Hello, everybody.
I am new here. I have some crowding on both my upper and lower teeth, and have been thinking of braces for years. What has held me back is that, I am a university professor but not a native English speaker. You can imagin how important both my speech and my appearances are for my job. Plus, I do a lot of seminars at other universities and need to talk contantly to senior research fellows in my field. I have been visiting this board quite frequently before I decided to go for lingual. There seem to be many positive lingual wearers on this board. Reading their experiences gave me a lot of encouragement and confidence.
I finally decided to go for lingual. I got 8 molar bands last week. I did not have any speech problem when I got off the chair. I sounded perfectly fine to myself. However, yesterday I went to lunch with a senior colleague of mine. I started to lisp heavily after 20 minutes of talking to her! It was embarrassing...But I think, OK, I can cope with this by practicing more and keep my energy high...
But things have become hopeless after I got my upper lingual today. I had a horrible lisp the moment I got off the chair, kept lisping the whole day. Not until I talk to another senior fellow in my department this evening, did I realized my speech is horrible!
What scares me is that, I sound much better in my native language (almost perfect), which is what many have been saying on this board. But I really sound horrible in English. I guess things are more difficult for non-native english speakers since we had already some accents. I am seriously worried that this lisp will not go away.
The coming april is very important for my profession. I will give research talk at top departments and will meet many senior fellows in my field. What am I going to do with this....I am seriously thinking of taking it off!
Help! Non-native English speaker with lingual!
Moderator: bbsadmin
I have had lingual for nine months and can assure you the lisp will all but go away. There are a few words that trick me, but Ive been told I hear it and no one else does. All I can say is you have to practice practice practice. I sang songs!
I had the same thoughts about ripping them off after a week and just forgetting the whole thing but as the week went on I got better and better at speaking. You have to re-learn how to pronounce words and mine got better quickly. I was actually thinking this morning that I am so glad I have linguals because I pretty much forget I am wearing them and no one has any idea. I actually bring it up in conversations ad everyone says they wound never have known.
I had the same thoughts about ripping them off after a week and just forgetting the whole thing but as the week went on I got better and better at speaking. You have to re-learn how to pronounce words and mine got better quickly. I was actually thinking this morning that I am so glad I have linguals because I pretty much forget I am wearing them and no one has any idea. I actually bring it up in conversations ad everyone says they wound never have known.
I have read your posts! now and before.
Thank you! I have read your posts, many of them. Yours encouraged me a lot. I may not have gone for linguals at all if I had not visited this board. But you are a native english speaker, right?
Now I am not teaching, but in two weeks I will. I do not know if two weeks would be enough for me to adapt...
Now I am not teaching, but in two weeks I will. I do not know if two weeks would be enough for me to adapt...
Hi Orange. I've had upper linguals for 5 plus weeks.
It took me two weeks to adjust, the biggest impact being on my tongue. My speech is virtually the same now as it was pre-braces and I'm fine even with sounds I was told I might struggle with e.g. "s". You just have to work a bit harder at enunciating them. And no-one has figured out that I've got braces.
Keep talking and you'll be fine.
It took me two weeks to adjust, the biggest impact being on my tongue. My speech is virtually the same now as it was pre-braces and I'm fine even with sounds I was told I might struggle with e.g. "s". You just have to work a bit harder at enunciating them. And no-one has figured out that I've got braces.
Keep talking and you'll be fine.
Pessimistic
Thank you both,
I have always tend to be cautious, and so sometimes go pessimistic. I searched for the posts of you, and found that you had less speech problems on day 1 of lingual.
Today, my colleague actually laughed when I talked...
I have always tend to be cautious, and so sometimes go pessimistic. I searched for the posts of you, and found that you had less speech problems on day 1 of lingual.
Today, my colleague actually laughed when I talked...
An update on Day 2
Hello again, everyone.
Thank you very much for the encourangement. Here is a quick update.
Today, things are SLIGHTLY better. I can at least make people understand me. But I still lisp A LOT. Here are some points:
1. I lisp less when I am relaxed.
2. I lisp a lot when I am tried.
2. I lisp much more when I talk to strangers.
3. I lisp horribly when I talk about my research. This may be because that I have to keep thinking about research questions and hence cannot focus on pronunciations.
I can definitely see the chance of overcoming the speech problem. But I do not see it happening soon. My guess is that in two weeks, my speech will be 90% normal in everyday life, but not in my professional presentations. In my research area, people attack each other a lot during seminars. The lisp, or the fear for lisp, may destroy part of my confidence and ruin my seminar. I am working hard on this. I just read loud some research papers...
