Can Clear Aligners Help Correct a Speech Disorder?

There are so many different parts of our body and brain working together each and every time we speak. Given how many pieces there are to this speech puzzle, it’s amazing how often we actually say what we intend to say. Due to what a complicated process speech is, it’s only natural that many people experience disordered speech.

In this guide, we will take a close look at a variety of different speech disorders and explore which clear aligners may be able to help fix. We hope you leave this guide with a better idea of whether or not your speech disorder may be corrected with clear aligner treatment.

Can Clear Aligners Help Correct a Speech Disorder?

Clear aligners’ ability to help address speech impediments is entirely dependent on what is causing the disorder itself. So it’s important to know the origin of your particular speech disorder, whether that be through a visit to the dentist’s office, the doctor, or a speech pathologist.^{[ 1 ]}

The speech disorders that clear aligners are able to correct have to do with the placement of teeth and your bite alignment,^{[ 2 ]} so if your speech disorder is due to injury or some sort of neurological disorder, clear aligners will not be able to help you. But there are other forms of treatment that likely will.

How to Know if a Speech Disorder Is Caused by Dental Issues

We tend to think of speech disorders as being caused by the mouth. While this is certainly true in some cases, they can also be a neurological issue. There is a wide variety of speech disorders, which means you may need to see multiple professionals to better understand what is happening with you and your particular speech struggles. You can seek help from a speech-language pathologist, a doctor, or a dentist or orthodontist.

Which Speech Disorders Can Clear Aligners Help Correct?

The way our teeth sit in our mouths has implications beyond aesthetics. The way our teeth are placed can affect airflow and tongue movements — which can alter the way we speak, sometimes creating speech disorders. Clear aligners can help to correct speech disorders that are caused by malocclusions.

Malocclusion is a term that encompasses many different types of tooth misalignments. The types of speech disorders that clear aligners are able to treat all stem from malocclusions. Different types of malocclusions can lead to different speech disorders. Let’s take a closer look at the types of malocclusions that clear aligners are able to treat.

Underbite

An underbite is when your lower jaw sticks out further than your upper jaw. With an underbite, your tongue likely won’t have the room it needs to correctly produce sounds. This can cause slurred speech or a lisp. Clear aligners can move your teeth so that your tongue has the proper amount of room to speak. This may reduce or eliminate a lisp.^{[ 3 ]}

Crossbite

Crossbite is similar to underbite, but instead of all of your upper teeth sitting behind your lower row, only a few of them are. Similar to underbite, with crossbite, there often isn’t enough room for your tongue to make the movements it needs. This can cause lisping just like underbite can. If crossbite is what is causing your speech disorder, clear aligner treatment can likely correct that problem.^{[ 3 ]}

Overbite

An aligned bite features a top row of teeth that fits neatly over the bottom row of teeth. An overbite is when the top row of teeth reaches over the bottom row of teeth in an extreme fashion, leaving too much room between the two.

Since there isn’t a tight seal when you bite down, overbite can cause extra air to be in your mouth. This can lead to speech disorders like lisping or involuntary whistling sounds. Clear aligners can help close all of the gaps in your smile so there is less air being let in. Fixing this malocclusion can often lead to a decreased intensity of lisping or whistling.^{[ 3 ]}

Overjet

Overjet is similar to overbite since it features a greater than normal protrusion over the lower teeth. The main difference between overbite and overjet is that overjet only affects your two front teeth, and those teeth protrude at a slight outward angle.

Overjet can create speech disorders because there isn’t a tight seal when you bite down, which can cause lisping and whistling. If overjet is the cause of your speech disorder, then clear aligner treatment can help close those gaps and align your bite, allowing the air to pass through your teeth normally and potentially putting an end to your speech disorder.^{[ 3 ]}

Open Bite

Open bite is a type of malocclusion where your top and lower jaw do not meet when you bite down. This placement of the teeth can produce speech disorders with the pronunciation of certain words or create a lisp. An open bite mostly affects the way that someone says their “s” and “t” sounds.

