If there is one thing I should have learned throughout this whole experience, it is that these guys know what they are talking about! I was assured that I would get used to the retainer and that it would not be so difficult to talk the more I did it. I, on the other hand, was convinced that they were talking about people who had nice little retainers, not great big purple hunks of plastic like mine was….
Well guess what…by the 4th day it was a so much better, and I had only a slightly noticeable shushing sound on my ‘s’ that gave away the fact that I was wearing them at all. The best advice I was given was to go home, crank up the stereo and sing for a couple of hours…I decided to spare the neighbours and our pets the agony of that sound.
So to those who have just completed their braces journey as I have – a collective high five, and a promise that you will in fact get used to your retainer – the more you practice talking the quicker your tongue can readjust to its presence.
To those of you reading who have not yet begun, or still have time to go I say hang in there. Ask anybody who has been there ‘was it worth it?’ and you will hear a resounding “Yes!” every time!
