Dianne-TX Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 DS11 will be getting this soon. He is also getting braces after the appliance has been on a few months. I had braces, so I know how that feels, but I don't know what to expect with this appliance. I'm not going to tell him, of course, but just wanting to know for myself so I'll know what to expect once he gets it on. He has always been our dc with low pain tolerance. Want to prepare myself and DH for that fun!:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfarm Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 My 13yo dd says that hers was painful at first, but soon settled down. Her biggest complaint was that it has caused her to bite her lip much more frequently when she is eating. From what I saw, most of the pain was from the manipulation of her teeth when installing the appliance. It took a day or so and then she no longer seemed to pay it much attention. Occasionally it would get knocked and hurt - we do martial arts so I was usually the person who accidentally knocked her, and I felt awful. On one side of dd's jaw, the appliance seems to come undone frequently. She can yawn widely and undo that side whenever she wants. The other side stays in place and has only been undone at the orthodontist's office with a little key thing. We had terrible luck with them using the C-shaped shims. They fell off before we even made it home from the office. The shims that work well for us are the ones that are little rings that completely encircle the bar of the device. (And she still lost one of those when the easily detached side came loose.) That's about it for us. Dd should get her Herbst off in August or September, and then get the rest of her braces off a couple of months or so later. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 My youngest son got one last fall, and he was in pain for a couple of weeks. He had trouble eating too. After a few weeks he was adjusted to it, and he has been fine ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 My dd has one. She really didn't complain about the pain....but, she slept for about 2weeks straight and woke up with a nasty sinus infection....I am not sure the infection had anything to do with the herbst..... The appliance DID cure her sleep apnea by moving her bottom jaw forward. She no longer s'mores or stops breathing. I believe they also use this appliance for that issue. Milk shakes, mashed potatoes and yogurt will make younthe best Mom around for the first few weeks. I threw protien powder in dd's just to make sure she had enough nutrition. Oh, GREEN smoothies were a favorite too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianne-TX Posted May 12, 2012 Author Share Posted May 12, 2012 Thanks, everyone. Oh, boy, we'll see how our guy adjusts to it. But, yes, jello, pudding, milkshakes, mashed potatoes will help. :) I'll be prepared because I don't always handle his (ahem) low tolerance very well. He's not an easy patient sometimes... It will help me to know what to expect and hopefully, it will be less than what I expect for him. Who knows, he may surprise me this time around! :) Thanks, again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 It didn't hurt dd much until the last day or two of the two week adjustment period. By then I think she had just taken as much as she could stand. But me? That little key made me feel like the dungeon master in a medieval torture chamber. So glad it was a short term thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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