Camelot
Active Member
How times and treatments have changed...
About 20 years ago, I worked as an orthodontic lab technician, and made retainers for our patients whose treatment was completed. The retainers were meant to be worn all of the time at first, and after a while, they were to supposed to be worn only at night.
The more the retainers were worn, the easier it was to speak while wearing them.
Back then, my boss charged $150.00 for a set of retainers (upper and lower) These retainers were made the old fashioned way; with hand bent wires and pink acrylic resin.
The whole process from start to finish, may have taken me a day or more to finish a set of retainers, depending on how busy I was with other lab work.
With the old type retainers, the wires did the work of maintaining the position of the teeth, and the only reason people experienced a lisp, was because of the thichness of the pink resin resting on the inside of the gums. We trimmed the plastic resin as thin as possible to help the patient out. With continued wearing of the retainers, speaking became easier and easier.
I imagine with Invisalign, that the same would apply... that the more it is worn, the better your tongue can get used to appliance being there, and adapt
Just my 2 cents on the subject.
About 20 years ago, I worked as an orthodontic lab technician, and made retainers for our patients whose treatment was completed. The retainers were meant to be worn all of the time at first, and after a while, they were to supposed to be worn only at night.
The more the retainers were worn, the easier it was to speak while wearing them.
Back then, my boss charged $150.00 for a set of retainers (upper and lower) These retainers were made the old fashioned way; with hand bent wires and pink acrylic resin.
The whole process from start to finish, may have taken me a day or more to finish a set of retainers, depending on how busy I was with other lab work.
With the old type retainers, the wires did the work of maintaining the position of the teeth, and the only reason people experienced a lisp, was because of the thichness of the pink resin resting on the inside of the gums. We trimmed the plastic resin as thin as possible to help the patient out. With continued wearing of the retainers, speaking became easier and easier.
I imagine with Invisalign, that the same would apply... that the more it is worn, the better your tongue can get used to appliance being there, and adapt
Just my 2 cents on the subject.