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Palate expanders (Palatal)


zeitgeist57

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My daughter is 8, and next week my wife wants me to go to the orthodontist to hear them talk about palate expanders. http://askanorthodontist.com/braces/what-is-a-rapid-palatal-expander/

 

As a kid I didn't need any braces, but my wife had them - I'm totally fine with that if necessary, and from the way her adult teeth are coming in we may need to go that route.

 

My older brother is an endodontist (admittedly not an orthodontist) and he says the vast majority of palate expander cases are not needed. In addition, I had a family member that had a PE and they almost couldn't close their lips for a year before they ended up getting braces to bring it back in...just seems like a lot of money to do what your body is going to do naturally.

 

I'm biased against this. Anyone have to deal with palate expanders for their kids or close cousins/nieces/nephews? Thanks!

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8 years old sounds ridiculously young for orthodontic work.

 

I may be a different case but I had braces in my early teens, then my wisdom teeth started fucking everything up. Had to have those surgically removed.

 

as much as I know it sucks having braces later rather than earlier in life, just be patient. there's no point in realigning her teeth and putting her through years of pain if she's just gonna need it again in a few years.

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The age is the toughest part, I had one for years before and during braces and it's annoying but not horrible in anyway. I have never met someone who had that work pre age 12 and benefited from it vs having it done at age 13-18. You gotta let the adult teeth settle before messing with them so much. My front 2 teeth were a freaking V at age 12 and straightened out by 13/14. What's her dentist saying?

 

Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

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I think with the advent of Obamacare as well as the insurance industry cutting what doctors and dentists are making, they are looking for new streams of income. There is no way, prior to the cutting of reimbursements, that the number palate expander's that they do today. Every medical sector is expanding the indications of everything. I am siding with you, that in many cases it's absolutely unnecessary.
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Had one of the vile things as a kid myself, absolutely hated it. It's like having some kind of medieval torture thing directly implanted in your mouth that your parents (usually your mother) take sadistic delight in cranking every morning. That said, expanders are generally used when kids are young not to help straighten the teeth they have right now, but to ensure sufficient space is available for the much larger adult teeth that will be erupting in the coming years. As it is, I still had my upper vampire canines pulled, but the upper wisdom teeth grew in without any problems at all (unlike my lower jaw, which didn't have an expander, and required removal of the wisdom teeth, and the two front incisors are somewhat twisted even after braces due to cramming).
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Clay,

 

Nice timing. My daughter is now 9. She is a petite girl and last year one of her teeth started coming in over her baby teeth. So snagle tooth-like. We took her to the ortho and she ended up having both upper and lower palate expanders put in. They did their thing and when there was more space, her teeth started going crooked. Apparently that is very common and why they usually go straight from palate expanders to braces. My girl got pretty blue braces put on last week. She will have them for the next +\- 2 years. In total we have spent about $3k and we will pay $150/month until the braces are off. It sucks but at least for my daughter it seemed necessary.

 

Of course today, she chipped a tooth at a birthday party:mad:

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I had one as a kid as well, they are uncomfortable. Although, if she truely needs one, it is easier for her to have one while she is younger as it is more painful when the child is older. I also had the bar after the expander (to hold them in place until they set I guess) for a while, it left a perminant impression on my tongue.
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I had one of those when I was 10, fucking hated it. Cranking that thing what was it once a week? To spread the teeth apart. Put a giant gap in my front teeth.

 

MY problem was I had a tooth growing in the wrong spot and they had to bring it down into the right spot with braces.

 

Getting the rings fitted around your teeth was the worst pain. You had to bite down to press the ring around the tooth and it feels like you are shoving a honda civic between your teeth.

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My older brother is an endodontist (admittedly not an orthodontist) and he says the vast majority of palate expander cases are not needed. In addition, I had a family member that had a PE and they almost couldn't close their lips for a year before they ended up getting braces to bring it back in...just seems like a lot of money to do what your body is going to do naturally.

