Palate Expanders

[Frostytiger87]

Hi , my teen has overcrowding with her teeth the dental hospital have advised fitting a palate expander followed by a brace .
I am concerned about the expander do they cause pain to start with ? And what are the spacers like before hand
any advice please ?

DS had one and coped with it fine. Wasn't too painful at all. DD will have one next year (she's quite happy about this after seeing her brother go through it with no issue) one of her best friends at school has one and is a very delicate flower. She has also coped fine, had to have Calpol for a couple of days after it was first fitted but it's making a huge difference very quickly and she gets on with her everyday life with it no problems. She's 9.

Aw Thankyou for your reply & reassurance my dd is 16 , things are quite delayed due to Covid
Ive got lots of questions for the orthodontist,one of which is can an expander change the shape of face ?
How did your child find the spacers ? I’ve been told they’ll be in for a week before the expander is fitted

Both my kids have had them. We were in America and they were around 10-12. They are not too bad in terms of discomfort and you twist a screw every night or other so it’s slow. But you can’t eat with them so they need to have a box to put them away. A pain when out in restaurants- the number of times I have to go and look for lost brace in a napkin!!
i would ask questions. Your child is much older, they work on the relative softer roof of mouth. Make sure they watch the alignement if top and bottom teeth. Also there’s a limit of the teeth sitting in the bone of the jaw. Like building a house on edge of foundations. I would question given age if really needed. If teeth are that crowded- removing adult teeth at the back would be better- it’s quicker and gives lots of space. Also think what happens when wisdom teeth come through.

My daughter needed both done. But I do wonder if we had been in Uk if the explander was really needed if in the end she just needed 4 teeth removed.

Thankyou so much for your reply , my daughter is under the care of the dental hospital they’ve said that an expander is necessary as her palate is very narrow so consequently limited space for adult teeth it will be fixed .
Did the expander change the shape of your children’s faces ?

I did read a post on here with a concerned mum saying that her child’s upper jaw was made too wide with an expander.
I will mention the things that you have said about wisdom teeth etc it’s greatly appreciated
I have made a note of questions so I’m ready .

I think I had one of these back in the early 90s. It was a removable brace that went around the back teeth only, with a little key that turned to widen.

It didn’t change the shape of my face.

Wearing the brace took a lot of getting used to. I remember taking a bite of food and being shocked to find that it all seemed to disappear under and around the plate in my palate. I don’t remember being told to remove it to eat but this was 30 years ago. But you do get used to it quickly. I don’t remember any pain. Having fixed braces tightened is much more painful, but can be managed with painkillers and it disappears within 24-48 hours.

And remember, the results really are worth it. My orthodontist was old school and didn’t believe in removing teeth to fix overcrowding. Which was a good job considering my wisdom teeth never came in - I would have had hardly any teeth 🤣