Headgear

Message

#1 Post by **mattrivers** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 11:29 am

I posted this in the other forum but only got 1 reply so I figured I'd post it here too....

Hi everyone. Looking for some help with headgear questions...

First here's a little background. I'm 19 years old and have braces for the second time. I had braces and elastics for 1.5 years when I was 10 mainly just to straighten/uncrowd my teeth and then a retainer after that. Since then I managed to get a pretty decent overbite as I grew and my bottom teeth crowded together some. Last year I had to get all my wisdom teeth pulled because they were impacted and at my next dentist appointment a few months later the dentist strongly recommended that I see an orthodontist about fixing my bite to avoid jaw problems later on and gave me some referrals (I moved since last round of braces so had to find a new ortho). I went to 3 for opinions and 1 said surgery for sure but the other 2 said they thought they could fix my bite & the crowding without surgery. I really didn't (and still don't!) want surgery, so I went with one of the ones that said I wouldn't need it. Anyways 3 months ago I got metal braces (clear cost extra $$) on my top & bottom teeth and a thing called a lip bumper on my bottom molars which is supposed ot push them back so the rest of the teeth can uncrowd.

Fast forward to today....I went in for my adjustment and the ortho decided to fit me for a headgear (he had told me at the consultation I would need one to shift my upper teeth back but hadn't given a whole lot of details about it). Everything was going ok til he went over the instructions. He told me that I absolutely must wear it for a bare minimum of 20 hours each day but he wants me to get used to wearing it all the time!!!! He told me to wear it home and keep it on for 4 hours, then take a 30 min break, then wear it 6 hours, break, etc. He said that by the end of this weekend I should be keeping it on all the time except for when I am brushing my teeth or taking a shower. He even wants me to learn to eat with it on because he says that chewing helps loosen the teeth and so they will move faster.

I was kind of shocked at the thought of wearing it so much! Is wearing one all the time normal??? I managed to force myself to keep it on while I drove home (keeping my head down and not looking around so I wouldn't see all the snickers from other drivers!) and am trying to keep up with the wearing/break schedule he told me, but is it really necessary for me to wear it all day, to classes (I'm in college), social events, etc. like my ortho said??

Any answers or advice would be very helpful. Also, if anybody has/had a headgear and can tell me what to expect with it and stuff I'd would really appreciate it!!! Thanks

Matt

#2 Post by **Taf** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 11:06 am

Hi Matt

My daughter is 12, wears headgear 24/7 and is now totally used to it. She built up the time, as you are doing, and first wore it overnight on a weekend (so if she was tired from any problems in the night she could sleep late to recover!!)
She takes it out for meals and when playing sports etc. Otherwise she has it in all the time. She can actually cut it down to 20 hrs now, but finds it easier to keep in than to figure out how long she`s been wearing it.
She also wears it to school, and teenagers can be cruel, so had to put up with a few comments and snide remarks - but it soon became old news and people got used to it - just brazen it out for a while!!
At first she had long hair, and tried to cover as much as possible with her hair, but now she doesn`t care and has cut her hair short.
It doesn`t hurt at all, but she says it feels a little uncomfortable for a while after a check up, when the weight has been changed.
Her advice is to be "cool" about it! (she`s with me now as I type, telling which smiley to post!) Keep a possitive attitude

and ignore any stares or comments.
Good luck!

#3 Post by **dr.j** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 11:54 am

It is rare to see headgear usage on adults in the absence of extractions. Headgear is used in non-extraction cases most often as a "growth modificaton" appliance. Since you are an adult I'm not really tuned in on how this helps more than trying to push your upper teeth backwards which is of debatable stability in non-growers. I can only imagine that the doc wants this much wear time to increase the benefit it would be to you. All I can say is good luck and I hope you already have a girlfriend!
(just kidding!)

dr.J

#4 Post by **jenns91civic** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 7:46 pm

LOL Dr. J. I'll get braces again if you move to TX and be my ortho, just so I can have a monthly laugh ya know..

#5 Post by **mattrivers** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:56 pm

Thanks for the replies everyone. The headgear is supposed to move my top molars back (at least that's the way I understood it to work) which I think makes room to move the rest of the teeth back.

I'm kind of confused because the person who replied to my post in the metal mouth forum said you only really need to wear it at night and maybe a couple more hours. The replies here sound like you really do have to wear it all the time which is what my ortho said. Is it really that important to wear it all the time????

Matt

#6 Post by **Anthony007** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:31 am

I would think that in this day, the use of headgears would eventually diminish. I'm from Australia and I've never seen anyone walk around with a head gear before.

#7 Post by **jenns91civic** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 10:16 am

I've only seen one person with headgear, ever. He was in my 7th grade english class and wore it everyday. I was so fascinated by it. I feel sorry for him now because I probably stared all the time. The way the classroom was set up though, I couldn't help but see him when I'd just look straight foward.

