Head gear help?

Johnnyswife
Johnnyswife Posts: 1,447 Member
edited October 3 in Chit-Chat
Any parents who have kids using headgear or even those who wore headgear as kids, I have a question for you. Is headgear supposed to hurt??
My stepdaughter is supposed to wear hers 12 to 14 hours a day at night and she fights it and us about it. She constantly cries over how much it hurts. She's been to the dentist several times but her mom doesn't communicate to us much over those visits.
I don't even think she has her wear the head gear much over at her house, but is it supposed to hurt that bad for her? Did your child complain of discomfort or pain, or is something wrong?

I feel like such a bad stepmom forcing her to keep it on especially when her dad tells her its okay to take it off...

Any insight would be apperciated...(sp)

Replies

  • leomom72
    leomom72 Posts: 1,797 Member
    i never did, and my kids dont..poor kid..why not call the dentist yourself, or take her and find out from the horses mouth ? good luck to you all, i hope you find a resolution
  • lor007
    lor007 Posts: 884 Member
    My half sister used to wear one and she complained about it being uncomfortable. She was 16 at the time, maybe the uncomfortable feeling would be described as "hurting" from a younger child. I would get in touch with her orthodontist.
  • LemonPoppySeedMuffin
    LemonPoppySeedMuffin Posts: 302
    Any parents who have kids using headgear or even those who wore headgear as kids, I have a question for you. Is headgear supposed to hurt??
    My stepdaughter is supposed to wear hers 12 to 14 hours a day at night and she fights it and us about it. She constantly cries over how much it hurts. She's been to the dentist several times but her mom doesn't communicate to us much over those visits.
    I don't even think she has her wear the head gear much over at her house, but is it supposed to hurt that bad for her? Did your child complain of discomfort or pain, or is something wrong?

    I feel like such a bad stepmom forcing her to keep it on especially when her dad tells her its okay to take it off...

    Any insight would be apperciated...(sp)

    I've never had a head brace but I've been having orthodontic treatment for 5 years now. Any type of brace is extremely uncomfortable at first. Imagine you having one? It's painful & annoying. Explain to her how important it is, she's not going to have it forever. She'll be so happy when she gets great results. I've been through 3 different orthodontists because they lost their patience with me. It really does suck & it hurts but it WILL be worth it. Maybe find her some before & after pictures of people who've had head braces to motivate her to put up with it.
    Sometimes we got to be tough to do the right thing.
  • california_peach
    california_peach Posts: 1,809 Member
    I did not have to wear headgear as a child, but I did have to wear a retainer at night after my braces were off. At least based on what I had to wear I should not hurt is she wears is consistently. The long and short of it is that all her hard work and pain will be wasted if she does not do what the doctors says to do, because her teeth could at least partially be crocked again. I did not wear my retainer and while my upper teeth did well, my lower teeth at just as crocked as the day I got my braces only now if I want then straight, I have to pay for it.
  • LemonPoppySeedMuffin
    LemonPoppySeedMuffin Posts: 302
    I did not have to wear headgear as a child, but I did have to wear a retainer at night after my braces were off. At least based on what I had to wear I should not hurt is she wears is consistently. The long and short of it is that all her hard work and pain will be wasted if she does not do what the doctors says to do, because her teeth could at least partially be crocked again. I did not wear my retainer and while my upper teeth did well, my lower teeth at just as crocked as the day I got my braces only now if I want then straight, I have to pay for it.

    Similar happened to me. I wore my retainers after braces religiously for 7 months, I lost them for just THREE days & my teeth had already moved back & snapped the retainer. I'm going through the whole process once again >.<
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    I did not wear my retainer and while my upper teeth did well, my lower teeth at just as crocked as the day I got my braces only now if I want then straight, I have to pay for it.
    ditto...the gap between my front teeth came back b/c I did not wear mine. They didn't know back then, is what they told me, that teeth could shift back. bummer.
  • LAWIII
    LAWIII Posts: 50
    My half sister used to wear one and she complained about it being uncomfortable. She was 16 at the time, maybe the uncomfortable feeling would be described as "hurting" from a younger child. I would get in touch with her orthodontist.

    Agree!
  • clairibou1
    clairibou1 Posts: 124
    i had headgear for about a year and a half, and i can tell you, it DOES hurt in the beginning. however, if she is good about wearing it, and her orthodontist is doing everything right, it should get a lot better. after about a week, my teeth had moved to where they were supposed to be, and if i wore it every night, they stayed there and i never had problems. if she wears it for 12 hours a night for a whole week and it still hurts, i would check with her orthodontist. its possible that there it got bent or it is too loose and it is popping out at night, so its not doing much good. good luck! i hope she feels better!
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
    I had a neck gear as a child. I remember it hurting, but not to the point where I was crying. Braces are rather barbaric if you think about it - you're forcing the teeth to move in the mouth via metal appliances. I had to wear these little elastics that hooked onto my top front teeth and my back bottom teeth in order to move my jaw into place. Those hurt much more than my neck gear. I would talk to the orthodontist. I know they always have a time frame in mind, but maybe they can loosen the setting so it's not so aggressive.
  • Johnnyswife
    Johnnyswife Posts: 1,447 Member
    I've never had a head brace but I've been having orthodontic treatment for 5 years now. Any type of brace is extremely uncomfortable at first. Imagine you having one? It's painful & annoying. Explain to her how important it is, she's not going to have it forever. She'll be so happy when she gets great results. I've been through 3 different orthodontists because they lost their patience with me. It really does suck & it hurts but it WILL be worth it. Maybe find her some before & after pictures of people who've had head braces to motivate her to put up with it.
    Sometimes we got to be tough to do the right thing.
    I know...she cannot see or think about down the road and how happy she will be with nice teeth..We are gonna talk to her mom about going back to the dentist to check things out....I have a feeling, based on research, that she skips nights at her moms wearing it. She forgot her headgear and had to go a night without them here, so I know she isn't being made to wear them all the time. I just hate seeing her in pain and crying over wearing them. :cry:
  • LemonPoppySeedMuffin
    LemonPoppySeedMuffin Posts: 302
    I've never had a head brace but I've been having orthodontic treatment for 5 years now. Any type of brace is extremely uncomfortable at first. Imagine you having one? It's painful & annoying. Explain to her how important it is, she's not going to have it forever. She'll be so happy when she gets great results. I've been through 3 different orthodontists because they lost their patience with me. It really does suck & it hurts but it WILL be worth it. Maybe find her some before & after pictures of people who've had head braces to motivate her to put up with it.
    Sometimes we got to be tough to do the right thing.
    I know...she cannot see or think about down the road and how happy she will be with nice teeth..We are gonna talk to her mom about going back to the dentist to check things out....I have a feeling, based on research, that she skips nights at her moms wearing it. She forgot her headgear and had to go a night without them here, so I know she isn't being made to wear them all the time. I just hate seeing her in pain and crying over wearing them. :cry:

    I had a dynomax at first, which is basically a top & bottom gum shield which pulled my jaw forward. It was agonising! I'm paying for not putting up with it now, I'll be having jaw surgery soon. I was 12/13 at the time so I only thought about the pain. The more resistant she is, the harder it's going to get. The first week or two is going to be hell but she WILL get used to it. I know you hate seeing her in pain, but think of her future. She'll thank you later on.
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