Twin blocks - age - is it too late?!

[Chez06]

Hello

My DD is shortly to start twin blocks braces, and the whole thing sounds horrifically scary - but I’ve just found something new to worry about - is it too late for her?? I’ve just read it should be done during their active growth phase (6-12 months before periods start,) however my daughter will start her twin blocks age 12 1/2 and she’s been on her periods for a year already since she was 11!!
We dont see the orthodontist again until April, so I’ll be panicking until then.
Any experience or advise please?

My daughter blocks were age 14/15 and worked fine.

My Dd had a twin block at 12 1/2 too - we were told it was relatively late (her periods hadn’t started though - I have never heard of that being a thing) but she was fine - now 19 with beautiful teeth and bite! She struggled a bit wearing it at first and took it out a bit too much but then luckily lockdown meant she didn’t see anyone so became more disciplined with it.
im sure it’ll be fine - just make sure she knows she has to keep it in as much as possible and empathise a lot if she cries because she sounds weird when she speaks (certainly our experience!)

good luck

That’s good to know, thanks ☺️

Thank you 🤞

Yep - he wears them unless he's eating or cleaning them, so probably 23/24 hours.

I had this exact fear. Dd had very late milk teeth coming through (ended up having to have a load pulled) and her main growth spurt in yr 6 at the end of Covid. She got her twin blocks in yr 9. They have done wonders tbh.

i was also quite taken a back by how bulky they were and they did make her sound less clear. but she was a proper star and wore them diligently and the whole of the shape of her jaw has altered and so much more space in her mouth. Wore them for maybe 9 months.

Dd (14) is getting hers fitted in two weeks, she dreading them, as am I ( but obviously telling her theyll be fine and so worth it). She has a huge overbite of 13mm, so will have to wear them for a year. I had them at 11, and I wished she'd got them earlier but her adult teeth took so long to come through. She had 9 teeth extracted and has been told two more will need to come out. She has been so strong so far but i know how hard the next part is going to be. Dentist has said DS (11) will need them too but he's also only lost about 6 milk teeth, so im going to have to go through all this again, when he is seen by the orthdontist.

I'm sure I've posted about our experience of twin blocks before, and probably sound like a broken record but want to offer some reassurance. DS had them fitted at 13 - later than 'optimal' because of Covid. He had an overbite of 14mm and this was reduced to 5mm in 16 weeks. He was totally commited to wearing them and got used to them quite quickly thankfully. I expected it to be a really difficult experience and was dreading it - in reality it was totally fine. The end result is really, really worth the small amount of discomfort and inconvenience.

Thank you for posting, I really needed to hear that. 5mm in 16 weeks is an amazing difference.

Yes - it's quite astonishing. He'd also had to have 7 teeth removed before having the twin blocks so quite similar stories really. The first couple of days with the blocks were a bit rough - he had a headache and was a bit self-consious about talking whilst getting used to them. His school were very suportive and he was given access to a medical room so he could clean his teeth and braces after lunch which definitely helped. Once the twin blocks had done their magic he had fixed braces for about 18 months to straighten everything. The difference is amazing - the changes to his jaw mean that he can chew more efficiently and his breathing is easier (less snoring!) - the cosmetic improvement is just the icing on the cake really!

Here you go - 16 weeks between these photos. (I should probably delete this later to preserve some annonimity)

Wow what a difference. I know exactly what you mean about the snoring and not being able to breathe properly. Dd struggles to eat the simplest thing like wraps or even biting into an apple, so im looking forward to seeing her able to do these things. Your son has a great smile, thank you for sharing and a good shout to contact school, I'll get onto emailing them.