Rapid Palatal Expander anyone????

[momto2girls]

My daughter will be wearing braces on her top four front teeth so that there won't be any gaps in her front teeth once the expander does its job. I'm so glad that they are doing that! It will cost us $2000 for the expander and the four brackets (she has chosen pink ones ). It remains to be seen whether or not she will need full braces once the expander is finished, but I'm sure that she will end up needing them too.

 

[december]

I'm so new to all this. None of us (4 girls) had braces. One of my sisters probably needed them, but no way were my parents paying for it! She did have a retainer.

So they can do "brackets" with the expander. I'm sure dd8 would pick pink too!!!!

Thanks op for this thread-I'm learning so much here!

 

[tesa38]

hi Mary and everyone else whom applies to,

I read your thread and it hit home. my daugthers had two braces on her top two front teeth for about a mouth. weird only the two teeth, but denist says in time she'll get more. anyway 2 days ago when i brought her in for her appointment (which i thought she was getting her mouth piece, that she wares at home). she comes out with this thing in the rough of her mouth. i was scared. she wasn't, what a sport she has been through all of this. anyway the ortho dr. says she'll have it on for 28 days and i will have to do 1 turn a day. i knew she would probably have it on for a will, because it has these loups in front were her mouth piece will go. my daughter doesnt relize that she wont just have this on for 28 days, im scared when she finds out, and for how long, im not sure. anyway, she tried eating a blueberry muffin after she got in on and couldn't even eat a tiny bite. its extremly hard to eat. the last 2 days have been lots of mash potatoes, anything that is liquid . everytime she eats or drinks, its like shes snorting to get the liquid down. its very difficult for me to see her like this. shes bearing through it, but im loosing it, i sware. everything seems to get caught up in the top of this crazy mouth piece. i hope she eventually can eat solids. im ready to go buy some baby food. and they just went back to school . so lunch is fun. because she has to eat so slow the only thing she was able to eat today was a pudding. man, it was nice to see some of you whom either have gone through this, or are going through it. any thoughts or suggestions, or support would be greatly appreciated. love to get some of your thoughts and ideas.

tesa38

 

[disneygals]

3 kids...only one needed a palate expander. My dd was 9, after a week, she was fine. Great results, corrected her crossbite.

 

[bcvdreamer]

My ds (9) has had his for about 5 wks now. It's not a problem for him at all. The first night was a little hard because he couldn't find anything that he wanted to eat. I offered pudding and jello after dinner, but he wasn't interested.

Turning the key doesn't bother him at all. We turn it 3X a week, and I've never had to give him motrin. (dr. said that I may have to, but it just depends on the kid)

His only complaint is that he can't chew gum.

I do have to ask him to repeat a few words now and then.

I was worried about him not being able to keep it clean, since he constantly has to be reminded to brush his teeth, but they gave us two rinses for him to use after he eats, and at his check up they said that he's doing a good job of brushing.

 

[TaraPA]

mamamary - is this a permanent expander or a removeable one? DS11 has the removeable one because he has a nickel allergy - and let me tell you I'm about to beg the orthodontist to make it permanent - and let him suffer the consequences of the allergy!! My biggest stress in life since he got this in July has been this darn mouthpiece. He HATES (that's putting it mildly) wearing it & does everything in his power to "forget" to wear it. He has been grounded more in the last 6 months than he has been the whole rest of his life. At our last appointment they said the bottom one was finally expanded enough to put the braces on - BUT - the top one they turned all the way back to square one because here he wasn't clicking it all the way in, so it was doing absolutely nothing. He said it hurt so he just left it sort of hang in his mouth. So all that wasted time of me fighting with him. He should have had his braces on by now & we're starting over.

So if it's a permanent one - be glad!

 

[KATHINOWA]

My son had one put over 2 years ago. The first couple of days were rough but then it got easier. We both shed a lot of tears that first day. We did use tylenol when I turned it for a few days. Like previously said, it didn't hurt but there was pressure. I don't really remember but I think it was a couple of months turning it and then it stayed in longer. We had it removed and a few months later he had to have it put back in! We didn't have to turn it anymore though. It stayed in for a long time (I think like a year). The change in his mouth has been quite dramatic. We're still in phase 1 so we don't know if he'll need braces beyond the few he has in now. So far so good. He just went to ortho yesterday and everything looks great and we'll be back there in 4 months.

