The recent thread about braces made me wonder about the dreaded headgear that some poor kids are made to wear.
What does headgear do?
There had better be a good reason for it, because I feel really badly for the kids who have to wear it. I had braces when I was a kid, and was deathly afraid of hearing the words “headgear” come from my orthodontist…
I wore headgear. I think it was to arrest the growth of my upper jaw, as I had a hideous overbite. Like an inch or so.
Once that was arrested, I didn’t have to wear it anymore.
I was only about 11, so I don’t remember exactly what it was for, but I think that’s close.
It was awful, and everybody knows you wear it even if you only wear it at night, because you get “headgear hair.” I thought I was the ugliest girl around, between that, the braces and the glasses. But I became the goddess I am today, so I guess it was worth it.
Oh, and it makes you drool.
It can also provide extra tension for moving teeth toward the back of the mouth. Thank God I only had to wear mine at night – I was already the class whipping girl at my high school, and daytime headgear would have finished me off.
One headgear, 2 rounds of braces/retainers, 4 impacted wisdom teeth, and 8 (count 'em, 8) extracted permanent teeth later, my current dentist says I have pretty teeth, even with my one remaining crossbite pair. Beats the snaggletooth look I had before!
What does headgear do, aside from cause lots of pain and make you talk funny and make you want to shoot your orthodontist? Basically, it moves the jaws and/or back teeth to make room for the corrections that are going to be made to the front teeth.
Yeah, the drooling… shudder And it’s damned impossible to sleep comfortably wearing the thing. I’d cheat and take mine off overnight and wind up with the headgear under my head, stabbing into my neck. Note that this was still way more comfortable than wearing it properly.
After bands and headgear, then a retainer, then full bands AGAIN, then another two retainers, I thought I was done, after 11 years.
Then, in my 30’s, the damn things moved again, and I had another retainer! I was old enough to be everybody’s mom in the orthodontist’s office, and the orthodontist wore shorts and a cartoon tie every day…
sigh…
I got braces at 11. Big mistake. I was too young & irresponsible and wouldn’t wear the rubber bands. After about two years (when I should have been done) I finally stuck it out and wore the damn things for a few days in a row, and voila!, they stopped hurting. Had my teeth straight and the braces off about six months later (all told it took me fours years instead of the normal two!)
After that, the retainer I could deal with. The headgear I could not.
Even if my parents followed me around with a gun to my head there was no way I was gonna wear that thing in school or in public. End of discussion.
And it hurt so bad and was so awkward I gave up trying to wear it at night, or basically, at all.
Luckily my teeth came out fine.
I now have a daughter that has braces (oy, talk about feeling old!). Anyway, if it makes you all feel better, the orthodontist told us that night braces (headgear) are very rarely used anymore (only in a small number of very specific cases). Braces have changed since I was a kid. And to hijack the thread somewhat, the way the orthodontists make molds have changed also. When I got my braces, I remember it was terrible - the assistant had to hold this goopy stuff in my mouth for what seemed like forever. Now, the mold is done in about 10 seconds!!
Ahh, those great headgear sets. The torment in school was terrible until the person that harrassed me the most had to wear one. I had a big overbite so I had to wear it for quite a while. And keeping those rubber bands in place while eating, sheesh. I was so happy when I got to switch to the retainer. Though yoush shtill shound shtrange while getting ushed to it.