Palate Expander

[njmomtoone]

My son, 8 1/2, went for a cleaning last week at the dentist. The dentist recommened that we see an orthodontist (which I knew would would have to do in the future). I jsut didn't think so soon, I thougth 8 1/2 is still young. Anyway, she also mentioned the possibility of a palate expander. Anyone have kids that had one? Are they painful? I looked it up on line and they look like they can be painful.

I have an apt for 10/16 with an orthodonist that comes highly recommended by three families.

 

[DipsyDoodles]

My son, 8 1/2, went for a cleaning last week at the dentist. The dentist recommened that we see an orthodontist (which I knew would would have to do in the future). I jsut didn't think so soon, I thougth 8 1/2 is still young. Anyway, she also mentioned the possibility of a palate expander. Anyone have kids that had one? Are they painful? I looked it up on line and they look like they can be painful.

I have an apt for 10/16 with an orthodonist that comes highly recommended by three families.

My daughter got one at 8 years old and it's not painful. Takes a little getting used to but she never complained of pain. She had to have hers in for about a year and just had it removed recently. For the first few months you have to tighten it yourself with a little key they give you.

 

[njmomtoone]

My daughter got one at 8 years old and it's not painful. Takes a little getting used to but she never complained of pain. She had to have hers in for about a year and just had it removed recently. For the first few months you have to tighten it yourself with a little key they give you.

Did she go right into braces afterwards?

 

[stephbillalec]

My son got his expander at age 8.5. He wore it for about 9 months and is now wearing a retainer until all his permanent teeth come in so he can get braces put on.
My daughter currently has an expander that she had put on the month before she turned 7.
Neither child had any real issues/pain/discomfort with the expanders. You have to crank it with a key for a certain number of turns between each visit to the ortho. It's amazing watching the improvements in their smiles!
Good luck!

 

[Juliegirl1]

My son got his at 8.5 too. He never really complained of it hurting but sometimes after turning the key he wanted softer foods to eat that day or the next. He wore the expander for a while (orthodontist glued the "lock" so it wouldn't slip) and then got braces.

I had a bit of a learning curve with the key - I wasn't there for the explanation of how to do it and didn't do it right for a while. I also had a hard time seeing inside my kiddo's mouth to do it.

 

[RN01]

I had one of these when I had braces (25+ years ago?) They would put a key into it every so often and turn it, then wait awhile and turn it again. It never hurt. In fact I told them to not wait, just go ahead and turn it and get it done because I was tired of waiting

 

[Mommee]

DD (8) gets hers next month. I needed one and never got it-I now have a cross bite that would require extensive surgery to fix. My parents felt it didn't need fixing, but as an adult my teeth are now crumbling on one side of my mouth from the uneven bite

DD will wear the expander for a couple of months, then get upper braces with the expander still in. They'll put lower braces on once the expander is removed. She'll then wear retainers until all her adult teeth are in, and they'll re-evaluate at that time.

My youngest DD also has the narrow upper palate with a cross bite, so I'm just going to start saving my money now.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Hey ~ I had one of those, it wasn't painful at all.

 

[mommyto2]

My daughter had hers put in when she was about 8 1/2 years old. She complained a little in the beginning that her mouth hurt, so we gave her some pain medicine. No major pain though.

 

[simonsmom]

my DS had one at 9. no problems. with some kids they do 2 different phases of orthodontics. My Ds is now in phase II. (second time with braces),he had them on for about a year after the expander then off for a year or so then back on for 1 year. Supposedly it cuts down on the time they would have to wear them if you wait until they are older

 

[SaraJayne]

My DS had a palate expander put in a couple months before his 13th birthday. He only had to wear it for about 6 months (with headgear at bedtime) and we never touched it while he had it in.

He went directly into upper braces (where he's at now).

 

[TaraPA]

There are 2 options with palate expanders - permanent & removeable. Most people get the permanent, where it's placed in the mouth for a ceratin length of time, and you turn the key yourselves every so many days. DS13 had the removeable one (due to a nickel allergy) - so we could turn it while holding it in our hand, which seems easier to me. BUT then I was always nagging "Is your mouthpiece in? Is your mouthpiece in?" He wore it for about 10 months & then went right into braces for about 6 months. He never complained about it hurting. He now has the palate expander once again just at night.

 

[Vacation Lover]

My DD had an expander at age 9. She never complained that the expander was painful, but it was definitely annoying. She got food caught in in (between the expander and the roof of her mouth) and it was a pain to get out. My biggest annoyance was hearing the "slurping" sound she made when clearing out the saliva that built up in it. Sooo glad it's gone now! She had a retainer for a few months and now the orthodontist is just monitoring her; I'm not even sure she'll need braces--her teeth look much straighter to me!

 

[McKelly]

I had one as a child. The one thing I remember is not being able to pronounce words correctly. I remember the long a's and long e's being particularly troublesome. My parents didn't inform my teachers of the appliance I was wearing so two of my teachers thought I had a speech impediment. One of them finally asked me and then they all realized.

 

[JaymeC]

I had one at 9 or 10. It was a bit uncomfortable right after you expanded it, but other than that it was fine.

It also takes some getting used to be able to talk with the darn thing in, so honestly if you can schedule it I'd try to do it on a Friday to give the weekend to adjust and be able to speak somewhat normally

 

[mybabesuz]

My DS had THREE!
If they are going right into braces, I guess that's better.
My son had one when he was 8 for 6 months.
Then everything shifted back and a year later they said he needed to do it again.
They didn't put braces on so early back then.
So when he was 11 and ready for the braces, they had to do it a third time.
The ortho said he saw that problem a lot.
If it is done too early or braces are no put on it can shift back easily.

 

[southern_redhead]

My 8 yo DD has one. She got it at the beginning of the summer. She hasn't ever complained of pain after the first few days (and then it was more annoyance.) We don't have to turn anything, it is some sort of special metal and has tension built in and.......blah, blah ,blah. I don't know the orthodontist explained it all but what I know is we take her to him once a month to check it and give him $112 every month.

I do know that it is supposed to also help fill out her jawline which I'm glad for, I wish my parents had it done. OTOH, I'm not nearly as compliant as she is and would've driven my mother psycho with one!

 

[Diabolicdesire]

My DD had an expander at age 9. She never complained that the expander was painful, but it was definitely annoying. She got food caught in in (between the expander and the roof of her mouth) and it was a pain to get out. My biggest annoyance was hearing the "slurping" sound she made when clearing out the saliva that built up in it. Sooo glad it's gone now! She had a retainer for a few months and now the orthodontist is just monitoring her; I'm not even sure she'll need braces--her teeth look much straighter to me!

Oh I hated that slurping noise! My daughter would make it while trying to brush and clean it out !!!

DD had hers @ age 11. No real pain, just pressure sometimes after turning it.
She said the first time time they turned she heard a pop and that was kinds freaky to her but not painful.

 

[Swimalie]

I had one while in 5th grade so I was (thinking a long time back now...) 9 years old. I had it in for 4.5 months. The key was turned twice a day by either parent. At first it was once in the morning and once at night and eventually I could handle twice in the morning only. I went in to braces soon after since I had a large gap in between my two front top teeth. I call tell you that it my top jaw still isn't large enough but it's much better now.

 

[mjkacmom]

Sounds normal to me - the earlier they get the expander, the easier it is. Dd14 got hers around the age of 9, I believe, and it worked wonders. She had it on for about 2 years, and then got braces when her last baby tooth came out. She is still wearing braces - she has a small mouth, plus a crossbite. Almost done paying the $6500, and then we'll start with ds12 (who doesn't need an expander, or else that would've been done by now).