Orthodontic treatment

[3monkeys]

DS1 who's 12 went to orthodontisttoday.They have suggested he has a twin block brace to correct his overbite. It looks and sounds horrendous. Does anyone have any experience?

Always looks worse than it is! I think you can remove these if needed so not fixed like the "train tracks"? Think they are not as obvious as the tracks as a friends DD had these or something similar and she has lovely teeth now.

My 2 did not have these, but we have had "Head Gear", tracks with elastics and fixed retainers. They just adjust to it all very quickly after the initial aches and feeling very sorry for themselves.

How did they get on with the headgear? DS would have to have that for nighttime - I always promised myself they wouldn't have them. i think he should go ahead but DHthinks it's just cosmetic

dd had the same thing and despite doubts and some tricky days at first learning to eat and speak in them they worked brilliantly. I was dead against them at the time but dd was keen. the thread where I fretted and then updated with the results

DD had to wear the headgear. She hated it so much she decided to wear it every second possible to reduce the overall time and it worked! She put it on as she walked through the door from school and took it off for breakfast. At weekends / days off she wore it all day and for car journeys etc. She wore a head-scarf (muslim style) in car and ran upstairs before we could answer the door at home - no-one was allowed to see. She more than halved the number of months the dentist had predicted she would need. :)

First few nights were painful (& tearful) and meant sleeping awkward but she soon adjusted. When headgear stopped the tracks & bands went on, then a retainer. She now has a beautiful smile.

Ah thankyou for your replies.
DH and I are dithering because it seems a lot of trauma for something that is essentially cosmetic. I've been staring at his jaw all day trying to decide if it looks ok or not! We are going back in a few weeks to discuss anyway

I wore 2 removeable braces before having "train tracks" - horrible but manageable at the time. At one point my orthodontist recommended breaking my jaw and then some form of headgear - luckily he retired before he got near me! If it's a removeable brace then go for it and see how he gets on. I'm really glad my Mum made me get them - I've got pretty nice teeth now (apart from the wisdom tooth problem and that IS another thread!)

Thanks OYBBK for that link. i too can see very little wrong with his teeth. After orthodontist just bringing us back yearly for review, to suddenly be hit with that was scary! DSisn't particularly outgoing and can be quite socially awkward and I'm worried it will affect his confidence

My dd aged 14 has just finished with the twin block brace and it really has made an amazing difference to her profile. Dd did find them a little uncomfortable to begin with but, to her credit, she persevered and the results are great and she didn't need them as long as originally thought.

My dd got twin blocks in September . They are truly shocking and horrendous to wear and even to look at as a parent. I was like you, m dd looked fine to start with. If she had made a big fuss I would have dumped the braces. I cannot wait to destroy them once we are through with them. They really do work on the plus side if you wear them as advised. We are 10 weeks into treatment and should be on nights only (praise be) in another 8 weeks. After that, train tracks which will be a walk in the park in comparison.
I feel your pain

have your 2 needed the headgear aswell? I always promised that none of them would have to use those

One thing that helped for us was showing my dd the before and after photos of other kids on our orthodontist's website. Your ds will end up with a movie star grin and a more attractive profile ( even if he already looks good!). Also at 12 he will finish his treatment at quite a young age, ahead of many peers, so it is a good age to start.

Head gear is much easier than twin blocks as it's only worn at night. Twin blocks are crap because you are unable to close yourmouth or even to smile. Also probably nobody else your ds knows will have twin blocks and that makes it worse. His confidence will probably be affected whilst wearing them but will probably improve once he has the movie star grin!!!

Thanks everyone. Lots to ponder but am veering towards not bothering with twin blocks and just having the overcrowded teeth removed and then train tracks. He is just started at senior school and has epilepsy and i think he has enough to deal with without causing teasing for him. But may yet change my mind!

