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.

Well, we are a week and a half into our twin blocks journey! Things have settled down, no pain or drooling, speech is fine and ds is eating about half of his meals with it in. He often 'fake eats' (ie moves his jaw as if eating, when he is just watching TV or something!) as the orthodontist told him that using his jaw would speed up treatment!!

Hope everyone else is getting on well?

My daughter is the same with meals, eating once or twice a day with it in. Great idea about the 'fake eating' will suggest that to her later!

Hi vjg How's your daughter getting on?

My ds has got to the point where he feels more comfortable with his blocks in than out! His jaw feels really heavy and achey with them out. Things are definitely starting to move too. He told me that for the first time ever, he can stick his bottom teeth out further than his top ones!

He eats most meals with it in but not wearing them for school dinners. He doesn't have enough time at lunchtime to eat his meal slowly then clean his braces.

Hope things are ok for you?

Glad it is going well for your son Scarlett.

My daughter is doing well too but does prefer not to eat with them in. I think she finds food getting stuck and is repulsed by it! She does manage her breakfast. It's a shame because it does seem to reduce the length of time kids wear them for.

Think I spoke too soon vjg ...he has developed a big sore just below his bottom front teeth. The plastic presses right there and it's really hurting him. Just when I thought it was going so smoothly!

I know what you mean about the food getting stuck in it. I had to tackle ds's last night because it had kiwi fruit seeds stuck all the way down the crack in the plastic palate that were refusing to budge!

My daughter has a very similar sore spot, on the below her bottom teeth but more on the side. She did say it was feeling a bit better, but does a dramatic wince when she puts it in!

Hi ladies, my son developed a pressure sore in the same place where the bottom piece was rubbing. He found bonjela helped and we also tried a thinned out piece of dental wax under the brace and over the sore. Must be so painful for them. Hope it eases off soon xx

Thanks mumtofour My ds has had to take the brace out for eating today, it's hurts too much to eat with it in. A bit disappointed as he'd been doing so well at eating with them in.

How's your son getting on? Does he have his fixed brace yet?

Awe bless him, could it be its a bit loose and needs adjusting? I'm sure one or two days of eating without it won't matter too much. My son gets his fixed braces 31st March, I thought he would be over the moon to get rid of the twin blocks but he honestly doesn't seem that fussed now,he's said before his teeth have shifted so much he feels weird when they are not in. Hope the sore eases off

I'm really glad I've found this thread! DD (12) got twin blocks today for a 10mm(?) overbite. She is drooling like a Bassett hound at feeding time and lisping severely, but insisted on going back to school! One more day then we have the school hols for her to get used to them. She's currently dosed up with calpol (hates taking tablets) but I've told her if they're too painful she can leave them out tonight.

I wonder, having seen her and read this thread, whether orthodontists deliberately don't tell us how awful things will be to start with. If they did, probably very few people would go ahead with it!

I may be asking for sources of dental wax, as she's already said the wires irritate her cheeks. Also going to check out the meltlets for pain relief.

Hi chameleon, isn't it hideous at first?

Hang in there though, as others promised me, it gets better very quickly. For my ds the drooling stopped pretty quickly but the pain and being unable to eat in them took a bit longer. After less than a week things were much better.

We're only 3 weeks in now but honestly it's so much easier. Ds had a little wobble over the weekend with a huge sore in his mouth, so he's been taking it out to eat, but that seems to be a bit better and he's starting to eat with it in again.

My best advice us to keep it in as much as poss. The more she wears it, the quicker she gets used to it, so I'd be really reluctant to let her take it out overnight.

Salt water mouth washes help with sore patches, as does bonjela. The wax is great wrapped round any irritating wires. Your orthodontist will sell it, so does Boots. Nurofen make meltlets, Calpol do too. Handy to keep in school bags those first few days.

Hang on in there, it improves very quickly!

Apparently she managed to keep them in until 4am, which is brilliant IMO for a first night.

just wanted to cheer people on. dd went through this a few years ago. I posted then. I hated the look and her struggles. She was very determined. Eating in them really does speed things up if they can manage it. Just don't try spaghetti - it can go horribly wrong......

twin tracks after, retainer every night and she has really lovely teeth now.

This thread is very helpful. Does anyone know what the qualifying criteria is for getting these on the NHS?

And is 17 too old for them to work?

