Who has or had a headgear? How long?

Message

#1 Post by **jose** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 3:42 pm

HI!

I have a double headgear. Top Combi and bottom cervical.

I have it now from near 5 months for 8/10 hrs a day.

I will need it for another 4/5 months approx. Is to keep my molars in place.

Who has here headgear? How old are you?

How many hrs per day ?

What type ? For what reason?

Any pictures?

What your reactions? What the reactions of your family? Your wife/husband/girl/boyfriend? And your friends?

How long it took for you to get used of it?

How long it took to sleep well in it?

Would you go out in public?

Any amusing story to tell everybody?

I have my picture posted in my different posting of the last 4 months.

I will post links to a different post in this topic.

Have a great week.

Ciao

Jose
34/M/Self ligating Full Metal Brackets/Double headgear/Combi HG up and Cervical HG bottom/Spring/Elastics by night

#2 Post by **Dark_angel** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:37 am

I was in high pull headgear for about a year, wearing in around 12 houres a day or at least aiming for that. I was wearing it from the age of 17-18 and i've worn it outside once or twice but i wouldnt make it a regular thing. I wore it to stop my molars moving into my extraction gaps, we were also hoping to get them to move back a little bit too.

My friends didnt know i had it, my boyfriend was supportive and my parents were indifferent. I dont think i ever really got used to it and in all honesty sleeping in it was always a problem and extremely uncomfortable.

#3 Post by **HeadgearJoe** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:13 pm

about 2 1/2 to 3 years , started out with cervical headgear 18 to 20 hours a day then was switched combination 20 to 22 hours a day, i started out with a very deep overbite , it was so bad i've worn the backs of my upper teeth , an the fronts an top of my lowers, i now have two permanent bonded levy's stop on the backs of my two front teeth , this was bonded there to keep me from ever getting an overbite or deep bite ever agian

#4 Post by **Clo** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:10 am

Hi,

I had a headgear too. I was 42 when I had it.

How many hrs per day ? As much as I could, about 23 hours a day.

What type ? For what reason ? Cervical headgear, to retract my upper teeth.

Any pictures ?

What your reactions ? What the reactions of your family ? Your wife husband/
girl/boyfriend ? And your friends ? I knew only this or a surgery could make
my class 2 bite better. So it was not a surprise to me when my ortho wanted
to start with this. I work at home (home office). So only close family saw it.
Their reaction was like wow for some minutes and then life did go on.

How long it took for you to get used of it ? As I needed to wear it full time,
I got used to it very quickly. Took only some days.

How long it took to sleep well in it ? That did go very well.

Would you go out in public ? No, I wouldn't. If this would have meant I had
to wear it some more months, then I could have accepted that.

I wore this headgear about 6 months. Then my treatment was stopped and
I went to another ortho (long story that can be found here in the archives).
In fact, next month I will start a new treatment. I will not have a headgear
anymore. This time they will retract all my upper teeth using bone anchors.
They will use these to close my open bite too. I'll post about this.

#5 Post by **jose** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:48 pm

Hi everybody!

Consider that also here It was difficult to sleep at the beginning. And still now sometimes creating problems.

Any other around with headgear? what are your experiences?

Ciao

Jose

#6 Post by **NotBob1** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:16 pm

Well, let's see....I have not posted much in the last four months, but I figured I could respond to this one since I now have headgear!

I have a RPHG which, by searching the site for this, is a bit of a rarity.

I have some pictures of it, but I can't seem to figure out how to load them!!! If you search google for "protraction Headgear" you will see a picture of my exact one.

I have had it for several months and it is to create an overbite.

It is the style with two pads, one on the forehead and one on the chin with a bar inbetween and a horizontal post which the rather large elastics hook to. Four elastics; one to each top molar.

I am SUPPOSED to get 12-14 hours of wear in per night, however, this does not always happen.

It's blue!

Sleep: It was hard at first, but I fold a pillow over and hang my face off the side.

I tend to wake my wife and sometimes myself up by "squeaking" my headgear post against the pillow as I breath. I drool allot too. Allot. It sucks sometimes.

It does not hurt much, but sometimes my molars are a bit tender.

I have worn it in public; driving, at my friend's house; several movies. I get some strange looks, and I have had many questions & comments the few times I have been out.

I don't mind it as much as I did the day I found out about it, but I will be happy when it's over!!

Seems to be working....I am not so much of a class III as I was and I avoided surgery which was the treatment plan of several orthos many, many years ago.

My wife just told me to add that it makes good night kisses impossible! It does. I usually take it off for a goodnight kiss!

#7 Post by **bandedshut** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:47 pm

Notbob,
Your case sounds very similar to mine...and I am happy that your headgear is working for you. Did you have a class 3 SKELETAL cross bite?
Do you have before and after (or current) pictures somewhere?

I am almost 29 years old (way past the growing phase), and I have had braces (upper+lower) on for 1 year now, and my ortho was preparing me for upper jaw surgery (to move my upper jaw forward by just 3 mm). My case was borderline so I asked him to give it a shot without surgery if possible.

I just got my elastics on 3 days ago. I dont have headgear on (yet)...and no idea whether i will need it.

2 years ago, I did get several opinions (saw almost 25-30 orthos) before choosing this one. At the time they had all convinced me that surgery was the only way to go. Until recently when my paternal uncle talked some sense into me and I realized that surgery is a very serious matter...and there HAS to be another way?? So I have now embarked on another journey..one that does not involve surgery...it may take longer but at i'm trying to keep the risks (by that i mean surgical) down as much as possible. Very reluctantly, my ortho gave his OK to helping me fix my bite non surgically.

Anyway To put things in perspective, I have an edge to edge class 3 crossbite (it is SKELETAL, not DENTAL) . Its a front to back and a side to side cross bite (sorry that i dont speak the "bilateral, anterior/posterior" jargon). I had a severe headache this morning from the elastics so I cannot IMAGINE what headgear would be like. 2 weeks ago I ALSO had a palatal expander device put in. It seems to have expanded my teeth/jaw slightly. As of this moment, I am on day 3 with my elastics on.

Also do you mind if I ask how old you are? Considering that you're married, you're probably over 21?

Also if you could explain these terms that would help:
Crossbite 10-23
GAC In-Ovation R, metal

Best regards,
Kunal