many times on this forum, if your reasons for getting linguals are because you don't want people to know you have braces, then you might be in for a big disappointment. Sure, no-one can see them, but I now have to continually explain to people why my speech is so impaired, so these days I just say I have braces. I might as well have saved myself a lot of money and just gone with visible ones, it would have been much easier
- the appliance does work, i.e. it moves the teeth. Sounds obvious, but you have to stay focussed on why you are doing it, and once you start to see results (in my case it did take a few months) then you can put up with a lot more and you almost don't care about the things that worried you at the beginning
- time goes by very quickly.... again, when you're on day 4 or 5 or week 3 etc. it feels like a life sentence. Then all of a sudden you're a few months in, and one day you're nearing the end (that bit can't come soon enough for me, but is still a long way off!)
I'm encouraged by the fact that everything else seems fine for you.... if your tongue isn't sore then you are really lucky and have one less thing to worry about (my tongue was just cut to shreds for weeks). So I reckon you're going to have a much better experience, and if your tongue doesn't hurt AND you are having lower ceramics then your speech probably will be fine quite quickly!
I wish you all the best on your journey!
PS Don't rip them out with your bare hands, give it a few weeks and you'll probably be fine.
Re: Top linguals, speech is TERRIBLE
Thank you winwired for you input. I've read your thread too. Just sharing the experience with someone seems to make it less hard. I'm sorry that your journey has been hard speech wise. I never thought it would be such an issue. I feel a bit fooled, just like you.
I guess I'm lucky because my language does not contain the "th" sound. Just A LOT of "s" sounds, which I never thought about before. The first few days I actually tried to come up with sentences that didn't contain s. I got pretty good at it. I did make me look funny though, having to think really hard just to say a simple sentence.
I don't know if my speech has improved the last few days or not. Maybe I've just got used to sounding funny. In a few months I'll have to go to job interviews and I dread that if I still sound like this then. I look younger than my actual age (soon 27 but can easily pass as 18) and that is a big enough problem as it is. I wanted linguals to not look even younger but if I sound like I have braces than that defeats the whole purpose...
Oh well, back to singing and reading aloud. Thank you once again, winwired.
I guess I'm lucky because my language does not contain the "th" sound. Just A LOT of "s" sounds, which I never thought about before. The first few days I actually tried to come up with sentences that didn't contain s. I got pretty good at it. I did make me look funny though, having to think really hard just to say a simple sentence.
I don't know if my speech has improved the last few days or not. Maybe I've just got used to sounding funny. In a few months I'll have to go to job interviews and I dread that if I still sound like this then. I look younger than my actual age (soon 27 but can easily pass as 18) and that is a big enough problem as it is. I wanted linguals to not look even younger but if I sound like I have braces than that defeats the whole purpose...
Oh well, back to singing and reading aloud. Thank you once again, winwired.
Re: Top linguals, speech is TERRIBLE
Oh, just have to tell something funny. Yesterday in class, we were supposed to be divided into different groups for discussion. The professor asked us to say a number out loud 1-6, and as we went around the number would decide which group you ended up in. As my classmates started to say the numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4 ... I prayed that I wouldn't get number 6. I mean, the chance is only one in six, right? I was sitting in the back, getting more and more nervous and OF COURSE I got the number 6. So I said something like Szzzzichkzzz when it was my turn. I think people even looked at me.
I talk to people all day but just the thought of having to say that number in front of 45 people scared the sesame out of me. Lol. It's amazing what braces can do.
I talk to people all day but just the thought of having to say that number in front of 45 people scared the sesame out of me. Lol. It's amazing what braces can do.
Re: Top linguals, speech is TERRIBLE
Just a quick reply to say don't panic! I found the first fortnight a total struggle (upper lingual sectional brace on front 6 teeth)... Am now 5 months in and it is really not an issue. I use the wax /silicone stuff a lot not for the pain relief issue but for speech - literally mould it over the front brackets so that my tongue has a smooth surface to move over. When I have that on my speech is totally perfect. Without it, a slight lisp, but I am really not concerned about it any more. My first couple of weeks were awful though! You have my sympathy! But it totally Improves. At least it did for me. Good luck!