I am thinking of pludging my dentist to rip my braces off before the coming seminar (april 27th), and put it back again afterwards. Has any of you asked the same thing? Would my dentist do that? It may seem a lot of work for them...
Thank you very much for the encourangement. Here is a quick update.
Today, things are SLIGHTLY better. I can at least make people understand me. But I still lisp A LOT. Here are some points:
1. I lisp less when I am relaxed.
2. I lisp a lot when I am tried.
2. I lisp much more when I talk to strangers.
3. I lisp horribly when I talk about my research. This may be because that I have to keep thinking about research questions and hence cannot focus on pronunciations.
I can definitely see the chance of overcoming the speech problem. But I do not see it happening soon. My guess is that in two weeks, my speech will be 90% normal in everyday life, but not in my professional presentations. In my research area, people attack each other a lot during seminars. The lisp, or the fear for lisp, may destroy part of my confidence and ruin my seminar. I am working hard on this. I just read loud some research papers...
I am thinking of pludging my dentist to rip my braces off before the coming seminar (april 27th), and put it back again afterwards. Has any of you asked the same thing? Would my dentist do that? It may seem a lot of work for them...
Hi Orange,
I'm also a university professor in full lingual braces (for 8 months now), so I understand your situation. I am a native English speaker but living in a country where English is not the mother tongue - this means that the 'locals' are less likely to notice a lisp. The first month was very hard for me - I lisped a lot, and it became worse in the same situations you describe. I speak other languages and only lisp in English - that's because there are many English sounds where the tongue position is up against the front teeth.
What to do?:
(i) practise your talk many times beforehand and try to minimise the number of 's' words - it becomes a bit of a habit after a while
(ii) speak much more slowly than usual
(iii) put a smooth THIN layer of wax all along the top brackets (even if they don't hurt). The smooth wax layer seemed to help me - practice yourself beforehand, maybe it makes it worse for you...
(iv) depending on whether you want people to know, you can tell them before your presentation that you have braces and are adapting to getting used to them, or just say you had some 'dental work' yesterday and your mouth is a bit sore. In my first few days someone did ask me directly 'have you just been to the dentist or what'?, I replied 'yes'.
(v) try to feel confident in yourself - you wouldn't be in the situation of giving a presentation unless your work was deemed to be of a certain standard.
Within 1 month it should be much better.
good luck,
Netje
I'm also a university professor in full lingual braces (for 8 months now), so I understand your situation. I am a native English speaker but living in a country where English is not the mother tongue - this means that the 'locals' are less likely to notice a lisp. The first month was very hard for me - I lisped a lot, and it became worse in the same situations you describe. I speak other languages and only lisp in English - that's because there are many English sounds where the tongue position is up against the front teeth.
What to do?:
(i) practise your talk many times beforehand and try to minimise the number of 's' words - it becomes a bit of a habit after a while
(ii) speak much more slowly than usual
(iii) put a smooth THIN layer of wax all along the top brackets (even if they don't hurt). The smooth wax layer seemed to help me - practice yourself beforehand, maybe it makes it worse for you...
(iv) depending on whether you want people to know, you can tell them before your presentation that you have braces and are adapting to getting used to them, or just say you had some 'dental work' yesterday and your mouth is a bit sore. In my first few days someone did ask me directly 'have you just been to the dentist or what'?, I replied 'yes'.
(v) try to feel confident in yourself - you wouldn't be in the situation of giving a presentation unless your work was deemed to be of a certain standard.
Within 1 month it should be much better.
good luck,
Netje
Hi Orange.
Just to add to Netje's excellent advice:
I did the wax routine on the brackets on my front teeth for a few days because, as a swimmer, I was finding that my tongue was rasping against the brackets and wire with every stroke I took in the pool (I swim for at least an hour at a time). The wax was a life saver until my tongue adjusted.
I had a full day of talking the day after my braces were placed and I toyed with the idea of telling people I'd had dental work done and to be patient with my speech. I ended up not doing so, but if you're feeling nervous about this, telling people may remove some of the pressure you're feeling now.
I know the temptation to rip the braces off is probably very strong for you right now. Try and stick with it, it will get better.
Just to add to Netje's excellent advice:
I did the wax routine on the brackets on my front teeth for a few days because, as a swimmer, I was finding that my tongue was rasping against the brackets and wire with every stroke I took in the pool (I swim for at least an hour at a time). The wax was a life saver until my tongue adjusted.
