Herbst appliance or headgear

[katie01]

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts and experiences, it’s helpful to hear all sides

 

[lovin'fl]

OMG....I have got to tell you our experience with the Herbst appliance. It was AWFUL. It ate literal holes in DS's cheeks. Huge awful painful holes. They gave us wax to put over it but that wouldnt stay on. DS had sensory issues and HATED it. He atually busted one side out with hard food...likely intentionally. They replaced it. It seemed like he had allergic reaction to the metal against his cheeks. Think he busted it out a 2nd time and they removed it. The thing seemed to bust easily. Would never do it again. Twin DDs had headgear they wore at night and that was much much easier and less traumatic.

And our ortho was my uncle.

 

[katie01]

OMG....I have got to tell you our experience with the Herbst appliance. It was AWFUL. It ate literal holes in DS's cheeks. Huge awful painful holes. They gave us wax to put over it but that wouldnt stay on. DS had sensory issues and HATED it. He atually busted one side out with hard food...likely intentionally. They replaced it. It seemed like he had allergic reaction to the metal against his cheeks. Think he busted it out a 2nd time and they removed it. The thing seemed to bust easily. Would never do it again. Twin DDs had headgear they wore at night and that was much much easier and less traumatic.

And our ortho was my uncle.

Oh wow! I am so sorry about your poor DS! I am grateful you posted today though, my DD is scheduled to get her braces with night headgear, OR Herbst appliance next week, and both she and I have been second-guessing our decision! We are still torn because both she and I are thinking that the Herbst does a better job of pulling the lower jaw forward, while headgear just pulls the upper jaw back. We are worrying maybe the results won't be as good (I don't know about functionality, but maybe the profile won't improve as much?). But I also trust our ortho and have to assume he was telling the truth when he said we could get the same results with either, it just comes down to whether or not DD will be compliant with the nighttime head gear use, and both she and I know she will, especially since she knows she'll be avoiding the discomfort of the Herbst!

As for your DS's case, I have in fact heard of some kids having an allergy. DD has a sensitivity to cheap earrings (infection, and ulceration around the earring holes), so our ortho kindly tested her by putting in a band around her back tooth to see if she'd have any reaction. No problem so far. Did your son have any sensitivity to the other parts of the braces? Our ortho told us they can use gold and other things for the wires if they are sensitive. I can only imagine how much that costs!

I do think we are leaning towards the headgear. Thanks again for your post!

 

[hegsag]

My daughter had the Herbst appliance when she was in the 5th grade and had no issues. It's been 6 years so I don't remember how long she had the Herbst in. After she had the Herbst appliance out she then went into full braces. We were never given an option between the Herbst vs headgear...

 

[Music City Mama]

My DS had the Herbst. He wore just braces for about 6 months, then was in the Herbst for 6-9 months (while also in braces) -- and then finished out the last few months in just braces/rubberbands. The first two weeks in the Herbst were awful. Like the previous poster, he also developed deep ulcers/holes on the inside of his cheeks and was in a lot of pain. They prescribed some type of solution to heal the ulcers and also made sure he was using the wax properly and once he got over that hump, he didn't have any issues. I will say that he was glad to get it out, though -- it took longer to eat with it in, etc.

 

[katie01]

My DS had the Herbst. He wore just braces for about 6 months, then was in the Herbst for 6-9 months (while also in braces) -- and then finished out the last few months in just braces/rubberbands. The first two weeks in the Herbst were awful. Like the previous poster, he also developed deep ulcers/holes on the inside of his cheeks and was in a lot of pain. They prescribed some type of solution to heal the ulcers and also made sure he was using the wax properly and once he got over that hump, he didn't have any issues. I will say that he was glad to get it out, though -- it took longer to eat with it in, etc.

Thanks for sharing your experience. My gut feeling tells me that DD would be another kid that would have problems with the Herbst, but I know I can't base my decision solely on a hunch. Just the fact that she's had trouble with earrings causing ulcerations in her ears (sensitivity to certain metals), and knowing that she's sensitive about anything on her face in general, makes me think it might not go well. She's also stick thin despite eating ALL the time, and I mean all the time. I often have to feed her a hamburger or a couple of slices of pizza an hour before dinner or she can't make it, and she still cleans her plate at dinner. She's eating a huge variety of high protein foods throughout the day, and I just can't imagine how she'd keep up her weight if she had to rely solely on things that could be pureed for a few weeks or however long it would take for her to eat again. Maybe I'm underestimating her or overestimating how bad the appliance could be, but when given an option of something she wouldn't have to wear while eating, it seems the obvious choice, unless it's not going to work well

 

[Skippy918]

I am glad to come across this post even though it’s old. I took ds10 for an ortho consult and the ortho said that he will need either headgear or a Herbst device for his overbite. He is not ready for this yet because he still has too many baby teeth (12 of them), so we have to go back in a year.

OP- what did you and dd decide on? Curious about your experience.