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I returned to the ortho's office to fix minor crowding, open bite, and overjet. I wanted to accomplish this without visible braces if possible, so the original plan was to get lower braces and fix the top with high pull headgear and removable appliances. I realized very quickly that I was not going to be wearing the headgear enough for it to make a difference, so at my next appointment I just opted for the full braces. However, I was told that I was still going to have to wear the headgear.
Does anyone have any thoughts on whether this is truly necessary? Some background: I have had my upper 2nd molars extracted, and my ortho told me my open bite had improved from 2 mm to 1 mm just from the extractions. I don't know the exact number for my overjet, but I don't think it's THAT bad...my last ortho got it mostly corrected, without the use of any extra appliances. Should it not be possible to correct it even more now that those back teeth are gone?
I read the article about headgear on this site that says it's prescribed to keep back molars from sliding forward into the extraction space...but in my case there are no teeth behind the extraction space.
Another thing...my ortho said I needed it to fix my open bite. Is a 1 mm open bite really too much for braces to deal with?
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If there's something I'm missing here someone let me know. I just feel like my teeth are not that extremely out of place to warrant going through the hassle of headgear. Even if my teeth can't be completely fixed, I'm willing to forgo the headgear and finish with an almost-perfect bite...which I know is possible because I've had it done before. (My teeth moved again because I used to have TMJ quite badly and my retainers irritated it, so I stopped wearing them.) I've been doing a lot of research and if I don't come up with a very compelling reason that headgear is absolutely necessary, I'll be telling him about the change of plans at my next appointment.
Thoughts, anyone?