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.

[fairnotfit]

Tinkerbell - just saw your post from last Sunday. My DS (13) has had his twin blocks for almost a month now. Quite painful for a couple of days, with troubled sleep, but this quickly settled down. He still lisps quite markedly when he speaks, but he's had no trouble at school and he seems very relaxed about them - and very conscientious about wearing them, thank goodness! Hope your DS is having less trouble by now - have they settled down yet?

[LIZS]

ds has been allowed to leave his out now pending review in 2 months' time. If they are still happy with his jaw alignment he'll have a train track fitted on the bottom too.

[Cheeseandhamtoast]

LIZS that's great.

My DS has had his twin blocks for a few months now, but still has big problems with his speech, which doesn't seem to be improving, and it is affecting his confidence at school. The twin blocks look fine, and are not uncomfortable, but my DS is lisping very badly, and is not contributing to lessons like he used to.

I'm not quite sure what to do as he's got a year of wearing them. I've preen told that if we go privately we could get a Herbst appliance. Has anyone had any experience of this?

[vikki2478]

I'm just reading through these posts as was searching for ideas on what to have in for my son to eat, he is having his twin block fitted in a couple of weeks, he just turned 9 and our Orthodontist has been really helpful and informative but we haven't really thought about what he'll manage to eat/whether he'll need to remove the blocks to eat etc...I would appreciate any ideas of what to buy in especially for the initial days/weeks. My sin is beginning to worry about being made fun of at school so it's reassuring to see that speech etc can improve quite quickly with plenty practice...his is being fitted so young as he has a 10mm difference and has already chipped his front teeth. Also good to read that some of you got a shock at seeing it first fitted...I'll get my 'it's totally fine face ready!'

[SamsungUser1]

Hi Vikki2478

My AN had her twin blocks fitted on 31st July this year and she has been ok to eat. First day she had soup with them in and just managed, although the had to put the spoon right to the back of her mouth and swallowing was quite hard. For dinner that night she had fish pie, and after talking to some friends who had twin blocks, she realised all her friends were advising to take them out to eat. The actual blocks matched up the first day but they soon moved away to match up with other teeth. AN then took hers out to eat, but takes them out about 10 minutes before eating as pressure on the teeth makes them sensitive.

My menu has consisted of this so far

Friday: Lunch soup, Dinner, Fish pie
Saturday: Lunch bread and butter and soup, Dinner- chilli con carne
Sunday: Lunch sandwich, dinner beef hot pot and mashed potato
Monday: Sandwich for lunch and fish in lemony sauce for dinner
Tuesday: Lunch Jacket potato (this was easy to eat apparently so will become a staple :) and for dinner tonight, I am going to cook her a fishcake

AN tried to eat toast as well, but with sore teeth, it hurt to chew. Biting was hard as blocks had been pressing down on teeth and hurt.

AN's speech has inproved drastically- Friday and Saturday were quite lispy and hard to understand, but now it is only slightly lispy. Pain was low as well- it took a bit of getting used to in the mouth (and dribble/extra salivia in mouth went away quickly as well) but now it feels normal.

Hope this helped you and anyone else!

[loulou2400]

Just a final comment. I turned to mumsnet when my son had twinblocks as we were devasted. Just stick with it - after 18 months of twinblocks and train tracks treatment is coming to an end waiting for retainer. Stick with it the results are amazing and worth all the pain, distress and bribery gifts.

[LIZS]

Yeah Ds is finally free of his! They told him to leave it out 2 months ago and no adverse movement of the jaw since so he can move on to fixed (poss for up to 18 months). Took just over a year and he coped really well.

