Advice please! DD is threatening to give up on her brace because...

[SurpriseMuffins]

...she can't close her mouth, chew, or sleep with it in. It's for pulling her lower jaw forward: it has these plastic bits that stick up to stop her jaw from moving back. Apparently they're fairly common.

She's been told to wear it all day and all night or she'll need it for longer (but she can take it out for cleaning). She hasn't been able to sleep with it in (but it has been only two nights), or eat anything that needs mouth movement. She was supposed to be able to eat properly again eventually, but I have no experience with this so I don't know how long its likely to be...

Any advice please because she's already thinking of giving up on it and I'd rather be able to persuade her not to!

sorry was off doing stuff...

Yes, we were told to take them out for eating, brushing teeth (and braces) and nothing else.

He could open and close his mouth though.

They definitely did take some getting used to, well he never really did tbh, he has Asperger's syndrome and a speech disorder and basically it destroyed 7 years of SALT as he was unintelligible the whole time he had them in :( I cried when he first put them in The orthodontist hadn't discussed anything really, it was a case of yes he needs braces and then he put these things in his mouth that made his speech so much worse.

They were always sore for 3 or 4 days after, first getting them in and then every time they were adjusted.

He had them in for a year then 6 months of night time - we didn't get the normal braces afterwards, he could probably do with his teeth being a tiny bit straighter, but his underbite is completely gone and because of his speech it wasn't worth it just to straighten his teeth up a bit.

Before he had them in he had a gap of about 1.5cms between his top and bottom jaws, that is gone, so they definitely did the job.

It's called a functional appliance and they have the most remarkable effect on appearance, really she will regret it if she doesn't persevere. It must be awful but the more she wears it the more used to it she will get and when the work is done, her face profile will have changed dramatically. They are normally used for a "class 2 Div 1" orthodontic relationship where the chin is further back than the base of the nose (between the nostrils).

To reassure anyone who has DCs approaching brace age, they are not used for all cases and if your DC has an impairment then the orthodontist will take that into accoutn when planning the treatment. No point making expensive appliances for someone who is unable to wear them correctly.

Please encourage DD to carry on with it. I was under the impression they normally came out for eating but then I'm just a general dentist, someone on here is an ortho though.

My DD had one of these, IIRC it came out for eating. She hated it, we had lots of tears.

My method was massive bribery, I told her it would work quicker if she persevered, and she could choose a treat for when the treatment was finished. She chose a trip to London, science museum and London Eye
Thinking about her treat gave her a bit of motivation.

The results were worth it - she has lovely teeth now. So I hope your DD can manage to keep going.

Thanks for all your help and support everyone. Unfortunately KurriKurri I wouldn't be able to provide much of an incentive as I can just about afford to offer her a fiver if she perseveres for two weeks!

Does anyone know if its normal for the back molars not to contact any more when the functional appliance is removed for cleaning etc? Reason I ask is because DD came to me last night in a panic thinking she'd never be able to chew again even after it's taken out.

Yes that's the idea behind it. It changes the way the teeth bite & the way the muscles do their thing. They are wonderful but oddly brutal in the way they change things. It's a sign that it's working already and the back teeth will be fine & bite properly once everything is in place! It's working already!! That's great news!!!

I'm baking so have time to explain. If you imagine that her bottom teeth bite too far behind the top ones, this brace is designed to pull the bottom jaw forward so if you try it yourself & bite your top & bottom front teeth edge to edge (sort of sticking your chin out) then your back teeth won't bite together. If you do this all day every day then eventually your back teeth will move & bite together again.

It's quite natural, teeth move all the time bevel at night if you sleep with your mouth open they will feel like they don't fit together in the morning.

Disclaimer: this biting thing won't happen if your bottom teeth bite in front of your top ones IYSWIM

And now my pastry has risen and it blinking shouldn't have. Gah

Bevel clearly means even.

My DD had braces which sound similar. She dribbled, was in quite a bit of pain and couldn't eat or sleep properly. I gave her pain killers, bonjella for the sore bits and lots of easy to eat food. I took her to hte supermarket and let her choose food she thought she could manage. I actually cant remember as its about 6 years ago, but it did take her about a week to get used to it.

I know 2 people who didn't carry on and they regret it so much a few years down the line.

Surprise - Can i just ask you, does their face look odd while they are wearing this brace ?/ I know it is designed to push the lower jaw forward but dd is worried that she is going to get bullied because she will look really daft wearing it.

Dd is having hers fitted on the 29th of this month so I will let you know how we get on.

Perhaps I didn't explain it very clearly. The braces pull the jaw forward and once the teeth & muscles have grown/adapted, that is the position the face will stay in. That's the idea behind it.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=functional+appliance+therapy&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1280&bih=661&tbm=isch&tbnid=Ntac4VicXuitQM:&imgrefurl=www.orthodontics.com.my/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D20%26Itemid%3D2&docid=vJuXv7v2kNIBAM&w=275&h=261&ei=xtVrTujjL4-o8APgprkQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=730&page=5&tbnh=160&tbnw=169&start=60&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:60&tx=51&ty=63" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This picture illustrates well

DD has one since the beginning of February to correct a 11mm overbite. It was all very horrendous at the beginning and I do remember her saying she wasn't going to do it and me shrieking at DH that he couldn't go away the first weekend she had them and leave me on my own with her.

She was supposed to have head gear at night but he held off giving her that at the beginning as she has dyspraxia and at the start it was enough to get them in her mouth and then her teeth moved do well he decided she didn't need it. First couple of nights she claimed they fell out. Morning number 4 she came in panicing as couldn't find them. We stripped the bedding, hunted high and low and I was patting down big Ted when they turned up in the bathroom.

She had a fair big of Calpol and bonjela the first few days. She was only supposed to take them out to clean but has never mastered eating do takes them out for that. Speech was bad for the first few days then got back to normal after a few weeks. I was quite worried at first as she had speech therapy and I was vaguely thinking I might have to ring the speech therapist .

They were fitted on a Tuesday, Thursday was crisis day, DH was able to ho away overnight on the Saturday as things had hugely improved. Now they are just part of everyday life (apart from they are in her friend's locker at school this weekend, don't ask) and you don't really know they are in unless she opens her mouth wide.

The difference they have made is huge and her face looks much more balanced. She's only got one more tightening left to do for now (very easy, after the first 8 weeks I had to do it once a week). She's really pleased shd stuck through those first days and I know would tell your DD to hang in there.

Grumpy Your info was fine, and she has kept it in btw (she's quite proud to have stuck with it I think). The image you linked to wasn't there, but no problem. Hope you recovered your pastry ok too!

TheOriginalN Her bottom jaw looks a little odd, but that's about it. It's not tremendously visible actually.

To everyone else (sorry not a lot of time today), thanks for your replies, its very helpful that you all keep pointing out it was this horrendous at the beginning but does improve...it was the thought of it not improving that had me panicked!

Update time: DD has started eating slightly more solid food, and although needing painkillers at night is seeming much more upbeat about the process.

My dd had to have her top jaw expanded. It def got much better with time and the need for painkillers did lessen etc.

Great to here that she's stuck with it. My dd has had fantastic results and I'm really happy for her and she's very pleased too.