Our Patients In Active Treatment

Headgear and Acrylic Cervico-Occipital (ACCO) Combination Appliance

Your headgear and ACCO appliances are designed to correct crowding and bite problems without the need for extraction of permanent teeth. Your cooperation, while not a guarantee, can and does often lead to a successful outcome. The more you wear your headgear and ACCO, the faster your treatment will progress and the sooner you will be able to stop wearing them, and the less likely that you will need to have permanent teeth extracted.

Follow these instructions for success:

1. Wear your ACCO twenty-four (24) hours per day EXCEPT while eating, brushing your teeth, or playing sports (including swimming). While wearing the ACCO try not to play with it; the ACCO works best when it is left in place, in close contact with your teeth. If you have to remove your ACCO for any reason, replace it when you are finished and make sure that the springs are properly in place. Ask us if you are not sure that you are replacing the ACCO properly in your mouth.
2. Wear the headgear at least the number of hours prescribed by your orthodontist every day. Generally, the more you wear the headgear the faster your teeth will move. Your teeth will not move if you don't wear the headgear for at least the minimum number of hours.
3. Connect the headgear to the ACCO with the elastic only during sleep-time hours. Use a new elastic every day.

Pre-Orthodontic Guidance | Active Patient Index