When I decide that a patient would benefit from Twin Block braces, I usually give my patients an outline of what will happen, and I thought this would be a useful article for readers wondering "What happens when I wear twin blocks?" This article deals with the practical aspects of beginning twin block treatment from a patient's point of view.
It all starts off with making the braces, then fitting and adjusting them, then wearing them.
How are they made?

• I would take a mould (impression) of each jaw.
  Sometimes I can use the same impression that I take for records of your jaw, sometimes I need a new impression.
  The other thing I have to do (and this is the special bit) is that I get you to bite on a small plastic thing with notches for the front teeth in each jaw to bite into.
  (This is called "the jig".
  ) When you are biting into the notches, your jaw is usually in an improved position.
  
• I send these moulds down to the friendly orthodontist's brace factory and they make the two separate removable braces to fit your teeth in such a way that when you close your mouth, the lower jaw slides forward so that the front teeth are in the same position when you were biting on the notches.
  

Each of the braces can have different combinations of clips and components, and this would be different from one orthodontist to another, but there are usually 2-4 clips on each part, and typically the top brace has a device in the middle that can be used to widen the top brace, and widen the top jaw with it.
Once twin blocks are made, you would need to come back to get them fitted.
Usually it fits great first time, but sometimes it needs adjusted to make it fit well, and then you are ready to wear them.
Then it is up to the patient to wear them.
I advise full time wear for my patients, but I don't expect them to be able to wear it full time from day one.
Like a lot of new things, twin block braces take some getting used to.
Start off with a few hours, then increase.
I find that patients are usually able to wear them full time after about one week of building up the hours.
The biggest change will be speaking, which will rapidly return to normal if the patient does plenty of talking - reading out loud from a book is great practice.
Once speech is normal, the twin block wearer has much more confidence and is more likely to wear them the rest of the time, especially in school.
What benefits can a patient expect?

• They tend to be easy for patients to adjust to
• They tend to be quite comfortable
• They are easy to speak with (after a day or two)
• They are easy for the orthodontist to make adjustments to
• They are very versatile and sometimes can be modified for different problems
• They are pretty robust (but don't test this at home!)
• Patients see big improvements fast, so it encourages them to wear it more
• They can also help keep space for adult teeth to come through

What can you do to make it work better?

• Wear it as directed
• Adjust the widening screw device as often as directed
• Keep it clean
• Don't clean it with hot water
• Keep it super safe when you aren't wearing it
• Get in touch with the orthodontist immediately if there are any problems.
  

I usually find that twin blocks give great results in 6 to 9 months, and then the patient is ready to move on to the next phase of treatment.