It's a tough decision. my dd hasn't been teased but it has been hard going and she is self conscious. Twin blocks may mean your ds then doesn't need tge extractions but may not. The thing about the blocks is that they grow the lower jaw forward. My understanding is that this can only work at this age whilst the child is stil growing. So unlike the train tracks you can't choose to do this in later life instead.
My dentist didn't prepare us for what was coming up at all and I am not sure if it was good or bad that way tbh. It's likely that your ds will only need to go through 4 months of daytime wear. If that could be timed to include the summer hols it would be less time wearing them at school which is good.

Kids are very adaptable. My dd has worn hers very well but still can't wait to finish with them. I can see results already. The braces traumatise me in some ways more than they do my dd. She would advise your ds to go ahead.

Hope this helps, maybe it's better not to know too much in advance...

Just to be clear, headgear isn't on the agenda for my dd as far as I know. Also if your twin blocks are coming on the nhs then it's not for cosmetic reasons, they must think there is trouble ahead. If purely cosmetic then you will be asked to pay. If it really is cosmetic only it may not be worth it.

Good luck to you all. Overall I think give it a go if you can get your ds motivated. If he isn't fully on board he will stick them in his pocket at school anyhow and it won't work.

I had the headgear in my early teens and I hated it and wouldn't wear it. My parents didn't push it and so nothing happened. I now hate my teeth and so wish that I had persevered.

My DD has had them since the beginning of Feb, her overbite was 11mm. She was supposed to have head gear with them at nights but he didn't give it to her at first then by the time we went back her teeth were moving so she hasn't had it.

Overbite reduced to 2-3mm now, they come out in Feb then onto train tracks. Huge difference to how she looks. First few days pretty bad but after that it's been fine. She's 13 in Jan and good to know she's got a fair bit sorted whilst fairly young. DS will probably need the same.

Anyone know if it's worth starting these at 15 (for a boy, if that makes a difference)? DS is already 6 foot tall, so I suspect we may have missed the boat, but other difficulties have meant it hasn't been practical to consider it earlier.

If it is worth it -- anyone have any good tips on getting a highly mouth-sensitive ASD child to tolerate having the impressions done in the first place?

His overbite is 15 mm, so on the high side and quite awkward for him.

DS#s overbite is 'only' 8mm. Yes, all been offered on NHS. DH going to ring our dentist and see what he thinks. This is all really helpful, thankyou

Personally, I would say go for it. He won't be teased - pretty much every child has braces these days it is so common.

Train tracks won't sort out any jaw problems (as I understand it) so he may end up with straight teeth but a flatter face. Look at his profile - I knew DS1s teeth were pulled into an overbite through thumbsucking but I hadn't noticed that his lower jaw had been made to recede too. He has had a "functional appliance" since he was 8. He is now 12 and only has to wear it at night. His teeth are fabulous, his jaw/profile is square and fabulous - a huge improvement on why it was before. And he will not need any adult teeth removed.

DS2 has also had the same treatment and has the most fabulous Cameron Diaz grin. DD will be having the same treatment.

This was all done privately. If the NHS are offering to do it for you it is unlike to be just cosmetic. Do it now when he can have it free.

the braces do look horrendous when out but you can barely see them when they're in and they get used to them very quickly wrt eating an speaking. DSs mean they have to keep their mouths closed and talk through gritted teeth but it hasn't been an issue.

DD has dyspraxia and the impressions were a nightmare. We go sent away to practice. A friend said get them to make circles with her foot whilst it was being done, but it didn't help.

Second time they had three tries. I sat next to her so she could squeeze my hand and was nauseatingly encouraging, lots of 'keep going, you are doing brilliantly ' type of thing . Orthodontist, nurse, DD and I looked a wreck by end of session but job done.

Thanks, Wynken. We've already been three times to try to get the damn things done -- not helped by the (SEN) dentist only working two days a week so appts have been at least a month apart.

Having braces is indeed very common. Having twin blocks is very uncommon and is far worse in terms of how it looks and how it affects speech. Also whilst wearing braces is common it is not so common for a Y8.