[seventhgonickname]

My daughter had twin blocks fitted 1 week ago and there was a bit of difficulty with the fitting of the lower ones, an adjustment was made but the brace came adrift before we got to the car,further fiddling and we went home,daughter chattering all the way and speaking clearly.Our enthusiasm was slightly xampened when the brace bottoms displaced when she tried to eat some they were removed to be put in later,top ok,bottoms left side would not fit whatever we tried.Due to our otlrthodontist being on holidat we were efficiently seen by another practice who said that the wires were to tight so only holding onto one tooth,braces adjusted.Again they had to be removed for eating and it was difficult to fit the lower ones and even then they detatched 3 times during the night and she cannot get them inherself ,I can but only by pressing on the wires at the back.We have yet another appointment but are being made to feel that we are being difficult and my daughter if loosing faith in the process and is aware that her trial time in the holidays will be over before this is sorted.Is this common or are we just unlucky and how do I keep her positve now?

[MotherSwan9]

My very first post! Have come back from orthodontists with my 13 year old daughter who has just had twin block braces fitted and I am beside myself with worry/horror/guilt :((( I'm not sure I e ever felt this unhappy for her - not only does it look horrifying ( her face is being forced into a different shape) but she is in agony and can't speak properly ... It's awful! First night tonight - dosed up on painkillers but not working and she can't sleep - she has little confidence already and this is going to make things worse ... I really don't know how to support her I feel helpless and being 35 weeks pregnant I'm an emotional wreck over it all - words of encouragement / helpful tips from this who have experienced this please ????

[seventhgonickname]

Motherswan,as you can see I postered 6 weeks or so ago.When we finally got my daughters braces to stay in and got through the first few nights things improved dramatically.The paain stops and we did have bongela on stadby as initially the inside of her lips we sore but she went back to the orthodontist last week and her bite is down to 4 mm from 8.5.She is 12 and was also nervous aboutt school but once the novelty wore off there have been no problems,we know of one girl who is going to have them at school but noone else and they are actally not too visible.She takes them out for eating as it just isn't worth the grief.I agree about the face shape but am assured that this is not the finished product.The lisp shoould settle and is one indicator that things are working.Stay positive as things improve quickly.

[knackered69]

I think ds2 had 11 mm to make up.

We went through an awful couple of days - cue pitching up and climbing into bed with me at 6 am clutching a bear and crying cos the painkillers had worn off. But he kept them in. By day 3 he was pretty pain free and getting on with it.

I was amazed at how stoic he was though - because he could have just taken them out, but he didn't (apart from eating then afterwards you could see him steeling himself to put them back in) he went with it and got it over with. He salivated and lisped like a mad thing,but that didn't last long. It's amazing really - his bottom jaw is more forwards now,, and in the 8 months of twin blocks his face shape has grown and changed and looks great!

He has fixed train tracks on now and he found them quite easy. He needs 3 baby teeth out next. Eek.

I was sympathetic and kind - but tried to convey that keeping them in got it over with quicker, and that way it would soon settle down. X

[ScarlettDarling]

What a useful thread!

My ds has just had his first visit to the orthodontist who measured him as having a 9mm "traumatic overjet"!!! What on earth does that mean?! We've been told he will need a removable brace for approx a year, then train tracks again for about a year.

We've been told there is a small waiting list, so treatment will probably start in about Jan or Feb when he'll just have turned 12.The orthodontist also warned us that ds has a small jaw so the success of the treatment is down to ds wearing the braces properly, (which he will!), and 'good growth' which obviously we have no control over.

He warned us that he couldn't promise perfect results, and that after the first stage of treatment, ds may need to have some teeth removed. We left the orthodontist feeling really deflated. I don't mind about perfect results but I really want him to have lovely teeth and a smile which he isn't self conscious about.

Anyone got any reassurance?

[vjg13]

My daughter is having twin blocks fitted in two weeks. So glad to have found and read this thread in readiness! So top tips are very welcome. Should she miss school on the day they go in? Having them fitted at 8:30am.

[ScarlettDarling]

Hi vjg my son is finally getting his braces in four weeks. He's having them done at lunchtime and I'm intending to send him back to school in the afternoon with a dose of calpol.

Dreading it tbh

[vjg13]

The nurse told us to go home and practise talking so I thought it may be better to have a day off. She will probably need to get used to getting them in and out too. My daughter is a drama queen but I suppose I'll see how it goes that day.

I'm going to stock up on the meltlet paracetamol and Nurophen so she can stick a couple in her pocket.

