anyone ever have an expanderr
? My dd is getting one Friday. Are they awful? Will it hurt a lot?
I am really not looking forward to this. Her teeth are so awful that it has to be done.

By Colette on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 08:25 am:

Ds had one, and if I remember correctly he didn't have to wear it for to long. I gave him 2 advil before every ortho appointment just in case and we never had a problem.

By Tunnia on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 08:31 am:

My dd had her palate expander removed a couple of months ago. She wore it for 7 months and it wasn't bad at all. Her mouth was in the shape of a "U" and needed to go to the shape of a "C" so the expander had it's work cut out for it. She said that when I turned the key each day she felt slight pressure that went away quickly, but she felt no pain. It was uncomfortable the first couple of days after she got it, but not really painful. She took Tylenol the first day, but not for the rest of the time she wore the expander and let me tell you, she is a major wimp when it comes to pain and will ask for Tylenol for every little twinge. Tell your dd not to worry about it. It isn't even close to being as bad as it sounds. She will just need to keep it very, very, very clean. Oh, and don't you worry either. You will be amazed at what the expander can do in a short amount of time.

By Karen~admin on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 08:56 am:

Oldest DD had one before she got braces - same as Stacy, her mouth was in the shape of a *U* - as the orthodontist put it, *very narrow*. As with any trip to the orthodontist, there is some pain for a day or two until the mouth gets used to the appliances/adjustments. 3 of my 4 also had braces, and they all were sore/had some pain after each step of the hardware being put on their teeth/or adjustments, and they ate soft foods for a day or two and then were OK.

By Bellajoe on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 09:27 am:

Thank you all, you've really eased my mind. Bella's mouth is so narrow, and her teeth are so very crowded. So I know she NEEDS it, but she is so sensitive and such a wimp when it comes to any pain. She has spacers now, and she's done very well with them. I hope she does as well with the expander. I'm glad she is getting it before school starts, she will hopefully be used to it by then.

Thanks again for your help in easing my mind.

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 10:37 am:

I had one when I was 8 or so, because I had a VERY narrow mouth, and didn't have enough room for my teeth. My mom turned it twice a day with a key.

I *don't* mean to scare you, but I'm assuming you want honest opinions. It did hurt for me. Even now, nearly 20 years later, I remember that, but it was SO worth it. It's not agonizing, but it wasn't the most comfortable experience with orthodontics that I had, possibly because I was pretty young, and had such a small mouth. (To give you an idea, even AFTER the expander, and now as an adult, I have to use one of the smallest mouth plates for impressions.) I would describe the discomfort like having a frequent, dull headache, it will wax and wane, and it's manageable. So, like the moms said, some Tylenol or Motrin, and she will be FINE. I would just suggest preparing yourself for complaints, and sometimes tears, because I do remember crying and fighting my mom some days, and others it didn't seem so awful. It's probably scarier for you, since you have to actually be the one turning it, so make sure you stay calm, and both of you will be ok.

By Jackie on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 11:10 am:

My son had one when he was 7 1/2. He wore it for around 6 or 7 months. His mouth was sore for the first few days, then no big deal after that.

By Tarable on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 11:23 am:

My dd got her expander off about 6 months ago and she did have some discomfort.. Make sure you give advil before you go to the ortho (I suggest every time) And normally when I would turn it she would complain for about 15 min after then it would get more comfortable. There were never any tears or anything severe.. but my dd seems to have a pretty high pain tolerance.

Good luck I know it is scary!

By Kaye on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 11:28 am:

I am a little suprised at how young these kids are in orthodonitics. How old were they when they first went in to the ortho? How long will they be in appliances?

By Tonya on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 12:58 pm:

I am with Crystal sorry. I have to say I had one for a little less than a year and I hated it. Everytime they turned that key I cried. It gave me huge headaches and my mouth always hurt. Just be ready for her to cry. If she is not good with pain she will probably not be happy with you at all. Tylenol and motrin for sure. Especially before you do the key turning. Good luck.

By Bellajoe on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 02:43 pm:

ugh, I don't want to be the *mean* one and turn the key. I'm sure it's not as bad as I think it is. I'm sure she will have headaches with this thing. I am planning on keeping up on my supply of Tylenol/motrin for her. I'm going to try to keep her busy this weekend (she gets it on Friday) and hopefully it will help keep her mind off it. I'm guessing the day she gets it on will be the worst, just having in her mouth will bother me! I'm going to try to play it cool and act like it's no big deal but of course not fluff it off when she cries.

Kaye, Isabella is 9 and is just starting in ortho. Her dentist recommended that I take her because of how terribly crowded her teeth are. Her mouth is tiny but her teeth are BIG. The reason they start younger now is because if you wait, we will have to get several of her teeth pulled in order to make room for the teeth to move. Doing it now, we straighten her teeth as her mouth grows and not have to pull 4 or so teeth.
At least that's how I understand it.

When I worked for the orthodontist, I did learn that just because they have always done ortho one way, doesn't mean that's the only way you can do it.


BTW, Crystal, thank you for your honesty. I just wanted a heads up on what to expect!

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 03:00 pm:

Patti,

It sounds like you are handling it well. I'm sure you both will get through it, and soon it will just be a memory!

