Functional orthodontic appliances on ds..tell me it gets easier please!

[ggirl]

he is meant to wear them ,top and bottom for at least 22 hrs a day
he's had since friday last week , we allowed him to leave off quite a bit over the weekend as it was his birthday etc.
so he's cracking on now with wearing them
drooling all over the place
can't speak but it's slowly getting clearer
pain is controllable
but my q is ..will he be able to close his jaws ??
he is meant to wear for a yr

i missed the appt ..dh went with him and he said he thinks he will eventually be able to close his jaws

I never knew it would be so hard for him

he said he'd rather have teeth out and train tracks but obviously this is best treatment for him

Hi ggirl you have my sympathathy! Firstly I'd recommend this thread which I found really reassuring when my ds was getting his twin blocks (which are functional appliances).

Im not really sure what you mean by 'close his jaws'. My son had very protruding front teeth when he started treatment and found it difficult to close his top lip over his teeth. This is completely rectified less than 6 months later and he now only has to wear his blocks at night. His back teeth don't meet properly now so hopefully wearing the braces less will help his bite to settle. He's going back in November and may need fixed braces next.

The results we have had have been amazing. Encourage your son to wear it as much as possible and he will see results incredibly quickly. The pain, drooling, speech etc improve very quickly and he soon won't notice he's wearing them!

ScarlettDarling thank you , your experience and that thread are very reassuring .
Ds is in the first week and still stoically struggling , first night he actually kept them in all night last night !

He doesn't have protruding front teeth in the common sense ..but crooked and one of them sticking out a bit . He can't actually close his mouth properly with the appliance in ..looks like he has a ball in there !

It really was shocking when he came back from the first visit .

He is very encouraged by the fact that if he wears them as directed he may not have to have them for the full 12 months.

My son and I cried in the car on the way back from the orthodontist when he first got them...we couldn't believe how awful they are. I was heartbroken! Honestly, within a week or two things improved hugely. After that, he hardly noticed he was wearing them.

Good luck!

He won't be able to close his mouth as he won't be properly locking the blocks in place. It took my DD about a week before she could manage to do this. Hang in there, within 2 weeks DD was talking normally and you can barely tell the brace is in.

Oh thanks so much that's so reassuring and positive , I'll tell him . He's just gone to bed with some paracetamol and tissues to mop up the saliva

It will get easier. However I would err on the side of caution re. Timescales. Ds had his twin block for over a year and will have had his fixed for at least 18 months by the time he's finished. If your Ds is on the younger side it may help speed things up.

I have posted these images of my son's impressions to show the amazing difference after wearing twin blocks for 18 months and train track braces for 18 months. It was hard at first, painful and saliva but after about a week he wasn't noticing them. Paracetamol for the pain, and good hygiene as germs breed more in the mouth under the braces..

Wow rhino that is an amazing result ! How old was your ds?

Liz , ds is just 14 , birthday on 11th , he's at beginning of puberty .

ds went out after school with his friends and just shoved the blocks in his pocket ..came sauntering back in and forgot he didn't have them in..caught red-handed
he says he isn't speaking in class
and he takes them out in spanish as he cant speak english with them in let alone spanish

will he be able to speak and be understood ?

will he look more normal ?

My son was 12 through to 15 when he wore them, I would say after a week he had stopped having pain, and could talk normally after 2-3 weeks. He still has a retainer to wear at night and also a permanent retainer glued behind his upper front teeth. His orthodontist asked his permission to use his empress ions to motivate young people struggling with the twin blocks, as at one stage they had said that my son may need surgery on his jaw as there was such an overbite.

Tell your son it will be worth it in the end, and if he keeps taking them out he will end up wearing them longer! My sons friends soon got used to him wearing them, and he didn't get teased about them at all.

Thanks Rhino , so we are one week in on monday ..I'll tell him his speech should be better by end of the month if he keeps them in and talks and practices

Professional opinion! Orthodontic nurse, please don't out me IRL!
Yes, perseverance!
Sorry, full answer in few mins, when woken up fully and coffee inserted!

Ok caffeine levels restored! First about the appliance. I'll try to explain in English! Functional appliances are used to reposition the jaws and alter the way the patient bites.Not always because the teeth stick out (overjet) also because the teeth may be closing too far over the opposite teeth (overbite). Sometimes in the mouth it can look normal but its also the way the jaws and the teeth relate to each other. A functional appliance can use block length to hold the jaw forward or back and block height to hold the jaws apart while the teeth come through further. These movements change the overjet and overbite. Some functional appliances also have a screw to widen it and the jaw but not all. Second part to follow in mo.

Crikey, turning into quite an essay!
Ok honest bit here. Functional appliances are brilliant and you get absolutely amazing results as see by PP pics, there is however a big but, at first they are awful to wear. They are a big appliance, top and bottom together, a real mouthful, wires digging in cheeks, drooling and lisping, mouth held open. It seems awfully cruel to start with. It does get better with perseverance very quickly. To help you can try the following:

• pain, whatever normally has for headache, ibuprofen good if can take, check with chemist no medical contraindications, usually pain worse for first few days the tapers off.
• wires digging in, this because mouth getting used to something new, the friction can cause ulcers. You can help by using an age appropriate ulcer medication, I like anbesol age check with chemist what's best for him. Also you can get a special wax from the orthodontist which you take a small piece and put over the wire that's digging in. This helps the ulcer to heal. Don't use it constantly or the cheeks wont get used to the appliance.
• drooling, caused by the tongue thinking its food, not a lot you can do, but continuing with wear, tongue will get used to it and it will stop.
• lisping/difficult speech, again tongue and mouth not used too foreign object. Perseverance and it again gets used to it. Encourage reading out loud, telling jokes and singing at home as much as you can, practice really helps. Just beware of the spitting while talking to start with!

He will look very propped open to start but that will get better. I can't stress wear, wear, wear enough. The more he wears the quicker that he gets used to it and the problems reduce. They are a mouthful, but really work and in orthodontic terms pretty quickly. It will be a long treatment but well worth it. Hope my essays helped. Any other questions feel to ask! On maternity at the mo so good to not be discussing feeds and nappies x

jesterkat thank you so much for your info , great to have your professional opinion.

My husband went with ds when they were fitted so I feel I've missed out on some info.
But generally I think we were completely unpreprared for these blocks. Orthodontist said retainers ..no mention any period of adjustment needed..and tbh that has not helped .
Ds got these put in the day after he went back to school so poor kid is adjusting to new classes and new face ..lol

I will let him read your post when he comes home..he is trying to persevere .

He's been told to take them out when he is eating , seems different for others. Is there a reason for the difference, type of appliance ?

Thank you again..we may be back if there are more problems .

Ds took his out to eat.

Great post from Jesterkat. She so accurately described my son's experience.

My son was told that eating with his blocks in was the best thing he could do. Apparently they do their work when the jaw muscles are being used, so eating and talking with them in helps to speed things up. Your son may have a different appliance though. Perhaps that's why he's been told to take them out for eating.

Hi again, glad to be of help! Eating depends on which type of functional appliance he has. I can think of some you keep in and some you take out. Best to check with your orthodontist what they want him to do. Scarlet is correct the muscles being used helping speed movements. Sounds like you're doing a great job encouraging him, he'll get there, it's like everything else new, takes time. One other thing that may be worth mentioning is that he may require further treatment after the functional appliance, depending on the alignment, crossing,or crowding.
If he has any questions feel free to ask.

well he is a lot more positive , still producing saliva but no pain anymore , although are about to tighten tonight.

His speech is still needing some work but I'm hoping with increased confidence he will speak more at school

thank you all for your positive support it really helps a lot