ForumOnline-Shop

Author Topic: Compulsory full time headgear  (Read 4918 times)

Offline archie

  • Bronce Member
  • **
  • Posts: 32
Compulsory full time headgear
« on: 20. December 2019, 15:50:37 PM »
Back in my headgear days (i.e. the stone ages) my ortho told me that the more I wore my headgear, the better. But, except for wearing it in order to catch up a couple of times before ortho appointments, I never wore it to school, and although I was not the only headgear user in my class - some even wore it to school daily for months in a row - I felt embarrassed when I did.

But, speaking to an old clas mate the other day, it struck me as quite incoherent that, on the one hand, I was told to wear it 12-14 hours a day, whereas, on the other hand, the more I wore it, the better it would be. Why, in order to deal with the embarrassment I (and probably also other headgear users) felt wearing it in public, did the ortho not prescribe it for full time wear? As I know most bracefaces in my class did wear headgear for some time, whether they wore it to school occasionaly or at home only, that would, given, of course that we really did wear it as prescribed, most certainly reduce the degree of embarrassment for all of us wearing it. And it would improve the treatment. I do not, of course, suggest prescribing headgear to kids not in need of it, or prescribing full time wear when it would be a disadvantage. But for those of us who were told that the more we wore it, the better - and I believe most of us were told that - it would definitely feel better wearing it to school if we were 7 or 8 kids in class wearing headgear at the same time than none more than 3, most of the time only one.

There were, by the way, two orthos in my hometown, and the one I saw, I believe, prescribed fewer hours than the other one (I actually believe I was the only one seeing him that ever wore headgear to school, and, as mentioned, it only happened a couple of times), but that could easily be resolved by them making a deal.

So, what do you think, would it have been a good idea?

Offline libtech

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 247
  • Gender: Male
Re: Compulsory full time headgear
« Reply #1 on: 20. December 2019, 21:07:29 PM »
So what is the main question of which you are asking here?

Offline andys

  • Bronce Member
  • **
  • Posts: 68
  • Gender: Male
Re: Compulsory full time headgear
« Reply #2 on: 21. December 2019, 01:22:27 AM »
Your ortho was probably prescribing less hours so that you would be more likely to comply.

If you had to wear it say, 20 hours/day, you may only get 12-14 if you don't want to wear it to school or around friends. So then the ortho wouldn't have accurate numbers to work with.

Offline Train Tracks

  • Bronce Member
  • **
  • Posts: 30
  • Gender: Male
Re: Compulsory full time headgear
« Reply #3 on: 22. December 2019, 00:38:56 AM »
Maybe your case is different regarding the amount of force and time required.

Offline katrinp_99

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 226
Re: Compulsory full time headgear
« Reply #4 on: 22. December 2019, 21:58:57 PM »
While archie´s argument is valid from a purely rational point of view, experience and science show that real life decisions do not work on a purely rational base for the majority of people.

People do know that smoking, overeating, lack of activity are harmful - still, people do not stop smoking, eat healthy nor do sports.

Combine that with the emotional and rational challenges in teens and the full time wear model comes crashing down.

Offline pesp

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 260
Re: Compulsory full time headgear
« Reply #5 on: 23. December 2019, 15:04:29 PM »
https://dereferer.me/?https://www.jco-online.com/archive/1971/06/301/

I did the headgear thing fifty years ago (give or take).  Read the above article to see the pro full time headgear side.  I met an ortho at a reception once.  Nice guy who explained that if there are two orthos in town and one insisted on 24 hour wear and one did not use it as much or for as many hours, patients went to ortho #2.  There is no denying the business aspect affects the treatment.  Add in the fact that unless the patient was forced to by parents or ortho, no one wanted the damn thing.

I wore it over 22 hours a day when not in school. Showering, eating, drinking and combing my hair took about two hours a day.  Even back then when you saw someone wearing one it was the exception.   One girl wore hers every day freshman year and occasionally some loser like me would be seen wearing it on weekends or at night time events, but most kids refused and their parents and ortho just accepted it.  The rest of us paid a social price that high school only magnified.  The older you got the less socially acceptable it was. I heard from more than one braces wearer that they never wore their headgear, and their teeth seemed just fine. Showering, eating, drinking and combing my hair took about two hours a day.  Even back then when you saw someone wearing one it was the excepion. 

The short answer is that headgear full time wear is not compulsory because patients will not wear it full time.  It is that simple.

Offline bugbathe43

  • Silver Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 104
  • Gender: Male
Re: Compulsory full time headgear
« Reply #6 on: 23. December 2019, 17:40:00 PM »
When I was in high school back 70’s there was 2 girls that wore their headgears in school. When I had braces as an adult I wore my headgear all the time and actually enjoyed it.

Offline DemBones

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 156
Re: Compulsory full time headgear
« Reply #7 on: 31. January 2020, 14:30:44 PM »
"More is better" is always the case with headgear.  But here is what I was taught:  Teeth "resists" the force quite well, and does not like to move.  It only starts actually moving once you hit about eight hours.  BUT, here is the crap:  when the force is removed, teeth start to move back to their original position.  (Which is why we have retainers:  to prevent relapsing). 

So, after 8 hours, you get movement, but only after ten hours does the teeth move to a point where the "spring-back" movement is negated.  Thus, a patient only benefits from headgear wear at ten hours or more.  If worn 3 hours, or 5 or nine, it is not "better than nothing", it is really, literlaly, nothing.  (Which is why cpomplaince is so important - and no, you cannot "make up for it"  the next day or on the weekend, you start afresh).  So, to actually get a benefit from headgear, you need 12 hours daily. 

This is the barest minimum.  A lot of orthos will prescribe "minimum 12 hours", because thats wghat it is.  but psychology is psychology, and a lot will prescribe school-going kids 14 hours, to make up for that extra hour or two that inevitably gets lost somewhere in the day - prescribe 14, you get 12.  Prescribe 12, you get 10)  But all of them will say "all the time is best", but very few people manage that.  24/7 cvan be done, but it takes a very special person to be able to deal with that both physically and psychologically.   

I was told 12.  A buddy of mine who went to an ortho a few kms down the block got 14 - and her problem was not nearly as severe as mine.  but both of us (and our mothers!) got tols "as much as possible".