Twin block braces at 14

[monkeynuts45]

My dd who is almost 14 just got twin block braces and I'm a bit worried it's too late.

She's got quite bad teeth - they are wonky and cross over and she's very self conscious.

We got put on the nhs list her first post Covid dentist appointment when she was 11 gave up after 9 months and went private but at her first consultation the orthodontist said she still had way too many baby teeth and to come back a year later. In the meantime she had 3 monthly check ups and a few baby teeth removed.

Back again this summer when she was 13. Still a few too many baby teeth and had to have one properly extracted. Moulds, X-rays and finally into a twin block this week.

My worry is she stopped growing ages ago. She started her periods at 11.5 and had her big growth spurt in year 6/7. Shes year 9 now and I don't think she's grown more than an inch in the last year if that.

The orthodontist made comments about hitting a sweet spot between adult teeth coming through and her still growing. I did try to explain that her growth had slowed right down but he was a bit dismissive as of course she would still have some growth at 13 (I didn't grow past 12).

She's got to have train tracks after the twin block and I know this will also help but she's really counting on the twin blocks and they are pretty horrid so I'm just a bit worried about them being a painful waste of time.

Any experiences?

Even adults have great results with teeth straightening so I'm sure your DD will too.

Hi. My DD has train tracks after having twin blocks for 9 months, she was 13 when she had them fitted and now being 14 her growth had definitely slowed down. Twin blocks were amazing. In 9 months it took her overjet from 11mm down to 2mm. Yes I think the orthodontist mentioned something about still growing etc but I think it's mostly down to how committed and how much your DD wears it as they cannot fail to work. I know mid teens that are only just having them fitted now due to the waiting lists from COVID and their dentists saying it doesn't matter the age as they will work.

The pictures below are at the start then 6 months of twin blocks. They are quite intrusive but really do work. She is now onto train tracks and they have been miraculous also.

Hope this post helps but please.make your DD persevere with them as they can be painful and look and feel awkward.

Oh wow! They look great 😊

Thank you so much for posting, feel a lot more reassured.

I think neither of us were quite prepared for the twin blocks so I was wigging out a bit that they would be pointless! She's very committed to them though.

Thank you!

No worries. If I can answer any more questions then happy to help 😀

My dd had twin blocks put in in Feb this year two months before her 15th birthday. (Delayed 2years due to Covid back log) They’ve been brilliant, her overbite was 12mm now at 3mm, she’ll get train tracks after Christmas.
She did feel very self conscious wearing them though and we did go through a phase where she was constantly taking them out to speak.

overall though they’ve worked brilliantly.

I had them, my god I hated them….but the difference they made to my face is huge.
I have a chin!
I’m so grateful my mum didn’t listen to me at the time.

I’m sure mine went on at the same age, as I started about 13, but had to have several braces to get my mouth ready for the blocks - my top set had to be widened for example.

Im so grateful I’ve not had to deal with braces as an adult.

My DS has had them now for about a month, he's 14 soon too. Dentist seemed to say similar, we saw them a year ago and he said come back in a year as overbite can lessen in its own. It didn't, so he agreed to braces and said we need to act quickly now due to growth time etc.

My sons committed too and I have to say they aren't as bad as I thought they would be which I am glad about as I was very worried.

It seems from posts this is a normal age so hopefully they will both have improved teeth in a year or 2 :)