25 year old brace faced herbst wearer :-S

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Wed May 19, 2010 4:09 am

Hey guys, I got metal damon braces (top and bottom) and a herbst appliance fitted on Feb 5th 2010 and had my second tightening on Monday. Oh my, the pain is unbearable. The herbst is hurting sooooooo much I keep waking up in agony.

I have seen lots of people talk about getting sores from the appliance but mine just hurts on the actually tooth and gums under the metal crowns. I am hoping this will go away in a few days because I just want to rip the thing out at the moment. I just thought id share my pain and frustration on here because I'm sure my work colleagues don't want to hear me harping on..

Is anyone else out there wearing a herbst as an adult? I am 25 and it looks like this thing is usually used on growing kids! 3 months down 6 to go till it will come off........

#2 Post by **kilikena311** » Wed May 19, 2010 4:38 am

I think retainerjoe had a herbst. I could be wrong though. You could do a search also. I have a lot of pain with my regular braces where my crown is. The doc says that at certain points my crown is hitting first when I bite down and the crown is actually causing a bit of bruising to go on. It is uncomfortable, but unfortunately like everything else with braces you will get used to it.

#3 Post by b » Wed May 19, 2010 12:41 pm

I have something similiar to a herbst. Its called a MARA.. it does the same thing as a herbst, but its different.. its kind of hard to explain what it looks like, but I do have pictures on my story. I know what you mean about the teeth that the crown is on hurt a lot from the pressure. It does go away as soon as your bite moves into the right place though. Mine only took about 2 weeks at the most to be in a good enough position to stop hurting and putting pressure on those teeth, then maybe 3-4 weeks for my bite to be in the right spot. Now I dont even notice the MARA there anymore.
Dont worry, everything takes getting used to, but I feel your pain when it comes rediculously large appliances that are so uncomfortable!

Thu May 20, 2010 1:07 am

Thank you for the replies. I am feeling slightly better today just because I actually got some sleep. I am still in lots of pain but coping better with it.

B I just wondered if you ever get a lot of blood coming from your teeth with crowns on after your Ortho adjusts them? One of mine is really bleeding this morning- yuk! Also your teeth are looking really good. I went through a very similar experience to you where I was hoping for invisalign. I got off quite lightly really because originally the Ortho was thinking surgery might be the way to ‘fix’ me!

YouTube · #5 Post by **retainerjoe** » Thu May 20, 2010 3:36 am

good morning , sorry too hear about your sorness , all of the above are true , the herbst is a great appliance but man can it ever hurt everything in your FACE molors ,sinus, jaw joints, teeth , gums , but this too will pass, an yes you will get use to it i was in mine over a year , an they realy do a great job , hope this helped a bit , take care an have a great day if possable

Thu May 20, 2010 3:53 am

thanks retainerjoe. It helps just knowing I am not the only person to have suffered with this appliance and I am not just being a complete whimp! I will just keep thinking of the fantastic outcome.

On a possitive note- my bottom teeth touch my top teeth for the first time in my life. They started off 9mm behind my front teeth! It feels strange but in a good way!

#7 Post by b » Thu May 20, 2010 8:42 am

No I didnt experience any bleeding around the crowns, but I guess it is because the MARA doesnt get tightened? Im not too familiar with how the herbst works exactly..
I did however have alot of bleeding when I flossed around the crowns where I didnt bleed before the elbows were put in. So it could just be from so much pressure or agitation to the tender teeth. It will go away as soon as your jaw is in the right spot. I know what you mean about finally being able to touch your teeth together in spots they have never touched before!

#8 Post by **allycat** » Tue May 25, 2010 11:40 pm

Hey Im 28 and due to get a herbst fitted in the next month of so. I have had linguals for 6 months now....my ortho is just trying to get my teeth in the right place for the herbst to go in. Have to admit am really really dreading it!! How bad is it with eating, speaking etc?? On the plus side I did a lot of research regarding the herbst in adults and it has been proved to be effective in reducing overjets/overbites in adults!!

#9 Post by **allycat** » Tue May 25, 2010 11:42 pm

Oh I already have the crowns in for the herbst 2 on my upper top molars and 2 on the lower front canines...the lower ones were the worst, i got a big ulcer on the inside of my bottom lip but thats all healed now.

#10 Post by **allycat** » Tue May 25, 2010 11:45 pm

Sorry one more thing......bleeding gums can be a sign of gum disease which can happen really quickly esp around the crowns as they can be really difficult to clean. I had the same problem until I bought a waterpic which is an irrigation device for your teeth, it really helps get everything out that you cant get to with a brush and gets your mouth 100% clean and fresh.....I would defo recommend it to anyone with braces but especially with these crowns in as they are the worst for being hard to clean! Hope that helps you.

Wed May 26, 2010 4:16 am

Hey Allycat, thanks for your replies.

The bleeding stopped- i think the metal crown was just digging in because my tooth isnt quite upright. The Ortho picked some glue out and all is OK.

You will be pleased to know the pain has now stopped. it lasted about 5 days and now I have no pain at all which is great! So don't let my post about the herbst worry you!

With regard to talking- The first week or so I was quite lispy and had to really concentrate to talk. I think this might have been because of the swelling more than the Herbst. Each tightening I seem to get a slight lisp for a day or 2 but not too noticable.

Eating is annoying. Not painful just annoying. The food gets stuck in the Herbst and I think half the meal ends up in your cheeks. Very annoying. I am just getting use to it though.

