What Happened To Headgear??

Where did braces headgear go? An orthodontist on what the research found, why kids didn't wear it, and what replaced it. Orthodontist Dr. Ben Winters looks at what happened to headgear. In 1986 about four in ten orthodontists used it routinely, and now most kids get rubber bands. Headgear hooks into tubes on the upper back molars and pulls with a strap around the neck or head, holding the upper jaw back in a growing kid with an overbite while the lower jaw catches up. Versions of it go back to the 1800s. The catch was wear time. Kids were asked for 12 to 14 hours a day, and when a study put a sensor in the strap, kids told to wear it 12 hours averaged about six, and nearly stopped over the summer. Trials in Florida and the UK found that starting headgear early, then braces later, ended up about the same as waiting, with more time in treatment. The one real plus was fewer injured front teeth: about one in five kids with early headgear versus one in three who waited. He also covers why modern headgear has a breakaway strap and a locking bow, the rare eye injuries reported in the 1980s, what orthodontists use now (rubber bands, Herbst or Forsus springs, and temporary anchorage devices, or TADs), and the reverse-pull facemask, which in a UK trial cut the share of kids who later needed jaw surgery from two in three to one in three. • Headgear holds the upper jaw back in a growing kid while the lower jaw catches up. • The hours were the treatment, and most kids wore it far less than asked. • For overbites, starting early ended up about the same as waiting, apart from fewer injured front teeth. • Rubber bands, glued-in springs and TADs now do most of headgear's job. • For an underbite, a facemask that pulls the top jaw forward is still used early. Chapters: 0:00 Where did headgear go? 0:39 What headgear actually does 1:40 The problem: you had to wear it 2:41 Does starting early even help? 4:05 Breakaway straps and eye injuries 5:00 Rubber bands, springs and TADs 6:10 The reverse-pull facemask 7:06 So where did headgear go? Dr. Ben Winters is an orthodontist in Plano, Texas, and the owner of Wincrest Orthodontics. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@Thebentist?s... Instagram:   / thebentistofficial   TikTok:   / thebentist   X: https://x.com/itsthebentist Wincrest Orthodontics:   / wincrestorthodontics   ·   / wincrestorthodontics   Educational content only, not personal dental advice. See your own dentist or orthodontist about your teeth. #headgear #braces #orthodontist