Oh, Sunanda/Caroline... if only it were a sexy lisp. But it's a major speech impediment! I'm slurring and tripping over my tongue... and there isn't the room in my mouth for my tongue to find the shapes to make the letters. I phoned my solicitor today to cancel an appointment and the lass on the other end put the phone down on me whilst was trying to explain that I had an orthodontic brace and may be hard to understand. My mouth also fills with saliva because the plate tells my brain that there's food in my mouth, so I have to swallow every 30 secs, especially when I am talking. Talking is really hard work. I'm told it'll get better, but the bare facts are that there is a thing in my mouth taking up space where my tongue would go to make specific letters/sounds. I may adapt, but it'll always be very pronounced. I do find it amusing. The alternative is to get really depressed at the effect it's already having on my life, and will continue to do for the next 4 months.
Ava x
It's like anything new it just takes some time to adapt.
Hi Ava
I'm not laughing. So sorry to hear you are struggling, but no doubt it will settle in a few days - hope so!
Big hugs :hug:
Love and Light :1kis:
I read [url]this article[/url] in yesterday's London Evening Standard and thought of you, Ava. How are you getting on?
xxx
Sunanda, how thoughtful of you. Yes that is exactly the aligner that I have - and yep, I wear it 20 hours a day (taking it out to eat). However, lucky lass, only had hers in for 6 weeks. 6 weeks! My dentist is telling me 12-18 weeks, and that seems to be the length most folk have it in as per comments on a forum I belong to.
I think that article is an advertorial though: beautiful young girl, 6 weeks, £600. It doesn't cost £600, and it most certainly wouldn't by London prices. You pay £1200-1600, depending on your dentist.
Oh, you asked how I am going. There's no pain at all - even when I take it in and put it back. I can't yet see any change to the position of the teeth. My speech has improved - probably because I've become more relaxed about it. It is still very very distorted. I can be understood, once the person has tuned into me (much the way you do when someone has a heavy accent). Whenever I speak to someone new... like posting things at the Post Office which requires a bit of talking... I point to my aligner and explain that I've just had it fitted and I'm not yet used to speaking with it in. I've soldiered on and had a session with a counsellor, a meeting with my solicitor, a meeting with my boss, and many phone conversations... whilst wearing it. I return to work next week... which will be a challenge.
I've been wearing it for 7 days. Only 153 more to go (!) - which takes me up to Christmas. It will align my teeth, but won't fully close the gap - which has to be done by the dentist by building it up with porcelain. I'm hoping all of this will be finished by January. Apart from being very hard work speaking, it's no trouble at all.
Ava x
Well, four weeks has passed since I had it fitted. Today I had my 4-week review of the aligner.
[Note: I didn't have a proper review because by miserable coincidence I have a terrible toothache on one of my bottom teeth, and that had to be given the appointment slot. We aren't sure which tooth is the problem one - we had a series of tests but they are inconclusive, so I'm being put on antibiotics for 5 days. I'm not happy, but I have no choice. The infection will die down, but when it returns it will apparently be more focused and easy to identify the problem tooth. Whichever tooth it is it will require root canal work. That'll be my 6th root canal in 3 years. Yes, my teeth really are that bad.]
Over the last four weeks, the first two weeks were the worst. Every time I spoke I swallowed a gallon of saliva, and I lisped so heavily that talking was really hard work and I had to concentrate on every syllable. I would read a passage of text every hour on the hour to improve my speech. My speech is still bad - the lisp is still bad, but I've just had to get on with it.
Apart from the awful speech impediment it's all fine. I'm seeing some improvement - two of my teeth are aligning nicely - and I'm hoping that the other two will begin to move this month. Today the dentist tightened the aligner a bit... but I'm not sure if he overdid it because it doesn't fit on one side. I'll be seeing him soon re my toothache tooth and will check.
The orthodontics message boards all whinge and complain about the lisp, and they feel annoyed that it wasn't made more explicit. We all agree that it gets really boring having to repeat yourself EVERY time you speak to someone, unless they are looking straight at you. My direct manager isn't impressed with the lisp - he hasn't said anything but I know that he would prefer that I take it out when he meets with me. He's noticed that I take it out to eat and so comes to see me then... but, I put it back in and tell him that if I'm not eating I'll wear it. The longer it's out, the longer the treatment (in weeks) will take.
One month down, 2 or 3 months to go - and no problems other than the damned lisp!
Ava x
Glad to read that things are progressing well 🙂
Keep focusing on the final outcome.
Hope your lower tooth infections sorts out quickly for you.
Pictures of my awful teeth... as they begin to look nicer
I've been meaning to post up a pic of my teeth before I started wearing the aligner, and one of the 4-week update.
Remember that the treatment duration is 6-18 weeks. This pic is only of the 4-week point.
A few things to say:
1. the 'Before' pic is rubbish
2. the aligner stains your teeth (my teeth aren't normally this yellow)
3. there is some change, but not a lot, it's only 1/4 the way into the treatment time
4. the dentist attached lumps to my teeth so that the aligner doesn't slip (so that's not food stuck to my teeth!)
Warning - I have really horrible teeth. This is not pleasant viewing.
I'll post another update at the 8-week point.
Ava
Hi Ava,
Thanks for posting up the thumbnails. 🙂
You can certainly see the changes already - so keep going!
Thanks very much, GH. I am quite excited about getting to the 8-week point... because even in the 7 days since the 4-week photo was taken there are noticeable changes. I am hopeful that the treatment length will be nearer 8 weeks, than 18 weeks. Well, we'll see!
Ava x
Attached is the 8-week update photo.
I'm disappointed because very little has happened in the last 4 weeks. As I mentioned above, I didn't get a proper 4-week review appointment because it was given over to an emergency appointment for my root canal pain. So, I don't think he adjusted it properly - since much of the aligner sits below my teeth, rather than behind them.
[I've not been able to go back to do anything about it because a week later I got a bad cold, then when that cleared up the tooth flared up a second time, and then when that settled I got the second dose of a cold. And now my appointment is next week, so no point going a week earlier.]
Anyway, I've got some improvement - more noticable when you compare it to Day One photo.
Ava x
I think it's looking pretty good, Ava. And your teeth look very white to me.
xxx
Thank you, Sunanda. I used to be quite excited about how the results were progressing (around the 5-week mark I was checking them several times a day). Now I've lost interest and just want the treatment finished. I feeling miffed that the poor fitting has added many weeks to my treatment time - and that so little has changed in the last 4 weeks. I was pretty sure that an alignment problem as small as mine would only take 6-8 weeks. The maximum duration is 18 weeks. At this rate I now can't see it finishing in much under that. I had hoped it would be all over by Christmas. It's the inconvenience of speaking with this thing on which is getting to me.
Ava x
Hang on in there. It will be over and you will be looking back on this time and it will all fade away. Just keep on keeping on.
xxx
Yep, indeed... keep my eyes on the horizon!