Twin block brace, can't chew now, anyone else had this?

[Madmog]

My daughter has had her twin block brace for nearly four months now, and is finding she can't chew as her teeth at the back have been re-aligned and don't naturally meet. Has anyone else's DC had this and what was the outcome.

We've got an appointment next week. My daughter is saying she doesn't want to wear her brace any more and would prefer her teeth to stick out.

[3catsandcounting]

DD not had this problem, but Sparkling might know.

[embox]

My dd has these! For the first week or so she used her tongue to mash (soft) food up against the roof of her mouth. Now she can eat most things but some things are quite slow as they involve a lot of chewing such as crusty bread.

Do the blocks not provide a chewing surface for her?

[Northernsoul58]

After four months it would be terrible for your DD to give up now. Try whatever you can to get her to persist. I'm sure the ortho will have encouraging words too. It won't be for much longer. She needs loads of praise for coming this far. It is not easy.

After six months, my DS is now at the stage of only wearing the blocks at night. He even found it weird to be without them all day.

I should say that from
the start my DS had to take the blocks out to eat. But the ortho said this didn't matter because he was making such good progress. Currently, only his front teeth meet. He has no bite at all with his other teeth. I don't know how he manages to eat, but he does. Perhaps because he mostly likes soft foods, pasta, pizza, fish and chips. He struggles with uncooked food, but will somehow get an apple down his throat now and then, otherwise it's a banana a day. (TBF he always had food issues so no change there).

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

At first dds back teeth didn't meet (but she could chew with the blocks) as she reduced wear somehow the teeth magically came together again.

[Madmog]

Just an update for anyone checking this thread. Have been back to the orthodontist. It's very common that teeth don't meet at the back during treatment and should sort themselves out.

My dd has only had brace 3.5 months and reduced from a 11mm overlap to 4mm overlap. Orthodontist says if she is still doing well at next appointment she can stop wearing the brace in the day and only at night. She will then have to follow on with metal braces - teeth are fairly straight but there are gaps.

[notyetnewbie]

I had them for about 2 years when I was younger & used to take them out at mealtimes.

Twinblocks are horrendous but they really do work wonders, so good on your DD for sticking with it. She won't regret it!

[Gymbob]

My daughter is at the same stage. She has had twin blocks and is now on train tracks (fixed braces). The orthodontist has told her she is at that 'in-between stage' where her teeth are out of alignment, but that they will come together again eventually. My DD is prepared to live with the annoyance to get a perfect set of teeth.

She should be taking the twin blocks out to eat, but her teeth will still be out of alignment.

I only have to show my DD my crooked set of teeth, and she's ok with ti again .