Saw this pic and immediately shuddered

[x]

anyone else have to wear the Frankel (FR) appliance as a kid? the mother of all internal appliances

[Tiny]

Looks like a torture device

[x]

Looks like a torture device

Functions like one too.

[Tiny]

Functions like one too.

Love how they've tried to jazz it up with green and glitter.  Like that would make it any more bearable

What's it for?

[x]

Love how they've tried to jazz it up with green and glitter.  Like that would make it any more bearable

What's it for?

treats all sorts of maloclussions

primary function that sets it apart from other appliances is it attempts to prevent the abnormal function of the muscles & lips that contribute to abnormal facial development (the superficial long face characteristics)

also pretty much ruined my pre-teen years and made me an outcast, not too many people want to talk someone with a huge hunk of metal in their mouth 

[Tiny]

I guess it doesn't work that well though, as you're considering surgery now.

It sucks how many of us went through orthodontic hell in our teens only to wind up needing jaw surgery 10-15 years later.  I think for most of us 25+, our parents didn't have braces so have no idea how awful they are, so we got subjected to all kinds of horrible devices.  We also didn't have easy access to information on the internet like we do now, so were dependant entirely on the whims of orthodontists

[Cmonster]

Holy crap that looks scary, and I had headgear- eeeps! Who makes these medieval contraptions of torture

[x]

Holy crap that looks scary, and I had headgear- eeeps! Who makes these medieval contraptions of torture

haha.

[strongjawman]

Looks crazay.