Experiences with Reverse-Pull Headgear?

[Dadof10yrold]

My 10 year old daughter will get a palatal expander over the next 3 weeks and then a Reverse-Pull Headgear to correct an underbite. I have seen quite a bit of information here regarding the expanders, but not much on the Reverse pull headgear.
Anyone with some experience having your chile wear this device? Wondering how it will be to have her wear this 12-14 hours a day(?) Luckily, even though she is an active kid, she is also content to read for hours.
Positives are, she just has an underbite, otherwise no major issues with teeth. The impressions show the teeth should fit well when the bite is corrected. This is expected to be at least a 6 month stretch...

[sauerkraut]

This sounds like what my daughter had. Hers was called a Delaire mask but she had it for a lot longer than 6 months (more like a year). She put it on when she went to bed at night, and she really didn't have too many problems with it. It sometimes twisted round her head a bit because she tosses and turns a lot in her sleep but most of the time it stayed fixed pretty firmly.

The bar across her forehead had a leather backing to it and that could get a bit sweaty: it had to be professionally cleaned a couple of times. Oh and it (the leather) started peeling off once and had to be stuck back on. Nothing too dramatic.

I think you have to be sure it fits properly as you can get pressure sores but we never had any trouble with that. The mask itself didn't seem to cause too much pain -- that came more from the expander, especially when turning the key, but she coped OK with OTC pain relief given half an hour before, and the key turned at bedtime.

Obviously getting your daughter to wear the jolly thing in the first place depends entirely on her co-operation. Fortunately my daughter was fine with that and even wore the headgear at sleepover parties. I think she enjoyed the novelty value!

Hope that helps a bit, and that your daughter gets on just as well with it .

[Dadof10yrold]

Thanks for the reply.
She got spacers in this week, so we have begun!

[sauerkraut]

You're welcome. Hope it all goes well .

[Dadof10yrold]

My daughter got the expander put in, that went smoothly. It has been in about a week and we have done a turn each night with no problems. She never complained of any pain, just some minor complaints while trying to eat. She has to be reminded at times to work at speaking clearly or she can slip into some minor lisping, especially if she is tired.
So, all is going very well so far. I believe her next visit is set about the time she will be at 14 days, or 14 turns of the expander.

[badbite]

My daughter is 8 and will have the reverse-pull headgear. She starts treatment in April, first with an upper expander. SHe will start the head gear after she is done expanding.

[Dadof10yrold]

Things are going well but the expander has just come loose on one side for a second time. Apparently the molar they are anchoring to on that side is rather short and they are having a hard time getting it to hold.

[Dadof10yrold]

All is going well after several months with the expander in place and using the reverse pull headgear every night. Minor skin irritation on her chin, tucking tissues under the chin cup and top pad seems to help. She had a small row of braces added across her four top teeth to help move her top teeth forward. She has gone from a significant underbite, now her teeth meet tip to tip, they just need a little more movement to get them out front. She is supposed to have the headgear on for a couple more months.

[lishuai]

When did your children start to show the signs of underbite? My ten month old's teeth meet tip to tip when he closes his mouth but when he smiles or bites down the lower teeth are in front of his top ones. Trying to get an idea when should i look into this. And want to ask anyone who used to wear reverse pull head gear as a child, is there any relapse during adolescence years? Any information will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Dadof10yrold]

I can't tell you anything about such a young child. I guess our daughter's underbite was noted by her dentist when she was 4 or so and they reccomended that we have an orthodontist look at her when she was at least 7. After braces they did not have enough movement to correct the underbite, so they went with the reverse pull headgear to help her upper jaw grow out during her growth. That is the important thing to remember, they have a window of time to help change the jaw growth, but once they are about 14 or 15 the growth is about over and jaw surgery must must be done later.
If you are concerned at this early stage I would talk to an orthodontist just for your peace of mind. I'm sure they will tell you to wait.

And yes, once the headgear comes off, they can still continue to grow and some of the progress can be lost. Our daughter had great results with the 1st round of the pallette expander and wearing the headgear, but she did het some more growth after it was removed and she is in a second round of treatment to try to get the underbite corrected during her last bit of growth at 13-14 years old.

[anthrax44]

My son had the reverse headgear put on and had problems with one side detaching. It was more frustrating for him than me and my wife.

[lishuai]

Thanks for reply. I asked an orthodontist and he said to wait at least when he is five or there are a few permenant adult teeth coming in. So it is a waiting game now.