Twin Block Braces - Any Advice?

[Shar0769]

Hi
First post to Mumsnet, so please bear with me

Just arrived back from Orthodontist with ds (10) who has had twin block braces fitted to correct his overbite and adjust his jaw. I can honestly say I feel sick/upset, he looks like he's shoved a sock in his mouth; can't speak, can't smile. Im dreading to think how he's going to cope at school.

If anyone has any advice/experience on these braces it would be great. Anything to ease my worries.

Thanks.

[Chickenitalia]

@Heyjude20 what an amazing change in a short time! Your dd looks so great there, glad it’s all going well.

@mummma69 thank you for your message. It sounds like your dd is going through a lot there but it really will be worth it. I always think teeth get noticed when you meet someone and a beautiful smile is worth every penny and time to get right. Hope the surgery goes well. Once dd has had her treatment plan decided on and I understand how it might affect school, I intend to go in and talk to her teacher, who is lovely and I know will be supportive. In many ways I’m glad this is being done while she is still at primary as I feel I have a bit more control still! She has a small year group but very boy-heavy - 6 girls and 17 boys in her class - and they are a fun but blunt group, they will say things without really thinking, but also not really much malice intended. Dd is currently positive about it all but this might change when reality hits. At the moment she’s just happy about the timing of her appointments as she misses the dreaded school swimming which she hates with a passion!

I’m sure I’ll be back for more advice down the line, best wishes to you all and your kids!

[mummma69]

Gosh - I must have two accounts as the last few times I posted as motherhenpecked. No idea what is going on (confused)......

[Mummypig2020]

Hi!i posted on her previously under “thedarksideofthemoon”.

Dd started her brace journey March 2019 and tomorrow she gets her fixed braces off!

Pictures!

[Mummypig2020]

I’m so proud of her :)

[Tullyjune]

I am so glad I found this thread! My DS gets his twin blocks in 2 weeks. I would have been completely unprepared if it hadn’t been for all your stories and tips.

The treatment plan is currently 9 months twin blocks, 1-1.5 years fixed and then a retainer. Added a photo of his poor goofy teeth for reference!

[Phial]

Also grateful for this thread. Just starting the twin block journey and reading through others has been great. We've a 8 mm overbite here, not as much as some others, will be interesting to see how things are ten weeks from now.

[Jenjen21]

Really grateful for this thread. My son got these braces on yesterday, jesus christ they're awful looking yokes!! I've already had a trip back to orthodontist this morning as the lower ones kept popping out!

He seems to be fine, I'm traumatized!!

He has a pretty severe overbite/overjet (?) Of 14.5mm so he knows it needs to be sorted.

I've showed him lots of comments on this thread about the speech and slobbering settling down and it's fab to see the before and after pics .how amazing are they?!

Feels like a long road ahead of us but I'm sure once it all settles down we'll just get on with it! Not due back till February tho , it'll be interesting to see how much changes between now and then!

[Lauren4568]

My 12 year old daughter got her twin blocks yesterday. We were given no warning at what were getting fitted, simply told to come in for brace fitting. She burst into tears as soon as we left the building, she hates the way they look (she does look a bit funny). She has a fairly bad lisp. She loves speech and drama (she has lessons once a week) and is very active participant in class discussions, but she says she's going to try and avoid talking from now on.
She can drink, and eat soup and smoothies, but you can see the difficulty to swallow.
She's trying her best to be brave, but you can see the devastation whenever she tries it eat, speak, or look in the mirror.

[Mrsmagpie80]

Oooh lovely parents I feel your pain with this. My daughter had them at 11 and it was so traumatic the first few weeks but honestly she got used to them much quicker than we did! The best advice she would give is wear them as much as possible and you will get rid of them quicker and I would agree. We were told she would have them a year but because she was so determined with them she only had them for 6 months. Her overbite went from 13mm to 3! They work as long as they are worn as much as possible. X

[Jenjen21]

Hi, just said I'd update as I found it so helpful when I read others! We had first check up today after 5 months of my 13 year old ds wearing twin blocks. His over jet has reduced from 14mm to 7mm which is amazing! He's been so good at wearing them in fairness. They come out for eating (orthodontists instructions) and for football training /matches a couple times a week but other than that he has them on! Was traumatised for the first few days but once we got over that it was fine!

