Palate Expander Advise/Support

[cinderellamom123]

Hi, my DD just got a palate expander on Monday. Pain wise, she is fine. The only problem is her eating. EVERYTHING is getting stuck on the roof of her mouth above the metal. She is trying to clean her mouth after each bite. She is driving me crazy. She only want yogurt or ice cream but since she has no pain I am encouraging her to try normal food chicken/bagels etc. Thank got I did this april vac. week but now I am thinking that I should have waited til the summer. I am looking for any eating advice.

Thanks

 

[mommy2twingles]

Give it a few days for her to get use t othe device and she will be fine. My son got his the beginning of March and the first week was very careful about what he ate. After that he had no problems with anything. Did they give you a rinse to use? My son has to use a Peroxodyl rinse 4 times a day while he has the expander in. This gets the food out from between the expander and the roof of the mouth.

 

[princessnoelly]

Get a water Pik. DD7 just had hers locked on Monday. She still won't eat something- fruit roll ups, some granola bars, etc. but is fine. It's an adjustment.

Slowly try moving her to other foods. We let DD pick food for the week. We had lentil soup, pasta, refried bean, etc. By the end of the week she wanted chicken and regular foods. For my DD it was the attention she got with the, "I can't eat THAT". When I gave up on trying she started eating everything again.

BTW, take a picture every night after you "crank it". I looked over the pictures the other day of how her face changed in the month- it's amazing how wide her face got! Plus, we have some really cute pictures of her smiling and just being her.

 

[uk_wildcat]

My son got his in February and he was the same way for the first few days. Now he eats everything except for sticky/chewy candy. Talking was also difficult for him at first, but now it isn't as bad. He still sounds a bit funny, especially when he wears the removable bottom expander.

 

[Fyrefly]

She'll just get used to it. All new appliances require you to learn new ways to talk, eat, spit, etc. and even if it seems simple to you she might be having a tough time till her body figures out how to use her tongue properly again. Bonus points - I remember when mine came out it took me a few hours to figure out how to swallow since I was used to bringing my tongue up against the expander instead of the roof of my mouth. So expect some issues every time there is a change - in or out!

One suggestion is if she is taking a drink of something then immediately eating, that could be making the problem a bit worse. Once I was at Chuck-E-Cheese back when I had my palate expander and I took a gulp of cold soda then a bite of cheese pizza. The soda chilled the metal of my palate expander down so when the cheese touched it, it immediately went cold and stuck to it! The more I tried to get it off the more it wrapped around the whole thing and my mom had to take me in the bathroom with various utensils to pry the stuff off!

So remember its metal, and cold can stick to metal. It might not be happening to the degree it did to me, but its a thought.

 

[PudgetteD]

I totally agree with other posters, it takes time to get used to it but all will be fine shortly. DS11 has had his for 6 months now and eats almost everything he did prior to getting it. He uses a waterpik at home and he has some small brushes, like pipecleaners with bushy ends, for after lunch at school. His teachers are great about giving him a few extra minutes after lunch to "brush". He does, however, have to take much smaller bites, which makes me happy because he had a bad habit of not wanting to cut up anything. . .LOL

 

[cinderellamom123]

Thanks for the great ideas. I especially like the picture one. She has been doing well. Had the second key turn today and she was a little sore after that. So glad I did this on a vacation week. Anyway, I am finding that she is more open to eating normal food in the middle of the day. First thing in the am and at night, she doesn't want to have to deal with it. I am glad there has been minimal pain. Your heart just breaks for them. In addition, she is a pretty skinny kid and I don't want her to loose weight. Right now I told her I got her a special soup from a restaurant because if I told her it is really cambells chicken noodle in a blender she would never eat it. She did have chicken, pasta, chips? rice etc today but only in really small amounts. Hopefully each day will get better but right now it seems overwhelming.

Thanks for all the responses.

 

[quentina]

My daughter got one a few months ago. Either use a water pick or the kitchen sink sprayer....spray it up there and the gook comes out. We do it after every meal.

 

[apnep]

Get a water Pik.

This. I got one for my daughter and she used it whenever she couldn't clean out the area with her special brushes. Don't worry, she just needs to get used to retraining her mouth how to work with that expander in her mouth. Pretty soon, you won't notice it.

My daughter has a retainer in her mouth now and I don't know if it is the retainer or not, but she keeps chewing with her mouth open and that is my BIGGEST pet peeve. I can't stand it!! I have to remind myself that it's probably the retainer but I'm constantly telling her to chew with her mouth closed, and I know she can, so, I don't know what's up.

And then there is my son who is contantly messing around with his rubber bands and I find them everywhere.

Oh, you're probably listening to her try to slurp the food out between the roof of her mouth and her expander, that takes some getting used to but seriously, you won't notice it after a while...Good luck!

 

[kimgg]

I feel your pain - my 8 year old was just recommended for an expander also and I am getting a second opinion this week - just to be sure. I do plan to wait until summer if he gets it, just for the reasons you stated. My son is also a skinny kid and picky eater, and I'm also worried about him losing any weight. Oh, and he's already in speech so I'm sure this is going to realllllly help that (not). Guess we gottan keep our sense of humor. I have messed up teeth that I had to spend a fortune on as an adult and they still don't look right to me, so I always wished my parents had taken care of them for me as a child, so I have to keep reminding myself of that.

to you.

 

[cinderellamom123]

[Oh, you're probably listening to her try to slurp the food out between the roof of her mouth and her expander, that takes some getting used to but seriously, you won't notice it after a while...Good luck![/QUOTE]

The sound is more like a cat trying to get up a hairball. Right now it is like nails on a chalkboard.