Twin block braces?

Closed ac

If you have/had them in the past please give me some feedback!

I'm getting twin block removable braces tomorrow and I'm pretty worried about it. For a start, they look awful imo, I've never seen anyone with them and I'm afraid of what I'm going to look like. Also a little worried about my speech being altered, it being sore, etc.

What did/do you think of them? Are they as bad as they look?

kkth0360

DKZ
Can I ask how old you are?

Closed ac

kkth0360 wrote: »

DKZ
Can I ask how old you are?

I'm fifteen.

kkth0360

OK,
I've never worn Twin Blocks myself, so I can't tell you from personal experience what they're like, but I use them all the time for my patients so I can tell you a little about how they get on with them.

First, don't worry - they take a bit of getting used to, but the vast majority of patients adapt extremely well to Twin Blocks and for this reason they are by far the most widely used of the functional appliances in this part of the world.

Although the Twin Blocks themselves look quite big, they are much less obvious when they are in your mouth and are only really visible if someone is looking at you up close - in fact it is likely that you have seen people wearing them and not realised it, as they are so widely used.

When you get them fitted first they'll feel huge and bulky, and you'll feel as if you will never be able to get used to them - this is entirely normal, most people feel like this. But you will be amazed how quickly they begin to feel more comfortable - within about 5-7 days most patients are so comfortable that they are happy to wear them to school.

Your speech will probably be quite badly affected at first, especially "S" and "T" sounds, but this also improves very quickly and will be almost back to normal in a couple of days. You will also notice that there is a lot more saliva in your mouth for the first couple of days, but that soon returns to normal too. Wearing the Twin Blocks as much as you can is the key to getting used to them quickly - just wearing them for a couple of hours a day doesn't really work.

They are not painful, but when you have been wearing them for a few days it's not unusual for the muscles in your face and the sides of your head to ache a little - this is normal and shows the appliance is working. It is never very bad, and goes away quickly.

So I guess the answer to your question is NO - they are not as bad as they look, although at first you may think that they are! But with a little perseverence you'll be used to them in a couple of days and they're easy after that.

At 15, you are towards the upper end of the age range for Twin Blocks to be most effective, so I'd suggest that you really need to hit the ground running and wear them as much as you can from day 1 to get the best from them. They are an extremely effective appliance when they are worn properly, and can produce beautiful results.

Best of luck with them

Closed ac

Thanks! I'm not as worried now.

Closed ac

I got them.. they're awful..