Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi everyone.

Let me first start out by saying, the expander does help many people. The problem we're experiencing with the expander may be more of receiving bad advice (?) and my bad judgement.

I have a real concern that I'm hoping someone can help me with. My 7 yo daughter had an expander put in and is now on day 9 out of 14 in the turning process. When the assistant was showing me what to do and when to do it, she said turn once in the am and pm, OR twice in the pm so she can sleep through the worst of it. Hey, who wouldn't want to help their child by choosing option 2 if it helps them with the pain, right?

Obviously, in the first few nights, she felt some pain but then was fine. About day 7, on the first turn, she screamed, started kicking her feet, and began to cry. I had to finish the turn, and then checked on her. The pain she felt was all on the left side, where the bracket is. Coincidentally, or not, she began to have a small nose bleed on that side as well. She was fine the next morning so I chose to wait to see how the next turning went. Yes, I went against my better judgement and waited to call the ortho.

Day 8, we did the two turns with much less pain but it was definitely a "tighter" turn. When done, I took a good look at the teeth that had the brackets on and noticed that they were being pushed out at an angle. They were not like this before. And, yes. I still didn't call!

Day 9, I chose to do only one turn, and this morning, Day 10, I woke up early thinking, "What a dope! I could be causing her permanent damage." The gap between her front teeth is no longer getting wider because, it seems, the teeth with the brackets are taking the brunt of the force and are being pushed out instead.

I'm calling the ortho as soon as they open. It's only 7am. I chose to do a search to see if there's any info on anything like this before. I came across this site and am hoping that someone out there might have some bit of info or personal experience that can help me. At least until I get a chance to contact the ortho.

On a side note, if you look at the expander, there are two wires that follow the roof of the mouth from the expander itself to the back of the front teeth. The wire on the left was just a little shorter, not exactly touching the back of the teeth, but the one on the right was and seemed to be irritating the tissue. I took her in so they could take a look at it and the ortho bent the wire just a little so it wasn't pressing against the roof anymore. It was only after this that the problems began.

As soon as I have any information, I'll post. Hopefully it will help anyone else that may be facing the same thing, or even prevent them from ever getting there in the first place.

BTW,has anyone else received the advice of doing 2 turns at night? Right now, I'm truly regretting it. Hopefully, the damage isn't permanent or won't need surgery or anything.

I'm just glad I have this board to come to.

Thank you for putting it together.

crysk_68

Okay, just got off the phone with someone. She's going to see the ortho tomorrow but they recommend doing at least one turn this evening.

She's not familiar with the problem we're having. I don't know if she was an assistant or not but I feel better knowing we'll be in to have it checked out.

On a good note, she said as long as we do one turn a day, completing all 28 before August 23rd, we're fine. Also, she doesn't believe the nosebleed had anything to do with turning the key. I'll still verify that with the ortho, however.

Breathing a big sigh of relief now but still anxiously waiting.

Glad to hear your getting into the ortho...keep us updated!

My daughter's expander is turned only once per day, every other day. Not very helpful as I'll assume there's medical reason yours is turned 4x's as much, could be different appliance, could be different age (my daughter is almost 9), could be different approach.

I'm a big believer in asking your medical professional questions so follow you instinct and do so.

Best wishes to you and yours!

Well...she's fine!

They've added 6 more days of turning, however.

The ortho said there's nothing wrong with doing 2 turns at one time, but I am going to split them up anyway.

Also, he believes the timing of her nose bleed was just coincidence. There have been no other occurences.

The bracketed (banded) teeth the expander's attached to will push out at an angle as the key is turned. Apparantely that's normal but I've not heard mention about it anywhere so I hope that this info will comfort someone else.

Reina, the turns can be done every other day as well as any other combination. However, the ortho said it seems easier to track using the 2x 14 day schedule.

I had a SARPE done in March 04. I realize I am an adult whereas your daughter is an adolescent, but I had similar effects with my expander. My back teeth were tipped a little outwards, too. Also, my surgeon had me turning 4x a day for only a week. I was worried about the number of turns and spoke with my ortho and he said it was fine. He preferred to space them out over 2 weeks, but it wouldn't hurt anything if that's what the surgeons wanted. So, everything (except the nosebleed) sounds about right. The tipping will be corrected once the expander comes out.

Good luck to you and your daughter. I feel the expander and the silly gap is the worst of it. Once that's done everything else seems easy.

well im 14 and had an expander at 13. i never had a problem turning it. and it turned it 2 times a day for about 2 months.
I'm not sure wat is cuasing your daughter such pain.
Altho i did notice if your sinus's are stuffy from alergies or such,...you do feel quite a bit more pressure...i don't know if this helps but..