Headgear
Headgear seems to be a dirty word these days! Although we don't use these as often as we used to (since there are other options to consider) this appliance, when used with young/growing and cooperative patients, is very effective in assisting with correction of an overbite (overjet) relationship. There are many different effective designs and Moroco Orthodontics will recommend the most effective design based on your child's jaw growth pattern.
A headgear may be recommended alone or in conjunction with another appliance such as a retainer, partial braces or palatal expander.
Some other types of commonly recommended interceptive orthodontic appliances or procedures:
1) Space Maintainers might be recommended if there is early loss or necessary removal of some primary teeth and we need to maintain space in the arch for the future eruption of the permanent teeth
2) Removal of primary teeth might be recommended for the following reasons:
- Guide eruption of the permanent teeth
- Allow temporary alignment of the erupted permanent incisors until a more critical time point when the patient is ready for comprehensive orthodontic treatment
Reverse Pull Headgear or Facemask
This appliance might be recommended when an underbite (crossbite of the front teeth) relationship is due to a disproportionate jaw growth pattern (small upper jaw relative to a large lower jaw) and there is concern for possible surgical correction in the future. It is usually combined with a palatal expander and will only be effective in young patients with good growth potential.
Partial braces are sometimes recommended and combined with these other appliances during early/interceptive treatment to assist with ideal positioning of the front permanent teeth, midlines, spacing and overbite/overjet relationships prior to the eruption of the remaining permanent teeth.
