My Experience

The herbst appliance, a tube and rod that work together inside the mouth, was installed in order to realign my jaw and bring it forward a bit. I needed this put in before I got braces.

When I first went to the orthodontist’s office I had believed that my jaw and smile would be fixed within a year. I quickly realized this was a dream. The herbst appliance was not a real pleasant experience, yet a necessary one. It consisted of four rounded pieces of metal, one coming down from each side of the top of my mouth and then one on each side going up from the bottom of my mouth. The bottom and the top piece attached, but only did so manually. So if I were to open my mouth too wide these pieces would become separated and would leave me looking like a walrus with a deep blush (the metal would pop outside my mouth). The only other problem I had with this “equipment” was when it was first placed in my mouth the nurse got part of my tongue stuck in the back of it. Unfortunately, I did not realize this until after I got home and of course it was a Friday so the doctor had to make a special appointment for me the following Saturday. I had this in my mouth for nearly two years and was definitely happy to get it out. But it was completely worth it because it was necessary before I got braces and I can now smile and not feel self-conscience about the way I look. To have that feeling of confidence is worth all the money and time in the world.