Expander & Herbst appliance

[billytmarlin]

Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone has been through expanders & a herbst appliance at the same time. I just had these things put in my mouth and it's incredibly irritating! Speaking, eating, drinking...anything that has to do with my mouth have become excessively difficult. If you've had these, do you have any tips to survive these long nine months?

[jenwolf]

I would really like to hear and update on your progress since you had both the expander and herbst installed. My 12 year old son had the expander in for 3 weeks, the first three days were terrible. He cried most of the day and night, could not eat and was drowling like crazy. He had so many sores in his mouth it was crazy. That healed after about day 4. Now, on Wednesday 1/2/13 he had the herbst installed....what a nightmare. He is now, back to the tears, back to not eating. I feel so bad for him. It has been 3 full days and he is back to a few big sores in his mouth ----- Just really hoping this pain in his mouth is coming to an end soon. I told him today that if Monday morning comes and he is still not able to eat then I am calling the Ortho and having the herbst removed! Help

[klobird]

I had the Forsus, which is similar to the Herbst--like an adult version. I never had the expander. Depending on how bad his teeth are, I would re-evaluate the decision for both at once also. I know the orthos know what they are doing. Most kids can handle it. As an adult, I couldn't handle it even with just the Forsus. Believe me, I tried. After 3 1/2 months I asked them to take it out. My whole emotional well-being was being seriously affected, and I was getting seriously depressed. I had to put a stop to it.

Kids have an amazing ability to adjust and adapt. They are just that way.

However, one option would be to take your son to a mental health professional to see if he thinks your son's emotional well-being is truly in jeopardy. Talking about how he's feeling to someone other than you may help him feel like he has a voice in this. Adults can say "No more"-- kids don't usually have much of a voice, because adults are supposed to "know what's best".

The Forsus, for me, was intolerable. Unless an adult has had both of these at once, taking into consideration our power in the situation to choose, I don't think they should be able to comment on how to deal with this...my heart goes out to your son...