 

I'm biased against this. Anyone have to deal with palate expanders for their kids or close cousins/nieces/nephews? Thanks!

 

My daughter had one and it helped a lot. She had it for about 6 months. It hurt initially but after a couple weeks she didn't notice anything. She now has braces (age 10). In her case it was due to sucking her thumb for several years. My son is due for one too in the next couple weeks(age 13). His need for braces is minimal as he just has a slight cross-bite, but we want him to have perfection too. :cool:

 

They go to Dr. Cook/Mess.

Save

Edited by TTQ B4U
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Smalls started her Braces journey just before turning 9. She had an Expander in for 4-6 weeks. Only expanded it for the first half. She NEVER had an issue or complained of it hurting.

 

While still in, she got the Brackets on. Once out, the first wires went on, then chains a few months later.

 

Here we are, a year later, no braces, and her teeth look AMAZING compared to the before pics! She does wear a retainer at night. There was no drama, no issues and no complications. Even she said she would do it again seeing the differences in smiles.

 

:thumbup:

 

KillJoy

 

PS - If you can't trust your Doctor, get a new one!

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I had one, but was 14 when I had it. I had my wisdom teeth removed at 13, and braces at 15. The expander was the worst part of all of them, it made it difficult to talk and eat.

 

If it's not 100% necessary and you'll end up with the same results as braces, save your kid the pain and embarrassment.

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I should clarify that the braces definitely aren't needed for a few years, this is just something "recommended".

 

Find a new orthodontist. NOW. Sounds like a money grab to me.

 

My opinion/experience-my teeth were semi jacked as a kid. Doc suggested to pull a few teeth (that had cavities due to an apple juice obsession) and see how it works out. It gave the room for my adult teeth to come in as my head and mouth grew. Teeth are now perfect, I mean perfect. Never had braces or a retainer.

 

You can correct teeth well into adult hood. To me, this is not far off of getting your daughter implants because she is not in a C cup by age 13. American's obsession with perfection is insane, and sad.

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Please post x-ray pics so everybody that is a dentist or stayed at Holiday Inn last night can make a real diagnosis. Your best bet is to just get a second opinion and not from a message board member who bases their opinion on whether or not their mouth hurt.
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Find a new orthodontist. NOW....

 

You can correct teeth well into adult hood. To me, this is not far off of getting your daughter implants because she is not in a C cup by age 13. American's obsession with perfection is insane, and sad.

 

I agree with the multiple opinions but disagree about the vanity part. We got 2 opinions. The biggest factor for us was my daughter had one tooth coming in through the gum in front of another tooth. Every kid is different but it was either fix it now or fix it later. Either way it was going to cost a lot and suck for her. It wasn't long before her teeth went crooked which goes to show the pressure teeth can put on each other. Our hope was doing the expanders and braces now will make the rest of her teeth come in straighter and not have as many issues later.

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Talk to your dentist or get a second opinion. My daughter had two of them due to her issues(cross bite, missing tooth) and her teeth look great today. She was around 8 years old when she got her first one, she had two of over the years until she got her braces in junior high. Hands down, great investment for my child, once they get to old you can't fix some of these issues.
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The biggest factor for us was my daughter had one tooth coming in through the gum in front of another tooth. .

 

That’s a different scenario. That's basically a legitimate medical issue. I doubt all of the people that slammed their kid in these things had a saber toothed kid.

 

I had a friend at work go from wow your teeth are horrid to 95% perfect in 1.5 years with these http://www.invisalign.com/. Makes me think a lot of this adolescent torture is avoidable.

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Took Daphne to orthodontist this morning at wife's recommendation. I stood there while they did the 6-month checkup.

 

Dr. takes a look and says that, at her last visit in November, they were concerned with how her teeth were coming in, but since she's had some adult teeth she looks much better and no concerns for expanders at this point.

 

Thanks, CR!

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