Braces with headgear

[outtolunchagain]

Just got back from the orthodontist and ds3 has a 14mm overbite ( massive as these things go) The dentist was fab with us , especially ds , but he didn't pull any punches , he said that he could sort it with a brace with headgear , but that putting in the brace was only 10% of the work and ds would have to do the other 90% by being really committed to it ( lucky this is the focused one ) .

He did say many parents went for the more cosmetic approach of just having tests out at the top and pushing the front teeth back but that this wouldn't solve the jaw being misaligned.

Ds seems really phlegmatic, he is 12.5 so a good age , he hates his overbite as his bottom teeth irritate behind his top and he feels his lip sticks out .So his considered view (!) at the moment is that he would like to go for it.

Does anyone have experience of these braces ?

Sorry just bumping for the evening crowd

My son had a 12mm overbite,he had twin block braces without head gear,it worked really well,now he has a 2mm and fixed braces.

Does he have to wear it 24/7 or just nights, or is there a compromise, like weekend and after school daytime plus nights, but not school hours?

I had one (about 25 years ago!), and I felt very self-conscious. We went for the compromise, though I knew it would mean having to have it for longer in terms of months. It was definitely worth it in the end but I would not have wanted to wear it to school (think I was around 13-14, can't remember, I had a brace of some kind all the way from 8 to 18...). Or at least, not if I was staying at that school - if he's going somewhere else in a year's time, it might not matter. There were a couple of other girls at school who did have head braces during the day and AFAIK there was no bullying or unkind comments, and for the life of me I can't remember who they were, so it's probably not such a big deal - but I was glad to avoid that.

The other thing that I do remember is that it made me dribble. A LOT. You'll need to buy some extra pillowcases and your DS will need to drink more water, assuming that's normal with a head brace.

I certainly felt far more confident going to university having had it done, it helped with speech articulation and, unexpectedly, helped me to eat faster.

DD had one. To be honest it was a pain,it hurt each time it was tightened,used to ping off and messed her hair up (v important!)
But her teeth look amazing and after 3 years her brace comes off TOMORROW!!
She is 15 and says she would do it all again in a heartbeat :)

They have said only at night , although he did say to my ds that the more he wears it the better it will be , so when he's paying minecraft at home , or just lolling about he should wear it , but he doesn't need to wear at school.He will obviously have train tracks with elastics as well .

I had one to wear as a teenager, it worked ok but my teeth have moved back since I stopped and now at 36 I wish I'd had the teeth out as there just isn't space for all the teeth in there (and thank god my wisdom teeth didn't try to come through).

My DD had this. She hated it, but hated her teeth more so she put it on as soon as came in from school and took it off after breakfast next morning. She wore it all day at weekends if not going out, and on car journeys etc (with her head wrapped in a scarf). If anyone came to the house she hid!

She tightened it herself and more than HALVED the time the orthodontist predicted she would need to wear it, so it was worth it. We then got train tracks with bands, then the retainer which she wore until her wedding as was terrified that after all that work her wisdom teeth would come in and wreck the perfect teeth.

It was worth it, the before & after pictures said it all.

DS1 got headgear and braces (not fixed braces) when he was 7yo. He has been really fantastic about wearing them, even though he absolutely hated the headgear to begin with. He only wears it at night.

He is 18 months into his treatment and the change is incredible.

But the elastic bands get everywhere!

Thanks for all the helpful info , we have decided to go ahead , he is pretty determined so we shall see

I had this, like N0nny, 25 years ago.

I wore my all of the time, even to school, to get rid of it as soon as I could. I couldn't have been more committed.

My overbite is still noticeable, but hugely reduced and it did cause a gap to widen between my two front teeth.

I'm imagining they have improved nowadays, but I would ( and will if ds1 needs ones) ask about effectiveness and drawbacks, like a widened gap.

Hope it all goes well.

I used to be a dental nurse in orthodontics and measured the kids for the head gear.

The orthodontist is right, obviously, that the more he wears it the better the results will be and the quicker it will work. We used to recommend that the DC put them on when they got in from school, took them off to eat, and then on again until morning. You could tell the committed DC, but they do take a lot of getting used it and it takes a lot of perseverance, and support, at first.

Good luck.

I had one, again over 25 years ago, I tried to wear it as much as possible but I didn't wear it to school. I only had it for 12 months as a result. I think the aim was for it to be worn 50 hours per week? I know I had a chart that I kept, I was very committed but as another poster has said I hated my teeth,

Thefemale, I had to keep a chart....did you have to open wide and bite together, repeatedly? If so, Sounds like the same orthodontist!