My ortho mentioned headgear to me once, because I wasn't wearing my elastics, but I think he was just joking.

#8 Post by **mattrivers** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:39 pm

jenns91civic wrote:I've only seen one person with headgear, ever. He was in my 7th grade english class and wore it everyday. I was so fascinated by it. I feel sorry for him now because I probably stared all the time. The way the classroom was set up though, I couldn't help but see him when I'd just look straight foward.

My ortho mentioned headgear to me once, because I wasn't wearing my elastics, but I think he was just joking.

I remember back in like 6-8 grade there were a few (3 or 4) kids in the whole school that I saw wearing headgears during the day. I think there were a couple kids wearing them freshman year of high school but that's the last time I saw someone wearing 1 in public (and the oldest kids I have ever seen wearing 1). I definitely never imagined that it would be me or that I would even have braces again!!!

Matt

#9 Post by **fins** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 5:05 am

Are you a candidate for an appliance? These are often used on adults instead of headgear. Maybe you can ask your ortho about your options.

I think it's pretty important to wear your headgear the number of hours your ortho suggests. I do see kids with headgear in the ortho office once in a while, but I can't remember ever seeing a kid around school with headgear.

#10 Post by **mattrivers** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 8:07 pm

fins wrote:Are you a candidate for an appliance? These are often used on adults instead of headgear. Maybe you can ask your ortho about your options.

I think it's pretty important to wear your headgear the number of hours your ortho suggests. I do see kids with headgear in the ortho office once in a while, but I can't remember ever seeing a kid around school with headgear.

My ortho said that the best ways to fix my bite are headgear or jaw surgery. He feels that headgear is the better option in my case (he had a whole list of reasons at the consultation but I can't remember them all) and would save me from having to pay $$$ for the surgery. The orthodontist said that he could sort of hide the problem using only braces but my bite would still be off and could cause me problems later on in life.

Matt

#11 Post by **HeadgearJoe** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 3:37 am

mattrivers wrote:
fins wrote:Are you a candidate for an appliance? These are often used on adults instead of headgear. Maybe you can ask your ortho about your options.

I think it's pretty important to wear your headgear the number of hours your ortho suggests. I do see kids with headgear in the ortho office once in a while, but I can't remember ever seeing a kid around school with headgear.
My ortho said that the best ways to fix my bite are headgear or jaw surgery. He feels that headgear is the better option in my case (he had a whole list of reasons at the consultation but I can't remember them all) and would save me from having to pay $$$ for the surgery. The orthodontist said that he could sort of hide the problem using only braces but my bite would still be off and could cause me problems later on in life.

Matt

i'm with u on that , i'll wear my headgear as long as needed , i to was a surgery or headgear case , headgearjoe

#12 Post by **fins** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 6:01 am

I think the headgear is fine if you wear it the maximum amount of hours, otherwise you will not get the optimum result you want. You might consider asking the doc about the hilgers pendulum. I used it for 7 months and TADA, all done and it was 100 percent better than headgear (I know because I used to have headgear the first round). I don't know why a headgear candidate couldn't wear the hilgers appliance. You will probably do just fine in the headgear if that is what you chose.

#13 Post by **mattrivers** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 6:33 pm

fins wrote:I think the headgear is fine if you wear it the maximum amount of hours, otherwise you will not get the optimum result you want. You might consider asking the doc about the hilgers pendulum. I used it for 7 months and TADA, all done and it was 100 percent better than headgear (I know because I used to have headgear the first round). I don't know why a headgear candidate couldn't wear the hilgers appliance. You will probably do just fine in the headgear if that is what you chose.

My ortho didn't mention anything other than the headgear or surgery as an option for me. He told me that there are lots of other options for people who are going through a growth spurt or still have a growth spurt coming but he said that my growing has just about stopped so those other options wouldn't work anymore.

Matt

#14 Post by **HeadgearJoe** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:47 am

mattrivers wrote:
fins wrote:I think the headgear is fine if you wear it the maximum amount of hours, otherwise you will not get the optimum result you want. You might consider asking the doc about the hilgers pendulum. I used it for 7 months and TADA, all done and it was 100 percent better than headgear (I know because I used to have headgear the first round). I don't know why a headgear candidate couldn't wear the hilgers appliance. You will probably do just fine in the headgear if that is what you chose.
My ortho didn't mention anything other than the headgear or surgery as an option for me. He told me that there are lots of other options for people who are going through a growth spurt or still have a growth spurt coming but he said that my growing has just about stopped so those other options wouldn't work anymore. hi , yep headgear or surgery for me to , like i said i opted for headgear , well the day has started i just took mine off after the 12 hours of wearing it , i'll be free for 12 an back on agian , ye ha , headgearjoe

Matt

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