I get that the speech thing fades for some people, but is it always that quick? I’ve had my braces for a month now and my S’s are still kind of weird, especially when I’m tired. Did your kid do anything specific to help, or did it just go away on its own? The wax is supposed to help, but honestly, half the time I forget to use it and just deal with sore spots. Water flossers are great in theory, but mine just makes a mess and doesn’t feel like it gets everything. Am I missing something here, or is the struggle just part of the deal?
Water flossers are great in theory, but mine just makes a mess and doesn’t feel like it gets everything.
Totally get this—mine turned my bathroom into a splash zone the first few weeks. I stuck with regular floss for a bit, even though it’s a pain with braces. For the speech thing, my lisp hung around for a couple months, especially after adjustments. Did your ortho suggest any specific exercises or tricks? Or is it just “wait it out” for most folks?
I hear you on the lisp thing—it’s honestly one of the most annoying parts for me too. My ortho just told me it would improve with time and didn’t really offer any exercises, which felt kind of vague. I tried reading out loud at home, which helped a bit, but there were still days where I felt like I was talking around a mouthful of marbles. Did you notice if it got worse after certain adjustments? Some days I swear it’s more noticeable than others.
Yeah, the lisp definitely fluctuated for me too, especially right after adjustments. I think it’s partly because your tongue has to keep “relearning” how to move around all the new hardware in your mouth. Reading out loud helped a bit, but honestly, nothing worked as well as just giving it time. I noticed on days when my mouth felt sore or swollen, my speech was way worse. It’s wild how much those tiny tweaks can throw off your whole articulation.
Funny, I actually saw something different with my daughter when she got her braces. The lisp was definitely there at first, and she had her share of sore-mouth days, but what really seemed to help her was singing along to songs she liked. She’d belt out tunes in her room (off-key sometimes, but who cares), and it almost became a game for her to see if she could say the words clearly. I do think reading out loud is great, but the music thing seemed to distract her from the discomfort and made the whole relearning process less frustrating.
I get what you mean about just needing time, though. There were days when her speech was all over the place, especially after wire changes. Still, I wouldn’t say nothing helps except waiting—it’s just that the “help” looks different for everyone. Sometimes a goofy approach works better than the serious ones... at least in our house.
