| This is about my experience wearing Lingual | | | | object suddenly stuck to the back of my teeth. |
| Braces. | | | | My initial problem were lots of nicks and cuts to |
| Lingual braces are similar to traditional braces | | | | my tongue and becoming an extremely slow |
| except they are worn on the inside of your teeth. | | | | eater, I learned to adjust to these quickly - I ate |
| The big advantage of this is that they are virtually | | | | everything with a knife and fork including |
| unnoticeable; if you don't tell anyone very few | | | | sandwiches and I was provided with some wax |
| people will even know that you are wearing them. | | | | to put on any sharp brackets to prevent rubbing |
| There are a few disadvantages; having braces on | | | | which reduced the tongue cuts. |
| the inside of your teeth can cause discomfort, | | | | My next appointment was to have brackets |
| your tongue can catch on the brackets causing | | | | fitted to my bottom teeth so I now had the full |
| small cuts and swelling. Some people experience | | | | set. This resulted in more of the issues listed |
| speech difficulty because the tongue is not able to | | | | above but again I got used to it after a few |
| press flush against the back of the teeth resulting | | | | weeks. After this I had an appointment every six |
| in a slight lisp. Lastly due to the small number of | | | | weeks to adjust the braces, this is done by |
| dentists that specialise in Lingual braces and the | | | | placing a new wire into the brackets, it can be a |
| added difficulty of adjusting them on the back of | | | | little painful for a couple of days after this |
| teeth it is a lot more expensive. | | | | because after each adjustment is when the most |
| Weighing up these pros and cons I decided to | | | | pressure is put on the teeth but this fades after |
| have Lingual braces simply because I didn't want | | | | a few days. |
| to have visible braces and a friend who'd worn | | | | The routine |
| them had achieved excellent results. | | | | I soon settled into, even enjoyed, this routine of |
| First Step | | | | visiting the dentist every six weeks and keeping |
| I arranged an appointment with a dentist that my | | | | an eye on progress. It is amazing how quickly |
| friend had recommended, he took a look at my | | | | these weeks fly by whilst seeing my teeth |
| teeth and explained more about the time scales | | | | gradually straightening as if by magic. |
| and what to expect. He told me that my teeth | | | | Once I was past the first few months I had very |
| which were crooked and overcrowded would be | | | | few problems, it just became part of my day to |
| suitable for lingual braces and it would take about | | | | day life and I often forgot I was even wearing |
| 18 months to complete. | | | | braces - except for the occasionally sore tongue |
| The Fitting | | | | when I forgot to apply wax and talked too much. |
| Once I'd decided to go ahead moulds and x-rays | | | | My treatment took just over 18 months and I |
| were taken to create brackets that would be | | | | was ecstatic with the results, my teeth are |
| fitted to the back of my teeth and my first | | | | perfectly straight and I do get lots of |
| appointment was set to have these fitted. | | | | compliments about how I have perfect teeth, my |
| Having the braces initially fitted is quite scary, I'd | | | | only regret is that I didn't do it earlier. Upon the |
| done plenty of research and knew what was | | | | completion of the treatment I had a small wire |
| going to happen but it still feels like a big step and | | | | fitted to the back of my teeth to make sure |
| experiencing and reading something is quite | | | | they stay in place and I have some overnight |
| different - it also feels like the start of a long | | | | retainers to wear. Over time I have worn these |
| commitment. | | | | less and less and barely wear them at all |
| The fitting is quite straightforward and painless; | | | | anymore. |
| the weird part is to have this strange metal | | | | |