Only me Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 My 16 year old son wears braces and is supposed to get a Herbst appliance put in on Thursday. His orthodontist office makes it sound like it's no big deal but reviews online say otherwise. If your child has had this what was their experience? How bad was the pain? Was it difficult to talk? How soon until they could eat normally? My son has a baseball tournament starting Friday so I hope he isn't too miserable. We are also going out to eat for his sister's birthday the following Monday so I'm hoping he can eat normally. I've read stories of not being able to eat regular for a few weeks and kids losing weight. My ds is 5-10 but only 125 lbs so he can't afford to lose weight. Any other insight or suggestions would be appreciated. update I talked to the orthodontist. She says he has 3 choices: The appliance, headgear or having teeth pulled. He wants the teeth pulled but since they are permanent teeth my dh and I don't want to go this route. I wore headgear and I know it was miserable and hard to sleep but since it's only worn at night it would be better for sports and also he wouldn't have trouble eating. The problem is I'm sure he will have trouble sleeping. The orthodontist admitted that he would probably have difficulty eating for a week or so with the appliance. I can't decide which one to choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
December Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I had one when I was a kid. I don't remember having any trouble eating or that much pain. I think my mouth was just sore for a couple days, but nothing major. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I had one when I was a kid. I don't remember having any trouble eating or that much pain. I think my mouth was just sore for a couple days, but nothing major. My oldest had one a few years ago. He had an initial rough couple of days getting used to having it in his mouth, but he adjusted. I think he wore it 3-4 months to correct an overbite prior to the installation of his braces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinRTX Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 My daughter had one. It was painful the first few days, but she quickly adjusted to it. What was nice was that the braces did not need to tightened every month, so she did not have the monthly agony. Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Quick adjustment. I believe it saved my dd's life...no drama! It completely cured her sleep apnea by shifting her jaw where it was supposed to be, it cleared her air passages, which surgeries did not do! She can finally sleep ....and sleep through without snoring or gagging. This was a miracle device for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMamaBird Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 My 8 y/o Dd has had one since April. She is very quick to play the I'm-in-pain-give-me-attention-card and the Herbst has almost been a non-issue in the pain department. I gave her some preemptive Children's Tylenol the day she got it and the next two evenings, but she hasn't complained of any pain nor had mouth sores. It does give her a bit of a mumbly mouth. It's just something we're going to have to deal with till it comes out, there are metal hinges in her mouth. But if it's slurred speech or pain, I'll take the speech any day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only me Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Glad to hear it's not too bad. Some of the reviews were awful. I figured it was probably more of a middle ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 My son had one. It had to be removed because it was making a terrible sore on the inside of his cheek (or perhaps it was both cheeks, I can't remember). It was replaced by rubber bands and he was *so* much happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 My son was quite young when he got his, and he had a terrible adjustment period. He lost over five pounds because he couldn't figure out how to eat. My daughter also had one, but she was a teenager when she got it. She had a little pain for one or two days and that was it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 My husband had it as an adult. He wore it for a year. It was rough on him and he lost 15 lbs(He had it to lose tho:) I see lots of patients with them. Kids are pretty resilient. Let the ortho office know that he has baseball. They will need to make a new mouthguard asap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Both of my boys had them. With my oldest, it was no big deal. It took a couple of weeks to adjust, but he didn't lose any weight. I just made him some easier to eat foods during that time. With my second son, he struggled with it. He had some sensory issues so I think the sensation of his teeth not meeting up the way he was used to bothered him. Also, he had a bad appliance - it broke 3 times on him so they finally replaced it with a different style. He was much better after that. Neither of my boys complained of pain. Neither lost weight. Since the appliance was expensive to replace, I did make my boys opt out of sparring in karate. Even though they wore face protection and they weren't suppose to hit in the face, stuff happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Not fun, but mine did fine with it. It was a good week before normal food though, but no long-term issues. I was a little worried about it when we were preparing for vacation last summer because there was no dentist and certainly no orthodontist at all in the area. They do tend to require more repairs than normal braces. But they took it off in June (8 months total), and went to braces with rubber bands, and the braces came off ahead of schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMP Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 Hi. My son got thus appliance put in and braces back in December. He's lost 20 pounds so far. He has always been a very picky eater and only liked a few things. He does not like food getting caught and does not eat much at all. I am so worried!! They said he'd have it in about 9 months. I can't afford gim losing even more weight! I don't know what to do. Please help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 Zombie thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.