So glad this thread is here, lots of useful information! DD (12) gets her twin blocks next week, to correct an underjet of 6mm. I was in two minds as to whether to do it as she has lovely straight top teeth. We were quoted £4,500 by private orthodontist, I asked for her to be assessed for NHS treatment as a way to help me decide. I felt that if it was serious enough for NHS to fund it, it needed done.

I was a bit mistrustful of the private orthodontist as DD looks fine (to me) so it was unexpected to hear that she needed lots of work. She's been approved for funding and really wants to do it now to get it over with when she's younger.

I've got a few questions though. How do children manage to brush their teeth at school? She does a lot of sports, is it easy enough to take in and out? She also plays flute, will she need to take it out for that? Will she need to take it out at the airport to avoid setting off the metal detector? Am going to get her to watch some youtube videos, that should help. Thankfully she's getting them in at the start of the Easter holidays, so she's got 2 weeks to get used to them .

Hi all, we was told an overjet/overbite correction on NHS had to be 5mm + my sons was 5mm. I've read once past 15 they won't work. But like I said I've only read that not told directly by ortho.
Like others have said try and get your child to keep them in as much as possible it's true the more they wear them and don't take them out the faster the results and quicker the drooling will stop and speech improves. I agree I had no idea how horrendous it would be at first, I actually cried for him, but they do soon adapt and after the first two weeks my son was carrying on like normal.
Regarding the brushing teeth at school that just wasn't an option there was no way my son would of done it, their school is so strict on when they can use the toilets and only opened at break and lunch so he would of had to brush in front of everyone in a packed toilet. As awful as it sounds he would eat his lunch ( we changed his lunch box to make it easier) and just brush when he got home a couple of hours later. He found wraps instead of soft bread and things like grapes didn't get stuck. Not ideal I know but that's how he's coped, he wouldn't even take them out in PE fear of someone seeing him.
We got dental wax from eBay they do different flavours and scents.

Keeptrudging My son takes them out for school dinners. He doesn't have time to eat with them in as lunch break is short and he eats more slowly with them in. Also, he isn't keen on the faff of brushing them in the toilets afterwards!

They're very easy to take out and put in, takes just seconds. I'd imagine your dd would have to take them out for flute but I'm not sure about metal detectors at airports!

Thanks Mumtofour and Scarlett, it's so helpful to know in advance so I can prepare her. She's quite excited, I'm fully expecting that bubble to burst once she's got them! She's already got a beautiful smile, so I'm more worried that this work will actually damage her teeth (but I'm probably being irrational). Will have a look for the wax.

They sell the wax on Amazon too, the YouTube videos are excellent preparation and stocking up on pain killers for the first few days.

MrsFrankieHeck I think that twin blocks work best when worn during a growth spurt, from about age 11 onwards but it will really depend on the individual rather than the age.

keeptrudging My daughter removes for sport and eating at school. She wouldn't be able to brush the braces and her teeth at school. I think you would remove to play the flute too, the orthodontist sells the boxes so she keeps one in her locker.

No idea about airport metal detectors, no flights until the Summer.

Keeptrudging. It is a shock at first as the facial profile changes with the blocks in. I don't know what type your dd will have,my son dosnt have the metal bow across the front teeth and had to key open his top part once a week, this caused his teeth to develop wide gaps and sadly move his teeth so they are no longer straight. This is why he will need the train track type putting straight on after he's done with the blocks next week. Good luck, sure she will be fine X

It's to pull her bottom jaw forward, top teeth are fine/straight, so not sure exactly how it will be. She's got this first, then train tracks once her jaw is in the right place. Orthodontist says if she does well with the twin blocks she might not need to get tooth/teeth out (although that may be an incentive to wear it as much as possible).

Thanks ScarlettDarling (that sounds really over familiar!)

Glad to hear that things should improve quickly. We've had lots of tears today. . The good news is I discovered that Calpol 6 plus comes in sachets, so I've stocked up on those for when she goes back to school. Got orthodontic wax from Boots too, but that needs some fiddling with yet.

chameleon sorry you've had lots of tears today. We did on the first day too...me as well as ds! I promise it gets better soon as long as she perseveres. Calpol sachets will be great, as are the calpol 6 plus meltlets. But I promise you that she won't need them after the holidays! The pain will be long since sorted by then.

chameleon How's your daughter today?