My daughter will probably need a tooth removing as well, it's ankylosed so will probably under general anaesthetic. I'm dreading that.

[Rumpl3sti1tskin]

Definitely take the rest of the day off school. My 10 year old daughter had her twin block braces fitted yesterday. We spent the afternoon giving her confidence to talk through her lisp, getting her used to the awkwardness of the brace and attempting to eat with it in (which proved extremely difficult). She woke in a lot of pain in the night which subsided with calpol but she still wouldn't let me leave her. I was totally unprepared for this brace and am heartbroken for her. She's managed to get through today with only a few tears eating her pasta tonight. We've agreed to compromise so she can take it out to eat at school and continue to try and persevere with it during mealtimes at home.

[Snog]

My dd had twin blocks four years ago aged 12. We both cried outside the dentists surgery. My dd said she could never go to school again. This brace is shocking and hardcore and neither of us was prepared.

She had just started Y7 and was trying to make new friends but couldn't talk clearly, couldn't smile and looked weird.
Nobody else at school had this type of brace. Train tracks are so easy in comparison.

I would have let her give it up at this point, and since the brace is removeable she could have just not worn it at school if she chose to which would have meant it didn't work.
However, she was really inspired by the before and after photos on the dentists website and toughed it out. She got used to it surprisingly quickly, faster than I did!

It is a miracle brace in its results and worked in half the time the dentist had said. Three months full time wear then a month or two of night time only. It totally changed my dds profile. This brace created 90% of the improvement and was so good that it was optional for her whether to go for the last 10% the train tracks would give.

Her train tracks which were a comparative walk in the park, and now has a knockout smile and perfect teeth. She has to wear retainers every night until she is 18 at least.
Twin blocks are more common now which is great because if your child is the only one in the school with them it makes it far harder.

[vjg13]

Thanks Snog and Rumpl, that is really helpful, my daughter has been told it will be for nine months but hoping that it will be less.

I think the nurse said to remove it for eating but need to check that when she has it fitted. I think taking it out to eat at school is a good compromise. She is apprehensive about school but has a lovely supportive friend group so fingers crossed.

[vjg13]

How long was your daughter's treatment with the train track type Snog, and how long in total?

[Snog]

My dd removed hers for eating.
Total treatment time was around 15 months I think.
The outcome is a film star smile! My dd thinks it was well worth it.

Sympathy to all kids and parents of kids who have to wear this brace but the results are incredible and often it saves having extractions to make more space.

[BigusBumus]

Hello! My son is 13 (Yr8) and has had his Twin Blocks for about 8 weeks now. Like you all say it was really shocking at first and he cried all the way home and wailed, "I can't do this mum"! It has forced his lower jaw right forward and he doesn't look the same.

HOWEVER, in only 8 weeks it all seems to be starting to work! His speech is still a bit lispy, but no where near as bad and his goofy front teeth seem to be not as goofy as they were. The overbite gap appears to be closing quite quickly! We were told it would work in 9-12months, but I reckon its going to be quicker than that.

We were given a little key to tighten it every 3 days, which we do religiously and it doesn't really hurt him anymore, apart from the little "wire handles" that enable him to take it in and out sometimes cause blisters on his cheeks.

We were also told from the start to remove it for eating. We are all used to seeing it sitting next o him on the table when he eats now, which is a bit gross, but at least he is reminded to put it straight back in. Its only out for max 10 mins x 3 times a day.

After this he has to have the train tracks, but like others have said, I reckon tat will be easy as anything after the Hardcore nature of the Twin Block Brace!

[vjg13]

That sounds really encouraging BigusBumus, my daughter is year 8 too. Did your son get used to wearing it quite quickly? How often do you have to go back for check ups?

[ScarlettDarling]

Bigus My son is getting twin blocks in a couple of weeks. I'd planned on sending him into school straight after for the rest of the afternoon, what do you think? Is that unrealistic?

[Snog]

I'd say plAy it by ear and leave it up to your ds.
He will be drooling for the first 24 hours or so and lisping badly.