If an open bite is what is causing your speech disorder, then it’s likely treatment with clear aligners will help correct it. Clear aligners can treat many cases of open bite, but braces are usually a little better suited for those that are quite severe.^{[ 3 ]}

Which Speech Disorders Can’t Clear Aligners Help Correct?

We covered that clear aligners can help disorders that stem from alignment issues. Now, what sorts of speech disorders can’t clear aligners help with?

Clear aligners are a powerful way to straighten your teeth, but there are still limits to their abilities. Read on to see which speech disorders clear aligners won’t be able to correct.

Stuttering

Like most speech disorders, stuttering is complicated. Sometimes it appears to be genetic, and in other cases, it appears to be more neurological — brain scans show similar neural pathway patterns among people who stutter. Stuttering can also be influenced by emotional factors and can be exacerbated by stress and anxiety (though it is not believed to be a strictly psychological disorder).

Clear aligners cannot help with stuttering since their focus is on the teeth and jaw. They wouldn’t be able to address the more complicated and sometimes unknown elements of stuttering.^{[ 1 ]} Those who stutter will have greater luck pursuing treatment through a speech-language pathologist (SLP).

Dysarthria

Dysarthria is a speech disorder that occurs from weakness in the facial muscles. This disorder is caused by brain damage, which can happen at birth, through injury, or from a stroke or tumor. Other muscular/neurological disorders like Parkinson’s, MS, or cerebral palsy can cause this speech disorder as well.

Dysarthria should be treated by a doctor or an SLP. Clear aligners won’t be able to help this disorder due to its neurological/muscular nature. Clear aligners work with the teeth and jaw but can’t help you with strengthening your facial muscles.^{[ 1 ]}

Apraxia of Speech (AOS)

There are two different types of AOS — acquired and childhood. Acquired AOS is typically due to a brain injury, which in turn affects the part of your brain that controls the muscles that help you speak.

The causes of childhood AOS are a little more mysterious. It could be due to genetics or simply be a symptom of a larger disorder, like epilepsy or cerebral palsy.

Clear aligners aren’t able to help with this neurological/muscular disorder since they simply align the bite.^{[ 1 ]} Treatment for both kinds of AOS will be done with a speech-language pathologist and, depending on the other disorders you may be dealing with, a medical doctor, too.

Hearing Loss

If your speech disorder is due to hearing loss, clear aligners won’t be able to help correct that.^{[ 1 ]} However, it’s possible that with a speech-language pathologist, hearing aid, or other approaches to therapy, you will be able to correct a speech disorder brought on by loss of hearing.

Cleft Lip and/or Palate

Speech disorders that emerge from a cleft lip or palate are a more complicated fix than what clear aligners are capable of providing. One would likely need surgery to correct a cleft palate, as well as help from a speech-language pathologist.^{[ 1 ]}

How Long Will It Take for My Speech Disorder to Be Corrected?

The average treatment time for clear aligners like Invisalign is 12-18 months, but it’s possible certain aspects of your speech could improve before finishing treatment entirely. How long it will take to see your speech disorder corrected is largely dependent on the severity of your condition. Typically, the more severe the malocclusion, the more severe the speech disorder. And the more severe the malocclusion, the longer the treatment time.

Can a Speech Disorder Come Back After Clear Aligner Treatment?

After you finish your clear aligner treatment, you will need to wear an overnight retainer for life, and you might even need a fixed retainer that is never removed. This is to ensure that your teeth don’t move out of the positions you worked so hard to get them into!

Keeping your smile in place is a great way to help ensure your previous disorder doesn’t come back. So, it’s important you stay diligent with your retainer wear.

Final Thoughts

The way our body and brain work together to produce speech is complex. If you have a speech disorder, there are various routes you can take to work to treat it.

Be sure to seek help from a professional to determine the cause of your speech disorder, whether that person is a doctor, dentist or orthodontist, or speech-language pathologist. If your speech disorder is due to malocclusion, it’s likely clear aligners will be able to help and correct your disorder as they realign your smile.