Regarding $$$, we paid upfront (insurance didn't cover ortho) for phase 1. I'm pretty sure it was around $2000. We haven't had to pay anything more since then. That covered expander, headgear, 4-6 braces on top, all visits, xrays. It covers everything until the decision is made that yes he needs full braces or no he doesn't.

Wow, long post. OP, I'm sure your son will be feeling better real soon!

 

[mamamary]

Hi everyone. I can't believe my son has had his expander since May. Just to let you all know that after one week he was pretty much back to normal. Now and again some food will get caught in it but other than that he doesn't even realize it's there. I thought he was supposed to get it removed in Nov. but he still has it. It is a permanent expander.

He has been wearing rubberbands on two teeth (going from the top of his mouth to the bottom) since last month and it is hard for him to remember to change them every two hours - esp. at school. He did get a talking to at his last visit that he hasn't been flossing. That has been our biggest battle so far. But I cannot believe how much his teeth have changed since May. It's amazing.

One thing I'm concerned about though. Our dental coverage is going to end at the end of May. DH got laid off. I'm not sure what is going to happen with the insurance coverage for his orthodontics. I have to look into that. I'm hoping not to get a huge bill but I have no idea.

 

[cloudy13006]

I have another question about this that I didn't see mentioned. At my 7yo daughter's last appt the ortho said she recommended a palate expander because her mouth is so tiny and her upper teeth are crowded. I was reading online about this and one of the things I read was that it can actually make the bridge of the nose wider??? It makes sense because it does widen the upper part of the mouth and the nose is right there but the idea of altering her sweet little face scares me, did anyone actually experience this side effect and is it a major change??? I know her face is going to change of course as she grows but I have this image of her ending up with a huge w-i-d-e nose Please tell me it is NOT that bad and I'm just being crazy!!

 

[Jessiebugkovacs]

I can't tell you I had a pleasant experience with mine. I was 16 when I got mine and my mom had to turn the key for me. There were many times that she cried just from the sound that it made and she knew that it was hurting me. I had mine for about a year and a half, and everything got stuck in it when I ate, my speech was horrible(spit when I talked, Sister Sally Sell Seashells by the Seashore was something I should have never tried.) I actually had a lisp for a while, thankfully I got it out just in time for a presentation I had to do for the senior graduation that year!

So it's tough at first but the end result is great

 

[S. C.]

Grandson had one when he was younger. One of his big teeth would not come in untill he had it. It hurt him bad the first time the key had to be turned. After that he never complained said it didn't hurt after the first time.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I had one in 6th grade, and I'm kind of getting a kick out of people talking about their kids being in so much pain. It really wasn't that bad. It hurt a bit sometimes, especially when you go to the ortho and they turn the key severa times in one sitting, but it really wasn't that bad at all. I think the worst part was getting it off. They crack the glue, and that is the most awful tasting stuff. My gums were sore from lack of use and I had this awful glue taste in my mouth. The only thing I would eat was a Chocolate Blast from Baskin Robbins (which I grabbed by the lid and spilled all over my father's brand new minivan- it was less than week old.) That was one of the worst days of middle school. Got that thing off, felt horrible because of the taste and having them crack it off my teeth, then got yelled at (and later apologized to) for spilling a large chocolate blast all over our new van. We laugh about it now.

Anyway, it was totally worth it. It did wonders for my massive overbite, and I can now look back on that time with humor. I do kind of get a kick that mine had all kinds of glitter in it when nobody ever really saw it.

 

[mamamary]

I have another question about this that I didn't see mentioned. At my 7yo daughter's last appt the ortho said she recommended a palate expander because her mouth is so tiny and her upper teeth are crowded. I was reading online about this and one of the things I read was that it can actually make the bridge of the nose wider??? It makes sense because it does widen the upper part of the mouth and the nose is right there but the idea of altering her sweet little face scares me, did anyone actually experience this side effect and is it a major change??? I know her face is going to change of course as she grows but I have this image of her ending up with a huge w-i-d-e nose Please tell me it is NOT that bad and I'm just being crazy!!