[DolphinMoon]

Hey. just wanted to say that when my daughter ( 11) got twin blocks I gave her 3 days to skip school just so she can learn how to talk/eat better. I think this really helped her and after the treatment we were all happy about her amazing alignment! Hope that helped!

[Tiredmum40]

My son had twin blocks fitted on Monday and still can’t close his mouth, speak properly or eat very well. Is this normal? How long does it take to be able to close his mouth.

[Jenjen21]

Honestly give it a few days and he'll be fine, they adjust so well to them. I was traumatised when my son got them on at first but he was flying after 3/4 days!

[vjg13]

It may be worth checking with the orthodontist that the fit is ok but they do take a few days to settle in and get used to. My daughter's looked absolutely barbaric but they achieved amazing results with her teeth.

[Tiredmum40]

Thank you. I have asked if the orthodontist can take a look. He is booked in for a Tuesday for a check up. Hopefully it’s just taking some additional time to adjust. He isn’t at school as he still can’t talk or eat properly. He also has to get 2 adult upper premolars removed next week as part of the straightening process. Has anyone had experience of this?

[vjg13]

My daughter never managed to eat in hers and although it was recommended to by the orthodontist, it didn't increase the length of time she wore them.

[user1485371158]

Hi there,
My daughter was due to have twin blocks fitted 5 years ago at the age of 11. I was horrified when I saw them. I asked the orthodontist if there was an alternative to these , she gave her a night brace with headgear instead, which worked really well .
My daughter had a massive overbite and her mouth was very overcrowded. The orthodontist told me she would probably have to have 4 teeth out 2 from the top and 2 from the bottom, which I knew because I had exactly the same at her age.
So after the headgear treatment, she had 4 healthy teeth removed, then the fixed braces for 2 and half years. After the braces came off she had to wear the retainers full time for about a year. Her teeth look amazing. She only wears the retainers at night now..

[Tiredmum40]

Hi @user1485371158, that’s great your daughter had a good result with her teeth. I am quite worried about the tooth extractions, it’s so permanent. Worry about posts I’ve seen about sunken cheeks and gaps remaining. How long did it take for the gaps to close during treatment, can you remember?

[user1485371158]

Hi, yes it is worrying, and upsetting when they remove healthy teeth, but my daughter doesn't have any gaps, no sunken cheeks.
It took the whole time she wore the fixed braces to close all the gaps.
The orthodontist told me the main reason for wearing the twin blocks was to avoid extraction of teeth , but that was never going to work in my daughters case, I'm surprised they're not waiting to see the results from your son wearing the twin blocks before they do any extractions.

[Tiredmum40]

Going to see if I can speak to the Orthodontist on Monday to see what the rush is to have the teeth extracted then. They just said to me to make an appointment with my dentist to have the extractions and they would email the dentist Over the details. I feel that I’m not being very informed about the whole procedure. Not sure if it is just rush rush as it’s NHS funded.

[user1485371158]

Yes definitely try and speak to them first.
I don't see how your son is going to wear the twin blocks if he's had two teeth extracted, the gums need time to heal. My daughters teeth weren't removed until after the night brace stage was finished. Hopefully you'll get some answers. Let us know.

[Indoorvoicesbluey]

Hey! My daughter was the one who had them a few years ago, changed my username lol

she’s 14 now and it’s the best thing Iv ever done for her. She looks like a completely different child and I’m so jealous of her perfect teeth!

[Tiredmum40]

Hi @Indoorvoicesbluey Your daughters teeth look great. Did she have teeth removed as part of the process?

[Tiredmum40]

Hi @user1485371158 I am going to try and speak to the orthodontist tomorrow before the planned extraction on Tuesday morning. Yeh I did think would be rather painful putting blocks straight back in but she did say make sure you put the braces straight back on afterwards. This is a picture of his teeth at present, he has quite a large overjet, but quite nice shaped teeth.

[Indoorvoicesbluey]

@Tiredmum40

Hi @Indoorvoicesbluey Your daughters teeth look great. Did she have teeth removed as part of the process?

No they thought they would need to but didn’t need to in the end x