How difficult is it to get used to wearing lingual braces?
iBraces is a registered trademark of Lingualcare Inc., a 3M Unitek company.What type of problems or difficulties can you expect when wearing lingual dental braces?
As a rule of thumb, it is probably more difficult and takes longer to get used to lingual braces than it does traditional dental braces. And clearly this difference is due of the location of the braces themselves. Here are some of the common problems that people encounter.
A) Lingual braces can interfere with the way that your teeth come together.
You may notice that the presence of your lingual braces keeps your upper and lower teeth from meeting up in the same manner that they used to. This will change over time as the alignment of your teeth improves. However, until that point in time when this transformation has taken place, you will need to be careful not to place too much pressure on your braces (like when eating) for fear of dislodging a bracket.
B) Lingual braces can make your tongue sore.
The presence of a brand new set of brackets and wires on the back and inside surfaces of your teeth will certainly be a curiosity to your tongue, in the sense that it won't be able to stay away from them. For the first two weeks or so you can expect that your tongue will be sore due to this newfound roughness. Over time, however, it should "toughen up" and adapt. The frequent use of salt-water rinses can help to speed up this process.
You may also find that the manner in which you create tongue thrust and swallowing motions (activities that require the placement of your tongue in the region of your anterior hard palate) will have to be modified.
C) Lingual dental braces may affect your speaking abilities.
You can expect, at least initially, that your lingual braces may affect your ability to speak in your usual fashion. As an example, you may notice the addition of a slight lisp to your speech patterns. If so, the solution is simply to rehearse speaking aloud until that point in time (which might be several days or even a few weeks down the line) when you have learned how to adapt to the presence of your new braces and your speaking abilities have returned to normal.
The companies that make lingual dental braces are continually improving their design.
As with any product, companies that make the hardware for lingual braces are always looking for ways to improve their product. One of the newer features associated with lingual braces is brackets that have been designed so they are smaller. The assumption is that a lower bracket profile will create less interference with the patient's oral functions.
