How to Talk With a Retainer
Practice speaking slowly to friends and family., Read out loud five or more minutes a day., Try to sing part of a song at least once a day., Repeat words you find difficult to pronounce with your retainer., Speak more on weekends.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Practice speaking slowly to friends and family.
To get more comfortable with talking while wearing your retainer, you should start by speaking slowly to those closest to you on a daily basis.
The more you practice speaking, the more comfortable you will become with talking with a retainer.
You should be able to talk with relative ease within one month to two months of getting your retainer.Your tongue will eventually adapt to the retainer.
If you practice a lot, using all types of words, you will eventually be able to speak normally.
As you start practicing saying words while wearing your retainer, you may notice that you spit or drool when you speak.
This is normal, as your mouth will be more full of saliva than normal due to the retainer.You can use a cloth to catch any saliva around your mouth or chin when you are first getting used to wearing and talking with your retainer.
The reason you may produce more spit with a retainer is because your mouth perceives it as a foreign object.
Your mouth reacts to this foreign object the same way it reacts to a piece of food in your mouth — it increases the flow of saliva. -
Step 2: Read out loud five or more minutes a day.
Another way to get your mouth used to the retainer is to practice reading out loud at least five minutes a day.
You could choose to read a passage from your favorite book or pick a random section of the newspaper.
Reading out loud to yourself or to someone else allows you to practice speaking and pronouncing different words.It may be a good idea to read the same passage out loud every day until you feel you can read it one time through clearly and confidently.
Once you have read the passage out loud successfully, you can try a longer passage or a passage with more complex terms and longer words. , Singing is another good way to help your mouth adapt to the retainer.
You can sing the chorus of your favorite song to yourself in the shower or to an audience of family and friends.
Maybe you choose a simple nursery rhyme or familiar tune that contains simple words.
You can then practice singing this out loud once a day until you can sing the song clearly and without any issues., As you sing or read out loud, listen to yourself speak and note any words or phrases you may have trouble saying.
This could be longer words or words with “sh” and hard “c” sounds, or also "s," "z," or "t"
which require a certain position of the tongue over the retainer.
You should repeat these words several times when you read them or sing them so you can practice pronouncing them.
Over time, you should be able to say these challenging words properly while wearing your retainer. , If you are shy about talking during the week at school in class or to your peers in the hallways, you should get into the habit of talking with your retainer in your mouth on weekends.
On the weekends, you may walk around the house and talk to yourself or talk to your parents.
It can be less intimidating to talk to an empty room or to sympathetic parents. -
Step 3: Try to sing part of a song at least once a day.
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Step 4: Repeat words you find difficult to pronounce with your retainer.
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Step 5: Speak more on weekends.
Detailed Guide
To get more comfortable with talking while wearing your retainer, you should start by speaking slowly to those closest to you on a daily basis.
The more you practice speaking, the more comfortable you will become with talking with a retainer.
You should be able to talk with relative ease within one month to two months of getting your retainer.Your tongue will eventually adapt to the retainer.
If you practice a lot, using all types of words, you will eventually be able to speak normally.
As you start practicing saying words while wearing your retainer, you may notice that you spit or drool when you speak.
This is normal, as your mouth will be more full of saliva than normal due to the retainer.You can use a cloth to catch any saliva around your mouth or chin when you are first getting used to wearing and talking with your retainer.
The reason you may produce more spit with a retainer is because your mouth perceives it as a foreign object.
Your mouth reacts to this foreign object the same way it reacts to a piece of food in your mouth — it increases the flow of saliva.
Another way to get your mouth used to the retainer is to practice reading out loud at least five minutes a day.
You could choose to read a passage from your favorite book or pick a random section of the newspaper.
Reading out loud to yourself or to someone else allows you to practice speaking and pronouncing different words.It may be a good idea to read the same passage out loud every day until you feel you can read it one time through clearly and confidently.
Once you have read the passage out loud successfully, you can try a longer passage or a passage with more complex terms and longer words. , Singing is another good way to help your mouth adapt to the retainer.
You can sing the chorus of your favorite song to yourself in the shower or to an audience of family and friends.
Maybe you choose a simple nursery rhyme or familiar tune that contains simple words.
You can then practice singing this out loud once a day until you can sing the song clearly and without any issues., As you sing or read out loud, listen to yourself speak and note any words or phrases you may have trouble saying.
This could be longer words or words with “sh” and hard “c” sounds, or also "s," "z," or "t"
which require a certain position of the tongue over the retainer.
You should repeat these words several times when you read them or sing them so you can practice pronouncing them.
Over time, you should be able to say these challenging words properly while wearing your retainer. , If you are shy about talking during the week at school in class or to your peers in the hallways, you should get into the habit of talking with your retainer in your mouth on weekends.
On the weekends, you may walk around the house and talk to yourself or talk to your parents.
It can be less intimidating to talk to an empty room or to sympathetic parents.
About the Author
Jessica Rogers
Brings years of experience writing about practical skills and related subjects.
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