Herbst Appliance

The Herbst® appliance reduces overjet by encouraging the lower jaw forward and the upper molars backward. This fixed appliance is used mostly for younger, growing patients and is worn for about 9-12 months.

At first, your mouth will feel unusually full and speaking will be awkward. If you practice reading aloud, your ordinary speech will return quickly. You may also notice more saliva than normal, but this will decrease as you become accustomed to the appliance.

Even though the Herbst appliance prevents the lower jaw from moving backward, opening and closing movement still occur easily and patients do not have any problems learning to chew their food with their lower jaw in this new position.