A functional appliance is a brace that is worn on the upper and lower teeth at the same time in order to correct the way upper and lower teeth fit over each other. It may be used to correct very protruding upper or lower front teeth, improve the way in which molar teeth bite together, or even improve your facial profile so that the jaws look more aligned with each other when you look at the face in profile.
There are varieties of functional appliances that we can use to help straighten your teeth e.g. twin block, Frankael appliance, Bass appliance. Here at 1A Orthodontics, we will carefully assess your requirements and recommend the optimal treatment solution and appliance for your unique smile.
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Functional braces only work in growing children and adolescents. They help to promote or modify growth of the jaws, adapt the soft tissues and muscles of the face to new positions, move whole groups of teeth at the same time or change the angulation of teeth.
Depending on the condition of the bite a functional brace treatment starts either at an early age when milk teeth are still present (age 7-10), or around the time of the pubertal growth spurt (age 11-14), when all or nearly all the milk teeth have been shed.
If worn all of the time, it will only take a couple of days to get used to and you will quickly adapt to speaking and swallowing with the braces in your mouth.
The length of active treatment for a twin block is on average around 9 months, (followed by a further 12 to 18 months of fixed braces), however your treatment could be as fast or as slow as you make it, by choosing to follow, or ignore the advice you have been given.
For the brace to work correctly, the appliance must be worn the majority of the time. If left out of your mouth for prolonged periods it will take longer to get used to wearing it.
The twin block is one type of functional appliance, which has been used quite successfully. The results will depend on your co-operation and commitment as well as your inherent growth potential
As functional braces only work in growing children and adolescents this option sadly is not available for teens and adults seeking teeth straightening.
We very much appreciate that investing in your new Invisalign® smile is an important decision and we are pleased to provide finance payment facilities to help you spread the cost of your new smile here at 1A Orthodontics.
