Dental palate expander

[Frostytiger87]

Hi has anyone’s teen been fitted with a dental palate expander ? My child has a narrow palate and bit of over bite so it’s been recommended
I’m just really asking how your child got on with it

Is that the same as blocks? DD had them, took a bit of getting used to. the main thing was to wear them all the time including eating as it's then when you get the most benefit.

My Eldest had upper expansion to correct her underbite and it also dropped the high palate. Meant she could breath through her nose properly for the first time too and stopped snoring!

Thankyou for your replies , It’ll be a quad helix fixed expander , the first step is spacers for a week between the teeth my child doesn’t deal with discomfort very well , the expander would stay in for 6-9 months 🙈then it’s braces

I could be wrong but I think this is what both my daughters had for over crowded teeth. It fit into the roof of their mouth and was followed up with "train-track" braces. It has to be adjusted every few days. Poor girls really suffered. It was very uncomfortable. The eldest had to wear face gear at night too. It took years but she has beautiful teeth now. The youngest ones teeth moved very quickly but as soon as the expander and braces were removed her teeth reverted back to crowded and crooked.

The dentist was from Texas and worked on the basis of making the mouth fit the teeth rather than extracting teeth to make the teeth fit the mouth.

I’m so sorry to hear this , your poor daughters the pain is my big concern my child doesn’t have bad over crowding just a little bit of an over bite and crooked teeth . The palate is very small
she is under the care of the dental hospital and in a crucial A level year , I’m so tempted to get a second opinion

Due to useless dentist my son DIDNT get one. As a result he needed to wear full on headgear for 12 months. He now has 2.5 years of braces to look forward to.

A friend’s husband has just had major jaw surgery due to an issue that could have been corrected easily when he was a teen.

It’s a big thing for sure so get a second opinion if fit will make you & him more comfortable.

My daughter has been told (NHS)that she needs 4 permanent teeth out then braces (after recently wearing twin blocks for a year to correct overbite and receding lower jaw. )
I’ve asked about palatial expanding instead of extraction and have been told no because the roots maybe too short and may cause issue later. Husband and I not happy about removing 4 healthy teeth and want second opinion. Questions are if anyone can help please:

1. any recommendations for palatial expansion orthodontist expert to see (in South of England preferably as it’s where we are at the mo)
2. I’ve heard cut off for expansion in girls is 14 as bone hardens off, anyone had this done later?
3. anyone know if treatment can still be done (ie. braces to straighten/allign bite )WITHOUT extraction and for it to work out? Any drawbacks?

Finding a good orthodontic second opinion is really most important. Any help would be so appreciated.

My dd has just had a pallet expander, but she’s much younger - only 8. It was sore for a couple of days but she’s managed remarkably well. She keeps it in most of the time but does have to take it out to eat though. The orthodontist was happy with that.

Thanks @DanceMumTaxi Did you use any specific orthodontist or is this an NHS one?
Hope it’s going well for her.

It’s NHS treatment but it’s at an orthodontic practice that provides both private and NHS. We were referred via our dentist and it’s in the same town.

My son had one when he was 8 or 9, we had to twist it every few days he was fine with it and between this and twin blocks it made a massive difference to his face and bite. Still has train tracks on now and the change is huge!

Thanks @Jenjen21 I’m beginning to think it’s something that’s done at a young age and we’ve missed the boat on this :(
Really don’t want her having healthy teeth removed but all the orthodontists we’ve seen have said extraction. There has to be another way.

Hiya
How old was your child when they had this please
And was this done privately or via NHS

Hi
How old was your child when they had this please

they haven’t had it @Starryi I’m asking via this post for anyone whose child HAS had it.

Ds had this

It was fine

On for about six months

We had to adjust it for the first month

His teeth are straighter now (they weren't really crooked before though)

My son (8) currently has an upper and lower expander. He is fine with them. Doesn’t complain at all and just says it feels a little tighter for a few hours after I’ve done the weekly gear turn

@Lotusflower75 how old is your DD? Mine was 11 when she had twin block braces which incorporated a palate expander. That was followed by fixed braces for just under a year. Most of her friends who have ended up with fixed braces didn't get them until they were quite a bit older than she was, mostly because she had all her adult teeth by the time she was eleven. The orthodontist did say the jaw movement (with the twin blocks) works best when started before/during puberty.

Presumably your DD has had x-rays done so the orthodontists recommending extraction will have a good idea of the position of the roots of the teeth they want to extract? Every teen I know who has had teeth extracted has benefited from having fewer teeth to fit in their mouth. I can't think of a single child who was offered a choice between extraction and palate expansion, probably because those procedures achieve something different...

Hi @SE13Mummy thank you that’s really interesting and useful information. My DD is 13 & had twin blocks age 12 due to Covid back logs. I suspect she’d have had them earlier but lock down prevented that.
The reasoning behind my thinking is based on research I’ve done and it would appear that in the US expansion is favoured over extraction because extracting healthy teeth can alter face shape, jaw alignment and possibly lead to TMJ/bruxism in later. I had extraction of healthy teeth (4 pre molars and wisdom teeth,). & now have chronic bruxism and very narrow arch which has narrowed more with age.
i just cannot understand the need to remove healthy teeth in this country when in other countries its avoided and expansion methods favoured.
Xrays have been done and they’ve shown overcrowding yes hence their decision.