Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello!
We are looking into braces for my 14 yr old dd. The ortho wants to do an expander that will take about 10 mnths, and then about 2 yrs of braces. My question is regarding expanders for a kid her age. Hasn't she grown too much by now to make it very effective? Are her bones too solid now to be moved well by an expander? What about the old way of just pulling a couple teeth to make room and then doing the braces? Is that an option anymore? Any parents out there with teens who have had expanders? Or had teeth pulled? Thanks so much!
Brenda

My 14 year old son got an expander in March and his results have been very good--he's scheduled to get it off next month and will have another year in braces. If you look around here you'll see many stories from adults in their twenties who have had an expander and gotten good results. Having teeth pulled is still an option but there are other ways that do not require the removal of otherwise healthy teeth.

i had an expander in my mouth when i was 14 years old.. (im only 15 now) and it was very effective.. works very quick! if you extract teeth then sometimes people's face will look caved in. anyways if the expander doesnt work then you can always extract teeth after that

Even adults into their mid-20s can successfully get expanders.

The palate doesn't totally solidify until after you are about 19 years old, and even then it depends on the individual.

I would also caution regarding getting your daughter's teeth extracted. Since you were given a choice, I would tell you to only do that as a last resort because it could negatively affect her facial features as she grows. The expander is a very good conservative alternative and will probably make her look better in the long run.

thank you all so much for your input! I guess I have been unsure about how pliable the palate would be at this later age. It sounds like the expander is the way to go. I am not very excited about starting the whole process, but I guess we're jumping in!
Thanks again
Brenda

I'm 24 years old and I'll be getting an expander (without surgery) to widen my palate. I'll have to take it slower than I would if I had gotten it done ten years ago, but he has had a lot of success even with people my age. As long as they keep a close eye on it, it should be fine. Good luck to both of you!

Lisa

My son had his at 13. We adjusted it twice daily for a few weeks and it opened up this big gap in his front teeth. I was impressed, his palette was very pliable!!

After the "adjustment" period of a couple weeks, the ortho wired the mechanism to keep it from adjusting. He had it in his mouth for about nine months and just had it removed a couple months ago.

If you go the expander route (no reason not to, keep those teeth if you can), don't be too shocked when your child gets the big gap. My son's closed within a couple months, so it was only temporary.

Erik