expander tomorrow! i'm scared!

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#1 Post by **camille** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 7:31 pm

tomorrow is the big day. i'm so scared! im mostly worried about talking....i've heard it gives a lisp and i've also heard it makes it hard to say u's and e's. i'm afraid that i'll gag on it too.... has anyone had one? is it very bad? *deep breaths*

#2 Post by **sportsgrl97** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 7:50 pm

no gagging... just trouble talking and u feel like u've gained 5 pounds in ur mouth... i had trouble with E's ALOT and u's too but not as much... for some reason i dont remember having that much trouble with S's but then again its been 1 1/2 years... good luck..

#3 Post by **flowrs04** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 8:35 pm

You'll be fine. I'v had my expander for a week now. I'm still having trouble talking but from the advice I've got from this awesome site, it will get better as weeks go by.

good luck!
Deb

#4 Post by **ssfw** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 11:55 pm

I have had my expander for 9 months and after the first 2 months I didn't even give it (the expander) a second thought. Placing the expander in your mouth is painless. The problems I had was from the constant rubbing, my tongue became sore but the warm saltwater rinses and sometimes using a cotton swab with hydrogen peroxide was a big help too and I also placed some wax on the expander to give my tongue some relief - all of this helped me. I know it was a matter of my mouth getting use to a foreign object. It did effect my speech initially and I found that talking slower was a big help. After a couple months my speech was back to normal and my tongue felt so much better.

Good luck.

ssfw

#5 Post by **iBorg** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 5:12 am

You mean you have to get used to Braces and foreign objects in your mouth for orthodontics?

He said dripping with sarcasm.

Best of luck to you.

Mike

#6 Post by **camille** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:03 am

Thanks for all the help! My appointment is in half an hour....I'll post when I get back! I just want to get this over with!!!

#7 Post by **Lisa65** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:05 am

Good luck, I'm sure you'll be fine.

#8 Post by **science teacher** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:16 am

I bet you didn't expect this but.....
I'M SO JEALOUS!
I have to wait til 10/31 for mine. I get fitted for it tomorrow.

kim

#9 Post by **camille** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 12:17 pm

I'm back! So here's what happened....They took out the spacers, then put it on without any glue. It felt (and still feels) extremely weird and uncomfortable. They adjusted it, took it out, then glued it in. THAT GLUE TASTES HORRIBLE!!! I still taste it and gag because it's so disgusting. As far as my speech, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I can say S just fine, but I'm having trouble with some U, E, and R words....like word. I cannot say word. I'm happy it's all over but I can't wait until I'm used to it.

#10 Post by **SDFD TSchott** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 12:43 pm

Congradulations glad to see your not having as many problems with it that you expected to have, other then that I'm glad I don't really have to go through that process. I guess all I have to deal with is braces, that horrible glue taste and bands

SDFD TSchott

#11 Post by **Gennel** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:48 pm

I just got my expander (bihelix) on my lowers put on yesterday. I did not feel pain until last night! UGH!!! I expected my banded molars would be sore.I was happy that the hooks werent cutting my tongue. This morning and all day long the part that curves like a paperclip on your molar keeps yanking my tongue . This only happens on my right side. Since I have 1 lower incisor that is pushed back,the edge of the expander does NOT rest just above my gumline behind my teeth. Instead it rests right against one of my lower front teeth so that teeth is also feeling pressure and hurts. So the U shaped edge is sort of floating instead of resting low under my tongue

does that make sense? I'm having some minor problems with certain words . I was talking most of the day but as of 6 pm I was just using hand signals because my tongue hurts soooo much because when I try to talk it looks like I have a mouthful of something .... I really hope this works because elastics did not work at getting my molars upright

Everyone who has gotten one of these has survived and said that " you'll get used to them and soon you'll forget it's even in there!

Gennel