If you are debating linguals v. ceramic...

[iob]

Just thought I'd post a few observations regarding Incognito linguals v. ceramic in case it helps someone with their decision, or alleviates concern about moving forward.

First, my observations are based on having a treatment plan that involved initially having ceramics on the lowers to address some "heavy lifting" that disqualified my case for either Invisalign or Incognito Lite, and then switching to Incognito Lite (upper and lower) once the difficult movements in back were done. This combination seemed to best address the mix of discretion, time, certainty of results, and cost for me. So, I can't speak to what it's like to have full Incognito or some other lingual system, nor to having ceramics on top, but FWIW....

1) Comfort: Maybe my biggest surprise is that the Incognitos have been more comfortable/less irritating and easier to get used to than the ceramics were. I'm not saying that the ceramics were a hassle - they weren't that big of a deal either. In fact, when I first got the ceramics I thought they were easier to adapt to than I'd expected. Maybe I just went into both treatment phases hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

Regardless, it took my cheek/lips longer to toughen up and get used the ceramics than it's taken my tongue to get used to the linguals. I used a lot more wax with the ceramics....the linguals, not much. More telling, even though my cheek/lips adapted to the ceramics in a few weeks, I was still very aware that they were there for several months. It took a while before before I started to forget that they were there. With the linguals, I started to forget they were there for large parts of the day even starting a week after they went on. I really didn't expect that at all.

Perhaps the first week's experience with the linguals benefited a bit from having my tongue already accustomed to working around the ceramics. I don't know. I just know that it was a much faster and easier adaptation.

Bottom line: My concerns about the "wearability"/comfort of the linguals was overblown, and in hindsight I might have just gone with full Incognitos and skipped the lower ceramics with their visibility.

2) The Speech Issue (or better known as "oh no, I have a conference call three hours after bonding"): Ok, there's good news and bad news and for the most part this topic has been beaten to death elsewhere. However, part of the good news is that I was lucky to quickly stumble upon a fix for part of the bad news. If my "discovery" has also been noted elsewhere, I apologize (and wish that I'd seen it before).

I'll admit that a bit of panic started to set in when the first sentences came out while I was still in the orthodontist's chair, and I mentally fast-forwarded to my afternoon conference call that I couldn't miss/reschedule.

Fortunately, while I was having lunch immediately after my bonding appointment, I discovered a surprisingly effective (for me) emergency fix for the slur/lisp issue. I had ordered a burrito - despite knowing from the earlier ceramics that tortillas and brackets seem to have odd affinity for sticking to each other. It's no different with the linguals. The tortilla (and stuff) definitely stuck to the back of the top brackets. But then the epiphany occurred. When I said "excuse me" (dreaded "x" and "s" in one word) to someone as I left the restaurant, it sounded completely normal. Not that I recommend burritos or leaving food in your upper brackets before every presentation, conference call, or professional interaction, but the impact on speech from having the thin space between the roof of your mouth and the brackets smoothed over was night and day. So, I tried taking some wax and rolling a long, thin strip of it to put along the top and back of my upper brackets and, in effect, extending the roof of my mouth and - presto - my speech was perfect. Really. No issue at all on the call. I don't want to rely on it (it's a hassle), but it's good to have a solution for those times when you can't have a bad day and need to sound perfect. You really only need the front four smoothed over to get the results.

Those were the most important observations for me. I had delayed treatment due to concerns about aesthetics/speech/impact on professional interactions, but it turns out that the Incognitos have worked out really well, and I prefer them to the ceramics.

Good luck with whatever choice you make.

[iob]

btw, here are some of the research pieces that I found most useful in cutting through the marketing fluff:

Adult patients' adjustability to orthodontic appliances - comparison of Labial, Lingual, and Invisalign
ejo.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/07/12/ejo.cjr086.full

Physiologic Adaptation to Lingual Appliances During the Initial Eight Weeks of Therapy
https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/indexableconten ... 5e12f8d4c5

Assessment of Speech Changes in Labial and Lingual Orthodontics
http://www.apospublications.com/article ... aulast=Rai

A Subjective Comparison of Two Lingual Bracket Systems
http://ejo.oxfordjournals.org/content/e ... 0.full.pdf

[Benny]

[quote="iob"]
Fortunately, while I was having lunch immediately after my bonding appointment, I discovered a surprisingly effective (for me) emergency fix for the slur/lisp issue. I had ordered a burrito - despite knowing from the earlier ceramics that tortillas and brackets seem to have odd affinity for sticking to each other. It's no different with the linguals. The tortilla (and stuff) definitely stuck to the back of the top brackets. But then the epiphany occurred. When I said "excuse me" (dreaded "x" and "s" in one word) to someone as I left the restaurant, it sounded completely normal. Not that I recommend burritos or leaving food in your upper brackets before every presentation, conference call, or professional interaction, but the impact on speech from having the thin space between the roof of your mouth and the brackets smoothed over was night and day. So, I tried taking some wax and rolling a long, thin strip of it to put along the top and back of my upper brackets and, in effect, extending the roof of my mouth and - presto - my speech was perfect. Really. No issue at all on the call. I don't want to rely on it (it's a hassle), but it's good to have a solution for those times when you can't have a bad day and need to sound perfect. You really only need the front four smoothed over to get the results.
.[/quote]

Thanks for this post - it is really helpful.

I got my linguals on today and had to go straight into the office. I could barely string a sentence together and it was really embarrassing. Delighted to know there is a way around the speech problems, at least until I adjust myself. Did you find that it is only the top teeth you need to put the wax on to fix speech? No need to put it on bottom teeth?

[iob]

Yes, only the tops, and really only the front four or six. Lowers had no impact. Your mileage may vary! Good luck. Hopefully you get the same improvement. btw, it didn't require a bunch of wax, just a very thin strip to smooth/even between the top of the bracket and the gumline/roof.