I am getting braces next month and I am afraid that I will have to wear the ugly headgear. What is the purpose of headgear and who normally needs them?

hi , yea headgear is still used i'm in my 40's an i'm in headgear , i did have a very deep overbite , an i'm still in it to keep things in place till the braces come off, at that time i will need a retainer type headgear just to sleep in for about 18 months then retainers at night for life , but at my age an the very deep overbite i guess thats the resone for all that

My 8 year old was just Rxed an occipital-type headgear. It isn't going well. It feels tighter on one side. It's tough to get in. She has sores where there is rubbing. She hasn't been able to build her time to 1 hour. We gave it up until at least the sores go away. I don't know how anyone can sleep with these.
Terry

My 8 year old was just Rxed an occipital-type headgear. It isn't going well. It feels tighter on one side. It's tough to get in. She has sores where there is rubbing. She hasn't been able to build her time to 1 hour. We gave it up until at least the sores go away. I don't know how anyone can sleep with these.
Terry hi sorry to here your having headgear probs i'm 46 an in headgear, yes you child will get sore at first i did , but they will go away as there cheeks toughen up , just rember if it not worn the treatment will not go well an they will never get use to it that sure is a lot of time an monie put into not to get a good outcome, hope things get better for them soon , headgearjoe

I was a head-gear girl for 18 months. Of course this was years ago and they have probably come up with something better.
I had a slight bite problem that needed to be corrected and the old fashioned rubber bands didn't do the trick.
I wore braces for exactly two years to the date. The head-gear for 18 months. At first I had to wear the head-gear for 16 hours a day, and my mouth was SO SORE!!!!! It took awhile to get used to it, but eventually the soreness went away. After awhile my ortho backed down the hours until I was only wearing it a couple of hours a day.
I was 10 when I started the process, 12 when I got the braces off, and wore a retainer for three years. That was 30 yrs ago and my teeth are as straight today as they were when I got my braces off.