Homemade Maxillary Protraction Headgear

[PatientZ]

OK here is a picture update, after about 1-month wear of my headgear.



I have a definite space that appeared between my two front teeth. I had to stop expanding my palate because I don't want it to become bigger. I now have an invisible retainer that goes from canine to canine on my upper teeth, so that I can maintain their position while continuing to expand my palate. This should prevent the gap from getting bigger.

For the people that think this is dental movement, let me remind you that my appliance DOES NOT touch my teeth at any place in my mouth. It only covers the hard palate.

Also, here is an interesting article showing that slow palatal expansion IN ADULTS increases facial width (measured from cheekbone to cheekbone).

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0034-72992006000200004&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en

OP, I admire your ingenuity.  I would like to point out to you that the human skull is a complex, delicate structure.  It's really easy to mess it up.  I just think you should consider another method and involve experienced professionals in your plan to move your facial bones.  I am concerned you may do some damage to yourself.

From personal experience, I would rather say that the skull is a very resilient structure that is hard to disturb. I have been applying various experiment forces on my skull for a year and there has been close to no change. I am hoping that with this finalized prototype will make it happen though.

Please post the after pictures of the damage done to your teeth and jaw in 5 years or so, so no one else will be inclined to try this again.
thanks

The only way I will damage my jaws with this headgear is if I actually manage to displace my maxilla. But since I am displacing it to a more favourable position, there should be no damage. I cannot damage my teeth because they are untouched by my appliance.

I am also being followed by an orthodontist.

Op do what you feel best. Make sure to work with an ortho so that he can see if damage will occur. To the people saying there will be no changes, that's a lie. Bone move with short term forces. So theoretically you will see changes over a long time

I also believe that it is possible in theory. The challenge lies in wearing the contraption consistently for long periods of time.

[terry947]

PatientZ can i ask you some questions on PM?

What material did you use for the palate expander? where did you get the expansion screw? Did you make that yourself or with the help of an ortho?

[PatientZ]

PatientZ can i ask you some questions on PM?

What material did you use for the palate expander? where did you get the expansion screw? Did you make that yourself or with the help of an ortho?

Yes

I used acrylic and bought the expansion screw from an ortho lab. Its all home-made

[molestrip]

@Tom2 RPE as an adult is definitely possible and has been documented up to 70 I think. It's just not possible in everyone. You can actually check with a CBCT but most surgeons are too busy for that and, well, they like surgery. I checked mine but no luck Fused solid.

[mike888miller]

do you have any before and after pics that show the aesthetic benefit gained my 3mm expansion?

[hellohello]

How about pressures put on the top of your head (and perhaps neck strain) because of the headgear? Are you not worried it might alter your posture with all sorts of other consequences? Just curious cause I can see why the concept to avoid surgery would seem appealing to many but it would be good to also discuss the risks involved with this kind of self-doctoring.

[PatientZ]

How about pressures put on the top of your head (and perhaps neck strain) because of the headgear? Are you not worried it might alter your posture with all sorts of other consequences? Just curious cause I can see why the concept to avoid surgery would seem appealing to many but it would be good to also discuss the risks involved with this kind of self-doctoring.

My posture is actually improved when wearing the headgear, because I am focusing on maintaining my tongue on the roof of my mouth. Having a straight neck with chin tucked in allows to exert much more pressure with the tongue. Even when not wearing the headgear I have better posture because I am doing this constantly.

do you have any before and after pics that show the aesthetic benefit gained my 3mm expansion?

I got nowhere near 3mm of expansion yet and no I don't have pictures as of now, no benefits seen. I am still in the early wear stages.

@Tom2 RPE as an adult is definitely possible and has been documented up to 70 I think. It's just not possible in everyone. You can actually check with a CBCT but most surgeons are too busy for that and, well, they like surgery. I checked mine but no luck Fused solid.

True, also my headgear is very different from RPE which is messes up the teeth to get skeletal expansion.

[Nataliepryor]

It won't work. My orthodontist made one didn't even work.

They do expand slowly in kids. Some wear the expander for 9-12 months to stabilise. After my headgear didn't work I had SARPE and it's the best result I've ever had.

I don't know where you get your 'information' but it isn't all correct.

[PatientZ]

It won't work. My orthodontist made one didn't even work.

They do expand slowly in kids. Some wear the expander for 9-12 months to stabilise. After my headgear didn't work I had SARPE and it's the best result I've ever had.

I don't know where you get your 'information' but it isn't all correct.

Ok... well what did your orthodontist make exactly, I strongly doubt it was a reverse-pull facemask that is not teeth anchored, like mine is. The facemask is also different from an expander and SARPE. I linked at least two studies showing that palatal expansion can be achieved in adults, so this is where I get my 'information' from. I would say that this is more valuable from the opinion of a single ortho, as most of the time they don't bother with complicated methods and send adults straight to surgery.

Also if your goal was to widen your palate to get a better occlusion, then sure go with SARPE its much faster.  But my goal is to expand and constrict my palate repeatedly while applying an up and forward force on my maxilla so that I can move the whole bone in my face. For this goal, SARPE is not a good solution. I also have not seen a single picture with aesthetic gains from SARPE.

[Nataliepryor]

I think you need stable results first and then you can back up this argument.

[Eugae93]

Hello, PatientZ!, I would like to make my own reverse pull  facemask, (otherwise proposing it to my dentist) like yours is, but I don't know how to bulid it up! Can you give more instructions? and tell us how is it going with that? Are you having results??
Also, I would like to share with you these two things that you can search on the internet, and read your opinion:

First is "the Mew vector"

made by Mike Mew, and of which there are some videos of the Mew clinic which explain almost entirely (a part from the back placed elastic) how it is built, and how the force is given: upward and forward.

The other one is: "the Grummons facemask"

a mask that you can search for on the google and even purchase it...
what do you think about those two devices??

[carlos30]

that s**t doesn't work on adults, sorry. and mike mew is scammer.