Headgear

For the dentist to straighten teeth and to pull them back if they stick out the dentist needs to make space behind the crooked teeth. This is done by taking out (extracting) some of the side teeth (premolars). A brace would then move the teeth into the spaces created and straighten the front teeth. However problems can arise after the extraction of the side teeth as the back teeth (molars) can move forward and fill the space that has just been made. This will ‘use up’ the available space and not enable the dentist to straighten the front teeth, so that at the end of treatment the teeth still stick out.
To ‘hold’ the back teeth in position a piece of equipment called headgear is used. This must be worn 10-12 hours a day for as long as a year to keep the molars back during the treatment period.