Both the upper and the lower must be worn full time, including while you eat and sleep. The only exceptions are when you remove them for cleaning and for swimming (to avoid loss).
Food
Start with soft diet to get used to eating with the appliance on. Cut all meat and vegetables into small portion. Avoid tough, hard or chewy foods such as toffees, nuts, chewing gum, and boiled sweets. Hard foods can bend the wires or break the plastic. Sticky foods will stick to the plastic and wires resulting in damage when removed.
Cleaning
Brush your twin block and teeth after every meal with toothbrush and toothpaste since you will be eating with it on. Bring a toothbrush along whenever you go to school/outside and to brush immediately after food. Soak the appliance in any denture cleanser eg. Polident for half an hour three to four times a week.
Do Not Play With The Appliance
Do not use your tongue to play with the appliance e.g remove and reinsert the appliance as this will cause the appliance to become loosen faster and the retentive wires to break.
What To Expect
Difficulty in Speaking
It is normal that there will be some difficulty with speech for the first few days of wear. With practice the speech will improve and the appliance won’t feel so cumbersome. You can practice speaking by reading out loud.
Excessive Saliva
With full-time wear, the excessive saliva will diminish in a few days
Discomfort
It is likely to be sore (teeth and muscles) for 3 – 5 days (or longer for some people). If necessary, take painkillers such as the ones you would normally take for a headache. If possible, do not stop wearing the appliance or else you will have to go through the 3 – 5 days of discomfort all over again when you start wearing it once more.
If there is an obvious area of soreness or ulcer as a result of the appliance pressing on the gums, ring for an appointment as soon as possible. However, the appliance must be worn at least a day before coming in in order to detect the sore/ulcer area.