A few other things- When they first fitted the Herbst I hated the look of my face. To everyone else I looked normal/ the same (unless they were being nice) but to me I felt like I had a huge square face as my jaw seemed much more prominant. This changed after a week when I was more use to my look and the chipmunk swelling had gone down. My side profile is much better which is good.

Hope all goes wel with your fitting,
Sarah

#12 Post by **allycat** » Thu May 27, 2010 2:25 am

Thanks for the reply....I can totally imagine the square face thing, I have practised what my face is going to look like with the herbst in!! I have to say I dont much like it!!!!

I went through the whole lisp thing when I had my linguals fitted, am really not keen to go through it all again! And food gets stuck in the linguals which I really hate, I think I am going to lose loads of weight with the herbst!!!!!

Is the herbst very visible? And where are your crowns?? I have 4, 2 on upper molars and 2 on the lower canines....I have seen pictures of the herbst with 6 crowns but the bottom 2 at the front are on the 1st pre-molars rather than the canine teeth!

Thu May 27, 2010 3:21 am

I thought I would lose weight with the braces and herbst too (had them fitted together) but I have actually gained nearly a stone in 4 months (oohps)! luckily I was not large to start with! I seem to be eating more - maybe because I am chewing less?? who knows. I am sure I am in the minority here though

I don't think the herbst is very visable. It is hard to tell. I sometimes speak in front on the mirror to try and see if you can see it (sad i know) and i think the crowns are the only really visible part. When i laugh with a really wide mouth and I am sort of side on i think you might be able to see it but I'm not sure. It is kind of hidden in my cheeks. People Who don't know i have it have never said anything- not sure if this is because they find it a taboo topic or they can't see it. I have shown a few people and they have all responded by saying they would never had known it was there. Friends tell me they can't see it when I talk aswell. If you look on utube there are loads of videos of people talking with their herbst in and you can't see it until they reveal it by pulling their cheek back.

I have 4 crowns and they are on the upper molars and lower molars (2nd ones from the back both top and bottom).

One thing I find really weird though is that it squeaks! I don't know if this is common or just mine but it is quite embarassing. It isn't as bad as when i first got it and is now more of a disgusting sqwelch (maybe from saliva- eww). I think the noise is louder to me (like when you eat and you can hear it in your head). It only happens if i open my mouth really wide say when I am eating- not when talking. It also rattles a bit when I move my jaw sideways.

One thing that I really want to know is if people can feel it when they kiss you. I am single and have kissed a couple of guys with it in. Neither of them have known (well been told) I have it in and have not said anything but I wouldn't dare ask them if they could feel it. This is also when the squeak and rattling noise becomes embarassing! They must be thinking- what the hell is that? haha. I hope they didn't hear it

#14 Post by **allycat** » Thu May 27, 2010 3:40 am

Hahahahaha your post really made me laugh....good on you for kissing boys with it in though....I have a boyf so he of course will know I have it in, Im not sure I'd have the guts to kiss boys without them knowing!!! lol When I get it I will let you know what he says regarding whether you can feel it or not!!!

The whole thing really grosses me out thinking about eating with it in, I've had to give up eating proper meat like steaks and lamb already because I cant stand it getting stuck in my braces so god knows how I will cope with the herbst in!

I think my herbst is slightly different, I dont have the 2 crowns at the back but it attaches further forward at the front if that makes sense....I know people can see the front attachments (it kinda looks like I have 2 gold canine teeth when I talk) as a few people have asked me what they are, so I'm a bit worried people will be able to see the herbst as well a little bit. The annoying bit is I paid extra to have linguals so people wouldnt know I had braces and people can see the crowns anyway!!!!

Do you know how long you will have to wear it for? Ive been told up to a year? Did you get offered a choice regarding having the herbst or surgery??

Thu May 27, 2010 4:18 am

Yeah make sure you let me know if he can feel it haha.

I've not been to bad getting things stuck in my braces. Apart from a month ago I went on a date with a guy to a mexican resturant and ordered fajitas (my favourite) and after one bite realised it was a huge mistake to order something so soft! I won't gross you out with details but it was not good! I had to dash to the bathroom and then pretend I wasn't hungry.

Your herbst does sound a bit different. Mine is called advance sync and I have silver crowns- damn you with your posh gold teeth

I didn't really get a choice about surgery or herbst. I live in England (not sure where you are) and was refered to the hospitals maxiofacial department by an NHS dentist as they thought I was a jaw surgery candidate. They did talk about surgery on my first consultation but said that although my overjet is servere and my jaw is not aligned my face profile was fairly normal and surgery could make a drastic difference which he didnt think would be right for me. I was relieved and not sure i would have gone through with that as I wasn't unhappy about my appearance just my teeth.

He didn't really tell me much about the herbst he just told me this is what you are having and it will fix your teeth. I just accepted it. i probably should have asked more questions but he is the expert so i went with it. I think he told me I have to wear it for about 9 months but could be up to 12.

How about you? did you opt for this over surgery? I think i would try anything before surgery because i hate the idea of it.

This sounds silly but I thought I would be really self concious of people seeing my braces and herbst, but It hasn't bothered me at all. Maybe it will bother me more when they have been on for longer but I am 4 months in and the novalty hasn't worn off yet. I even kind of like them in a funny sort of way. I still sometimes get a bit embarassed when i meet new people or someone I havent seen since being braced but I find them sort of facinating and think I am more confident since getting them. If people do see your herbst they will probably just be interested in what it is and how it works not think it looks gross. Thats what i hope people think anyway. I kind of like the shock factor that i have all that metal in my mouth. It's officail.. braces have made me crazy!