Just another heads up, avoid pulling healthy teeth if at all possible. Even though I started early with the palate expander, I still had 4 adult molars pulled as a pre-teen, before my braces were put on. This has caused me countless problems. I had weak enamel after my braces, so a lot of cavities and abcesses, and more teeth pulled as a teen because of it. Since I was already 4 short, I now don't have any healthy molars, and need extensive implants. This is an unusual situation, compounded by growing up with well water, but better safe than sorry. My biggest regret is having healthy teeth pulled when I really didn't have that much crowding.

By Tarable on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 04:21 pm:

Make sure that you plan on her eating soft food for a few days.. nothing hard to chew.. that was big thing with my dd.. lots of mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. I made the mistake of having plans on taking dd out to eat the night that she got the expander and she couldn't eat anything (it was her favorite steak place, dumb me), so that made it a little worse.

The best advice i can give is that you give motrin/tylenol before you go and then you can give the other after it is done.

Good luck. my dd made it through and it wasn't too bad on either of us. My dd's mouth is starting to look more and more beautiful and I know if we hadn't done this we would have had many extractions.

By Luvn29 on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 06:36 pm:

My son is nine, and we have had to pull his teeth because of his tiny little mouth! We couldn't wait for an expander to work with him because he had teeth waiting to come in. Two baby teeth would come out, and one permanent would fill the hole leaving no room for the other one. We were told that his teeth were getting ready to come through the gums above the other teeth, so we had to get them pulled. He will have one perm on each side, top and bottom, pulled.

The ortho didn't think braces or anything would help him at this time, and I totally agreed, though I was very surprised he didn't try to put him in braces. We go for our next appt. to get more x-rays done in early sept. so I feel your pain. It's so difficult to put our children through this!

By Vicki on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 07:01 pm:

Dd had to have 4 teeth pulled as well. Her mouth was/is just way too small and her teeth were too big. They didn't pull molars though. He said we could "try" the expander, but that he didn't think it would create enough room and it would also drastically change the shape of her face. She would have had to even wider than a "C" for all of her teeth to fit! Even with the 4 out, she has one 12 year molar that is being blocked by a tooth and she has to go have the gum opened up and a brace put on it to pull it up! This is after her root canal that she has to have Friday on a tooth they feel was never really formed correctly since birth! Then after the braces come off, we have to get the wisdom teeth out so there is no chance of them coming in because there will be no room and it will mess up all her teeth! She got her braces put on in January and I have told her that after all this money we have put in her mouth, she better have a smile on her face every time I see her. LOL

By Kaye on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 07:59 pm:

We had one opinion with my dd when she was 9 also. We heard the same thing. I wasn't sure I could do the expander, one of my friends had it when we were young and she complained and cried horribly. One of her complaints was that it made her nose feel weird..LOL

However we were moving, my dentist here said, well, you know they grow. So we waited, she had two rows of teeth for awhile (permanent teeth back and front), but by time she hit 6th grade her face really widened. We had her braces put on in between 6th and 7the. 18 months later we were done, her teeth are beautiful and we only had to do do 2 years of wires (6 months in retainers).

Anyway, I just understood the trend was going back to older, so it suprised me that so many here have young ones in braces.

By Pandamamaoo4 on Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 08:21 am:

Why ONLY 6 months in a retainer??? Our orth told DSH and I that a retainer is for LIFE!!!

Sure they dont have to wear it night and day but they still have to wear it some nights 4/5 nights....I told them it wont hurt at night....One is 20 and just got hers off in Jan and she only has to wear it at night but I still see it in her mouth during the day...She has the invisable one NOT the wire one...She says Mom & Dad PAID toooo much for me NOT to wear it and I had to wait toooo long to get them..Think we did something right with that one!!!
We had 2 in braces at the same time..MEGA money and still have one that will be needing them soon BUT she will have to wait...NO insurance right now!!

By Kaye on Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 08:46 am:

My dd wears hers at night, and some days still. She was told she didn't have to though. We had an invisible one, then a regular one, due to a mistake. Anyway, she really prefers the regular wire one, as it doesn't interfere with her eating/speaking as much..lol.

And on her bottom, we opted to have a pemanent retainer put in, so she has a single wire glued to the inside of her bottom teeth. This will remain until she has it taken off, sometimes it will eventually wear out the bonding. It is great!

By Crystal915 on Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 10:15 am:

I couldn't speak with my top retainer, which was removable. I had the wire bonded to my bottom teeth, and just had it removed a couple years ago, so it was on for about 7 years. Those teeth are still perfectly straight!

By Bellajoe on Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 11:00 am:

Bella has one tooth that has 2 adult teeth coming in underneath which is why she needs to get it pulled. It just won't come out.

retainers should be worn for life. Normally you wear it all day for so many months and then just wear it while you sleep. Mine was eaten by my dog, twice, when I was a teenager. My mom didn't buy another one after that and now my teeth are back to being crooked. Not as horrible as they were, but it does not look like I had braces.

She gets it tomorrow morning, i will let you know how it goes.

Tara thanks for reminding me to have her eat soft foods. I'm planning on pasta for tomorrow night. I have already gotten a few boxes of Macaroni and cheese for her too. I wish she'd eat mashed potatoes! How could you not like mashed potatoes?
thanks everyone