I had a full day of talking the day after my braces were placed and I toyed with the idea of telling people I'd had dental work done and to be patient with my speech. I ended up not doing so, but if you're feeling nervous about this, telling people may remove some of the pressure you're feeling now.
I know the temptation to rip the braces off is probably very strong for you right now. Try and stick with it, it will get better.
Thanks a lot, Netje and Lionfish!
I just tried putting a thin coat of wax behind the top front 6 teeth. It feels A LOT better. I am reading out loud my post right now!
This speech is really a comfort thing for myself and for the tongue. When I had the molar bands only. I also had a slight lisp, because the molar bands had brackets on already. The brackets on the second bottom molar cut my tongue a lot. And when the tongue does not feel comfortable, it refuses to move!
By the way, the way my ortho does his lingual case is to put bands on all the molars, and put wires on both THE INSIDE and THE OUTSIDE of molars. He says this way the teeth move faster. I hope he is right, since right now, if I smile really big, people may see a little metal.
I am practicing and practicing. I don't sing songs in english, so I just close my office door, type my papers and read them out loud!
If I had kids one day, i will drag him/her to ortho as early as possible, so that he/she won't have to deal a job AND braces.
I have been searching this board for progress pics on lingual, just to get more encouragement. but I could not find any?! Wondering if anyone can post their progress photoes here?
I just tried putting a thin coat of wax behind the top front 6 teeth. It feels A LOT better. I am reading out loud my post right now!
This speech is really a comfort thing for myself and for the tongue. When I had the molar bands only. I also had a slight lisp, because the molar bands had brackets on already. The brackets on the second bottom molar cut my tongue a lot. And when the tongue does not feel comfortable, it refuses to move!
By the way, the way my ortho does his lingual case is to put bands on all the molars, and put wires on both THE INSIDE and THE OUTSIDE of molars. He says this way the teeth move faster. I hope he is right, since right now, if I smile really big, people may see a little metal.
I am practicing and practicing. I don't sing songs in english, so I just close my office door, type my papers and read them out loud!
If I had kids one day, i will drag him/her to ortho as early as possible, so that he/she won't have to deal a job AND braces.
I have been searching this board for progress pics on lingual, just to get more encouragement. but I could not find any?! Wondering if anyone can post their progress photoes here?
I am a native English speaker but some words are harder to say. Even now I must slow some words. Im also Aussie and we tend to run everything together. All I can say is practice and it gets soooo much better but does take time. I notice some words but others say they notice nothing. The pay of for a bit of a lisp is no one has any idea I have braces, I dont have to see them everyday when I look in the mirror, no staining or worrying about what is caught in them and my teeth already look 100% better so I smile more and it looks normal.
However, I am in a position where I could afford more expensive braces and it was something I did for me. I am a teacher so talk all day and my students have no idea. So for me lingual has been amazing despite some bracket problems and speech concerns at times. I love them (well I would love no braces more) and am so glad I kept them on.
However, I am in a position where I could afford more expensive braces and it was something I did for me. I am a teacher so talk all day and my students have no idea. So for me lingual has been amazing despite some bracket problems and speech concerns at times. I love them (well I would love no braces more) and am so glad I kept them on.
Hi
My mother tongue is not English and I live in the UK. Before I decided to have linguals I had the same concerns. But I´m really happy with my decision now. I have had braces for 8 and a half months. I´m not sure how long you have had braces for but try to relax, it will get better.
Try to be confident and practice a lot your presentations, the most important thing is what you are going to say, if they can understand you, that’s all that matters. I used to be a bit concerned when I had to do presentations at work (before braces) because of my accent. But people always encouraged me because they said my English was fine and everyone has an accent. You still have more than 3 weeks and believe me it will get a lot better than the first or second week. Good luck!!!
My mother tongue is not English and I live in the UK. Before I decided to have linguals I had the same concerns. But I´m really happy with my decision now. I have had braces for 8 and a half months. I´m not sure how long you have had braces for but try to relax, it will get better.
Try to be confident and practice a lot your presentations, the most important thing is what you are going to say, if they can understand you, that’s all that matters. I used to be a bit concerned when I had to do presentations at work (before braces) because of my accent. But people always encouraged me because they said my English was fine and everyone has an accent. You still have more than 3 weeks and believe me it will get a lot better than the first or second week. Good luck!!!