It's been a while, but I'm back!
I thought I'd share an interesting site for those of you whose kids need reverse pull headgear or braces.
My daughter was prescribed reverse pull headgear a while back. When we looked it up online ("what the heck is it, anyways?"), she was pretty devastated.
Quite the obvious thing to wear. The dentist told us that she should wear it 24 hours a day to ensure it was successful. She's already 10, so he was worried that we'd missed the window of opportunity. If her skull bones started to fuse after her last growth spurt, it would no longer be effective. If it didn't take, the alternative to reverse pull headgear is to break the jaw, wire it shut, and eat through a straw for 6 months. Clearly, we were motivated to make sure the headgear was a success!
So how do you convince a kid to wear her headgear 24 hours a day (to school, to the park, etc.)? Well, we found a website that sells shirts specifically for this. She's a huge fan of Star Wars, and they have a Princess Leia shirt where Leia is wearing the reverse pull headgear. Brilliant! The shirt helped her and her friends feel that it was "normal"… "If Princess Leia can wear headgear, so can I". She wears that shirt a lot, and although she still gets funny looks, she doesn't get teased. A huge help and encouragement!
Anyways, I thought I'd share it. If your child ever needs RPHG, check them out. I'd recommend them.
