I’ve spoken to many orthodontists, and all of them agree that as a purely technical device, 24-hour headgear wear is simply the best way to treat the common Class-II overbite.  Strap ‘em in, 24 hours a day, a few months later, perfect smile.  My orthodontist at the time of my 1st treatment also was of this school – “wear it as much as possible.  Wear it always”.  At the time I was so unhappy with my physical appearance, 24 hour headgear-wear to get me sorted out seemed like a small price to pay. 

Little did I know...   I hardly ever wore it after the first few months, and “hardly ever” turned to “never”.  This resulted in my having braces – 1st time round - for 5 years as opposed to the projected 2. 

Headgear is a great way to achieve results, but the fact is, its a great way TECHNICALLY.  Its a really crappy way practically, because all fetishies aside, wearing headgear is actually quite crap and downright unpleasant.  This is where this marvellous treatment breaks down, its a really horrible way to spend 2 years of your life.  Newer techniques, like surgeries, do the same job in a fraction of the time with 4-6 weeks of extreme discomfort requiring zero patient compliance as opposed to 2 years of socially awkward and protracted treatment that requires a lot of patient cooperation. 

Headgear, great tool that it is, is simply just not a viable option anymore, and as we have seen, is only used in extreme cases.