AIBU to ask if dental blocks are THAT bad?

[WhatIsThisPlease]

My dd has just been told she has to have blocks as part of her dental treatment (braces on top teeth followed by blocks followed by braces on bottom teeth, retainers etc).

She suffers with mild anxiety and is currently crying her eyes out in her bedroom. A friend of hers had them and she's convinced she won't be able to eat for the whole time they're on and will have to bring milkshakes and smoothies to school for lunch? She also says she won't be able to talk so is going to fail her Spanish speaking exam for her GCSE.

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of these? I had braces but not blocks. I'd never heard of them until today. Are they as horrendous as my dd says? She says she'll be in non stop pain for 6 months and she's going to fail her GCSEs as she won't be able to concentrate on her revision. She is somewhat prone to exaggerating.

Sitting next to DS who had these a couple of years back. He took his out to eat and says it wasn't all That bad once he'd got into the routine.

Oh and he spoke with a lisp for the 1st few days.

Hope that helps.

Her lovely straight teeth will be so worth it.

Hope this helps

DS couldnt tolerate rhem at all. Dentist made him a compromise device which gave a satisfactory result. Ignore the not taking them out to eat. All the kids i knew who had blocks took them out to eat

My dd got used to them fairly quickly but when first got them found it difficult to eat. She was told to keep them in for eating as that makes the treatment work faster.

Thank you!

Dd has told me that they would be 'glued in' to start with but I've not found any evidence of that so both your experiences are good to hear.

@ablutiions - thank you. I keep telling her her smile on her 18th birthday will make it all worthwhile. It's two years' treatment but I think she'll really regret it if she doesn't.

@AuntLydiasNewHairdo - sorry to hear your DS found them so difficult. I'm just hoping DD will manage to put up with them. She's been told it's only for 4-6 months.

@dementedpixie

Thank you - I'm going to show her all the (positive) replies. Am hoping that her friend was being dramatic and she won't find them too bad. Interesting about speeding up the treatment by keeping them in to eat!

My dd did have a bit attached on the roof of her mouth to prevent teeth moving forward onto a gap made by adult teeth being removed but when she had a block brace it could be removed.

My DS had them (the glued in kind), they were in for about 8 months I think. Honestly fine, few days to get used to them but then forgot about them. He definitely didn’t appear to be in pain or unable to speak (He would have let us know!)

@Newnewnew1179

That's great, thank you. It's good to hear that they didn't cause your DS any problems.

And at least we now know that glued in blocks are an actual thing!

I've read everyone's responses to her and she's feeling a bit more relieved 😊

I had these as part of my treatment, my braces journey was about five years long so plenty of experience with all different types in the end, the first few days are a pain as you get used to them, if they offer wax to use to mould over parts that rub definitely use it, braces are so common barely anyone will notice or care I promise.

Soft food for the first few days will make it easier but equally so will paracetamol. Pain wise at that stage I'd say it was like a 2/10 max, aching, annoying but very much bearable!

@123deepbreath thank you so much for that. So reassuring! - and I'll definitely make sure she gets the wax if it's offered.

My son had these and found the first week really difficult. He had difficulty talking, found his jaw really painful, lots of tears shed. He was also very self conscious about going to school. It was really hard but he was determined to compete the treatment. He persevered and had the block brace for about 8 months followed by a fixed train track type brace. He has the most beautiful teeth now and jaw aligned, he thinks it was worth it but the start of treatment was really hard and I can see why a lot of people give up

My son had removable blocks for about 4-6 months, was also told that it speeded up the process if they were left in for eating, but he did mostly remove them for eating unless it was something manageable. He always took them out for eating at school. They worked brilliantly. Uncomfortable to start with but he swiftly got used to them. He also did Spanish (though y8) and it’ll be fine - he soon got the hang of talking properly but it did sound like a lisp for a while. He had the wax in case they rubbed, but hardly used it.

My daughter had twin blocks for nearly 2 years, wearing them 24 hours a day (including eating with them in) except for cleaning.
She has ASD and sensory processing disorder and she did find them difficult to start with.

The first 48 hours were the worst; she thought she was never going to be able to sleep again!

It took her about 5 days to learn to eat with them in, and about 3 weeks to learn to play the flute with them in.

They did affect her speech. She became more understandable after the first month, but was not able to speak completely normally until that stage of the treatment had finished.

My daughter had them, the first week was difficult, with a lot of drooling and she found it hard to speak but practised reading aloud. Sugar free mints helped.
They are absolute miracle workers and I could see the difference within about 4 weeks. She took them out to eat always although they work more quickly if they can manage to eat with them in. She did very well in her Spanish GCSE and did A level too!

I used to be an orthodontic dental nurse and at the beginning it feels like the worst thing in the world but all of our patients got used to it so fast

DS1 had a retainer type thing for about 9 months. He's just had blocks glued in which will now be there for a while. He found the first few days difficult - he had some pain but ibuprofen helped and he was given wax to use to prevent any wires rubbing. He stopped mentioning any pain or discomfort after five or six days. You don't need a really soft diet but you have to avoid biting into hard crunchy things like apples or raw carrots etc. They need to be cut up first so they don't dislodge the blocks. Cleaning is a bit of a rigmarole but he seems to be getting on fine now.

My Ds hated them but realised that keeping them in 100% was the only way to get it over and done with quickly. It was supposed to take a year but he had it cracked in only 8 months with me turning the little screw every other day.

At first he dribbled and lisped and the ache in his jaw in the hinge bit was terrible. But then it settled after about 3 days and you couldn't tell they were in in the end. He took them out to eat and that was it.

Afterwards his fixed braces were a piece of piss in comparison. He is 19 now and had beautiful white straight teeth.

My daughter had her blocks from November to May. They weren't glued in and she took them out to eat. Our dentist advised most of the work was done while she was asleep as that was when she was growing. I really felt for her but she is a sensible girl and just got on with it. She had tracks on the top at the same time and now has tracks top and bottom. ABSOLUTELY worth it. It might seem like a mountain now but honestly it has made a world of difference. And bizarrely she has stopped snoring too.