Hi. I hadn't heard about this one. So far in our case my son's nose is still perfectly fine. I hope that eases your mind a little bit.

 

[DeluxePrincess]

I had one when I was 14. The orthodontist is right. After a week, it gets much better. I never experienced "pain" from mine. It was more of an odd tingling. Trust me, if it hurt, my mom would have heard about it. I have no threshold for pain. It is very odd in the beginning. I had a hard time with food until my tongue could figure out what to do with the extra stuff stuck in my mouth. Again, after a week, I was used to it.20 years later and I am very glad that I had it all taken care of. It was worth it.

 

[minniebeth]

Everyone's experiences are different, but everyone I've known to have it, adjusts to it over time no problem regardless of what their experience with it is. Hang in there! It's great for kids who have them to talk about it, it's always great for them to share experiences!
The best part is how much they appreciate the good feeling of their mouth when it is removed!
My older two kids had it and are glad it is over, but are happy they were fortunate enough to be getting great orthodontic care...

 

[TaraPA]

cloudy - I had also not heard that it could change the width of your nose, but it makes sense. DS11 has had his on since July & there has been no change in his face at all (except for the obnoxious & rude comments coming out of it as he gets older.... )

 

[Mrs.Toad]

My 11yo dd got hers right before Christmas. It didn't really hurt her, but it bugged her for the first few days. Then she got used to talking, got the drooling under control and figured out how to sort of suck food out of it as she ate. We got her a Water Pik to help keep it clean. She didn't like when I had to turn it, because one of the first times, the key slipped out and I poked her in the back of the throat! So, always be very careful that the key is all the way in the hole!

Her nose doesn't seem to have become wider. I can see how it might happen, but in her case, if it did, it's not enough to be noticable. She did get a gap between her two front teeth as we turned it, but then it closed up again about 3 weeks after we stopped turning it.

 

[momto2girls]

My 11yo dd got hers right before Christmas. It didn't really hurt her, but it bugged her for the first few days. Then she got used to talking, got the drooling under control and figured out how to sort of suck food out of it as she ate. We got her a Water Pik to help keep it clean. She didn't like when I had to turn it, because one of the first times, the key slipped out and I poked her in the back of the throat! So, always be very careful that the key is all the way in the hole!

Her nose doesn't seem to have become wider. I can see how it might happen, but in her case, if it did, it's not enough to be noticable. She did get a gap between her two front teeth as we turned it, but then it closed up again about 3 weeks after we stopped turning it.

My 8 year old has had one for a month now. She dealt with it much better than I expected. She only had mild discomfort.

We had to turn it 21 times and so we're already finished. There is no noticeable change in the width of her nose. It did make a gap between her front teeth though. But now that we are done expanding her palate, they will pull the front teeth back together so she doesn't have a gap (they put braces on her top four center teeth when she got her expander). She will wear her expander for another 2-3 months (without turning it; just to hold her new palate in place) and she will get her braces off in the fall.

 

[DisneyKT]

Hi, My DD is nine and has one. This is the last week for turning it then on Monday we go to the Dentist to have it checked. The thing that bugged her the most was the food that would get caught underneath. So I bought her a rechargeable water pik. She loves it. She is not in any pain from turning the key..

Every kid is different. My friends DD had the same thing and all she did was moan and cry. Good Luck

 

[LisaNJ25]

My oldest got his at 14, He did great. Yes, he had pain but if it got bad we gave him a tylenol. He also had to have 4 teeth pulled. He is almost done with his braces and his teeth look great.

My 9yo just went to an ortho consult last week. She still hasn't lost her front top baby teeth. Turns out she has SuperNumary teeth. She has 5 teeth that are still in her gums and only needs 2 of the 5. Anyone have experience with that?

Insurance wont cover it because its phase one. Dentist is charging $3200 for this phase but dropped it to $2800 since she is the second child seeing him. If I would of known I would of made my fsa account larger.