Twin Block braces - no thank you!

[jellybeanJ]

We were offered twin block braces earlier this year which we turned down (for now). I was completely unprepared for the appointment, had not been told what to expect and really quite annoyed at how the appointment went, with the dentist talking about breaking my 11 year old daughter’s jaw and highlighting ‘flaws’ in her appearance that she’d never thought of before.

I’ve since seen our own dentist who has explained the option will still be open and gave me more background on why it has been suggested (ie teeth touching palate). None of this was explained to me at the brace appointment.

Still, it feels an awful lot to put a child through for no real medical need. My child is starting secondary in September and it feels to be that confidence is critical at this key transitional stage in her life.

Just interested if anyone else has said ‘thanks but no thanks’ to this?

The payment thing was in DS's case not a red herring as it was private, we told him that as a teen we'd pay for it but if he left it till adulthood he'd be paying for it (he was just outside NHS criteria). DD did get NHS sow e couldn't use that as a factor for her but she was fine with doing it.

I would also say that the younger the better. DS's milk teeth were late to come through, then there was the pandemic, and his treatment was long and complex, it meant he was still under treatment during his first year at uni and it was a monumental pain in the arse getting him back on weekdays for appointments.

Potentially less visible but a lot more "intrusive" and take up a lot of space in the mouth. It's much more difficult to speak with them in. DD had them and it was noticeable at first she had something in her mouth. Her grandad asked if she had a sweet in her mouth. So I think they take a lot of getting used to - more than regular braces, but (in DDs case ) they worked really quickly

Just thought I’d give a little update on this in case it is helpful for others. Today we went back to the orthodontist and saw someone else. I had full intentions to get the twin blocks for DD.
However, this dentist told us we did not need them, despite a 9mm overjet. The dentist said that her teeth needing pulling back NOT her jaw, and that actually twin blocks would result in her chin protruding. This will be corrected with regular train track braces.

Really did not expect a completely different approach but very pleased I now trusted my gut initially and questioned it.