Re: Top linguals, speech is TERRIBLE
I was in a massive business meeting the morning after getting my lingual braces on. It was horrible.
I thought I sounded completely ridiculous, but no-one said anything nasty about it at all.
13 months in, I still think I sometimes sound odd, and when I'm tired I sound a bit drunk even if I've had absolutely nothing to drink, but apparently no-one else notices it at all. Well, one other friend with lingual braces, but I notice her slight lisp too - I guess we know what to listen for and are really tuned in to it.
I have to read at my friend's wedding in a couple of weeks, and am a little bit worried. But I did a speech at a conference the other week, did the keynote speech and sat on the panel at a seminar, and did one of the after dinner speeches at my rowing club annual dinner recently, and those all went absolutely fine so I guess I should just get on with it
I think it took a few months for my speech to settle to something I was ok with, and it still has bad days, but I'd rather have that than braces on the outside. It's part of the compromise really.
Overall, I have no regrets about going with linguals at all. And yes, I wanted to rip them off on day 3 or 4 too. But the results have been wonderful - much better than my ortho and I hoped for (I chose not to have surgery for an open bite, so there was a chance we wouldn't get it totally closed) - and I'm looking at a total treatment time of just under 15 months.
Stick with it and just remember the long game...
I thought I sounded completely ridiculous, but no-one said anything nasty about it at all.
13 months in, I still think I sometimes sound odd, and when I'm tired I sound a bit drunk even if I've had absolutely nothing to drink, but apparently no-one else notices it at all. Well, one other friend with lingual braces, but I notice her slight lisp too - I guess we know what to listen for and are really tuned in to it.
I have to read at my friend's wedding in a couple of weeks, and am a little bit worried. But I did a speech at a conference the other week, did the keynote speech and sat on the panel at a seminar, and did one of the after dinner speeches at my rowing club annual dinner recently, and those all went absolutely fine so I guess I should just get on with it
I think it took a few months for my speech to settle to something I was ok with, and it still has bad days, but I'd rather have that than braces on the outside. It's part of the compromise really.
Overall, I have no regrets about going with linguals at all. And yes, I wanted to rip them off on day 3 or 4 too. But the results have been wonderful - much better than my ortho and I hoped for (I chose not to have surgery for an open bite, so there was a chance we wouldn't get it totally closed) - and I'm looking at a total treatment time of just under 15 months.
Stick with it and just remember the long game...
Re: Top linguals, speech is TERRIBLE
Thank you all for your replies. I think it's rather brave of you to hold speeches and talk at work in front of lots of people when newly braced. I guess it's different for everybody how the speech is affected in the long run.
I'm glad to report that my speech has gotten BETTER although it is by no means great. I do lisp on certain words and it's noticeable still. I especially have trouble when I'm nervous, it's like I'm back on day one when I get nervous. I hope it will improve more since I have to go to job interviews in a few months and I want to be able to express myself as good as possible there.
It's great to know you're not alone
I'm glad to report that my speech has gotten BETTER although it is by no means great. I do lisp on certain words and it's noticeable still. I especially have trouble when I'm nervous, it's like I'm back on day one when I get nervous. I hope it will improve more since I have to go to job interviews in a few months and I want to be able to express myself as good as possible there.
It's great to know you're not alone
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IncognitoChris
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- Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:22 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: Top linguals, speech is TERRIBLE
Orchid, it's good that your speech is improving, even if it just a little better. Keep focused, you paid all that money for a reason, think about the end result.
The people that matter to you probably already know you have braces and understand why you find it hard to pronounce certain words/letters, everyone else.. who cares as long as they get the gist (bet that's a hard word to say too!) right ?
The people that matter to you probably already know you have braces and understand why you find it hard to pronounce certain words/letters, everyone else.. who cares as long as they get the gist (bet that's a hard word to say too!) right ?
Re: Top linguals, speech is TERRIBLE
Orchid,
Really glad to hear that things are beginning to improve for you! Keep us posted!
Really glad to hear that things are beginning to improve for you! Keep us posted!