Herbst Appliance: A Non-compliant Skeletal Class II Corrector

The most frequently reported sagittal malocclusion is skeletal Class II with retrusive mandible. Improving the patient?s profile and correcting the occlusion by positioning the mandible forward is the treatment main objective. Functional orthopedic treatment seeks to correct malocclusions and oro-facial function. One main disadvantage of removable functional appliance is patient compliance. Thus evolved the "noncompliant functional appliances". Herbst is a fixed functional appliance which does not require patient cooperation and does not interfere in speech or mastication. This article reviews about the Herbst appliance design, duration of treatment, effects, modification, advantages and disadvantages of appliance.