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i guess upper expanders are more common, but does anyone have more info on lower ones? i've had my lower one in for about 3 weeks and i've finally stopped drooling so much! haha but, i was just wondering about progress and success with these. my top expander has had great success, so i'm really pleased with that
but by all powers of reasoning, the lower one looks like it's just pushing on my teeth and i've read you can't expand your lower jaw. . .obviously the top one is pushing on your palet (i think i spelled that wrong) and you can expand that. at least in 24 year olds and younger. ha. anyways, so if any here has ever had good success (or not good, though i don't want to hear that so much!) fill me in! thanks a bunch!
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to give a quick update. I went in today to get my upper and lower expanders. Unfortunately,I was only able to get the upper expander today because the lower one was incorrectly made. After I got my expander in, I went out and got a waterpik. I'm really glad I did because I ate lunch when I got home and a good amount of my food got stuck in my expander....This thing really limits my meal portions and it's a little difficult to enjoy food when you spend half the time trying to dislodge it from the expander. Yuck.. The waterpik was great but I couldn't help wonder what I can do to dislodge the food when I'm at work. I certainly can't travel around with my waterpik. What does everyone else do
hey, Peach, i had the same problem with my lower expander!! i got there and she tried to fit it in for 2 hours, during which time she ended up numbing my entire face b/c it hurt so bad =(
then she gave up and was like, they didn't make it right, we have to take a new mold and make a new one.
needless to say, i was pretty darn frustrated. but it's all good now, b/c the new one fit in perfectly, and only took a half hour to put in and no numbing =) yay!
It's been a few hours since I've had this thing on and I have to say...I really hate it. My tongue feels trapped. I can't touch the top of my mouth, which is a pain when I'm trying to swallow. Eating is such a chore. I've tried placing my food as far back toward my molars and I've tried drinking water and swishing it around. But it's no use...the food just gets lodged into the expander. I have no clue how I will handle this when I go to work and have to eat lunch. I also am having a gag reflex when I use my waterpik...I think I'm associating the loosened food particles with throw up... Don't get me wrong. I love the waterpik. It's become a good friend since nothing else seems to dislodge the food... Oh, and it's great fun...I've already sprayed myself in the eye At least my speech hasn't been too bad... I hope it doesn't get worse when I get the lower expander in 2 weeks.
Maia1orual, thanks for sharing your experience. You might want to check out the links that KK posted on the 1st page of this thread. I noticed 2 links were people who had lower expanders and they both reported success Sorry that I can't provide you with any other info. since I haven't gotten mine yet.
Well, today is day 3 with my upper expander . I called my orthodontic office and inquired about ways to dislodge the food in my expander when I'm at work or out eating. The person I spoke to didn't know of any portable waterpiks but had suggested using a monojet, which I could easily get from my dentist. She also suggested using my toothbrush and swishing water around in my mouth... Unfortunately that just hasn't done the trick for me. So I called my dental office and they provided me with two monojets. I thought that was great and went out to eat right afterwards to give it a test run but the monojet just wasn't strong enough to dislodge the delicious chicken that was clinging for dear life to my expander. I went home (a little disappointed with the experience) and used my waterpik. Later in the day I stopped by Target to check out the waterpik section again and came across a portable Interplak waterjet by Conair. It was 20 dollars and looked like it might work well. I tried it out today and it had a descent amount of water pressure . It's not as fantastic as my Ultra Waterpik but it's pretty handy and easy to transport (It fits very easily into a small bag). You don't have to worry about having an outlet available when you're out. You just charge it up at night and then it's ready to go the next day. Just wanted to pass on my find.
I am at the end of day 2 with my Quad Helix Upper, and Bi Helix Lower and I'm going insane. I can't talk. My tongue is swollen and thrashed. I can only eat liquid foods, no chewing, and all my tongue does is hit the metal bar when I try and swallow.
Is there any relief in sight? I just spend the best $50 of my life buying orajel, dental wax, and food picks and mirrors with lights and anything that looked like it might relieve my pain.
My biggest worry is my swollen tongue... How do I help that? Will it go away?
I don't get banded for another 2-3 months, but I have to have these things in for a total of 6. I'm so frustrated, near breaking down. I didn't know how hard it would be.
Can I wrap dental wax all the way around my appliance? I keep finding that as I'm sleeping, my tongue is resting on the bars of the Bi Helix and cutting into my tongue. I have a perma-impression of the bar on the underside.
So painful.
Thank you for your response. It helps to just talk about how frustrating it is, and to get positive feedback.
It sounds like you're having a rough time. I just got my upper expander and will have my lower expander on July 3rd... I haven't experienced a swollen tongue but have managed to poke my tongue a few times at night on the expander...OUCH! I also have sores on the inside of my cheeks near the molar band hooks... I can relate to how annoying it is to swallow... I also have noticed some imprints on my tongue, which hits my expander each time I swallow... Try the warm salt water rinses that KK has suggested... You might also want to try Colgate Peroxyl...It doesn't taste bad and it seems to relieve some of the soreness... If you're still having problems with the swollen tongue, call your orthodontist and ask if this is normal. I'm guessing that once the swelling goes down, your speech will get better. I noticed that my speech gets worse if I think about it too much... I try to relax my mouth.... Also I've been practicing speaking out loud. I hear from others on this site that you will get use to the expanders. Good luck.
My tongue has been so battered this weekend, I could barely even drink water. Vicodin was the only option. Once the sores and swelling go down, I think I'll be fine (because I can eat, talk, and everything when it doesn't actually hurt). I just hate the way it makes me feel.
I've been doing the recommended salt water rinses, hydrogen peroxide, and everything. Thank you for those suggestions, I'm sure things would be a lot worse without that. I've got a variety of bruises on my tongue, which hopefully will either go away or callous up... eventually.
2% lidocaine gel has been prescribed by my dentist and the pain is now going away. It's the same stuff they put on your gum before they shoot you up with novocaine.
It's been almost two months since I had the upper and lower expanders put in. All in all it's not been too terribly bad. I'm use to talking with it although when singing I find I have to swallow much more because of the saliva.
Now that I'm actually "expanding" due to turning the key the right way...LOL! I'm finding my tongue is getting little cuts on it because as the expander expands it's leaving separation of the acrylic on the roof of my mouth with the metal etc. and my tongue is getting cuts...and it is so sore right now. I've been doing the saltwater rinses and suing Peroxly but it's still sore. The only foods that don't hurt are soft mushy foods. Right now I only want to eat ice cream, mashed potatoes and cottage cheese...although I don't limit myself to just that but that's what feels good right now. Also where the expander bands are around the teeth there are those little hooks where rubber bands will attach and I'm thinking that as my teeth move outward these little things are hooking up on my lips now, so I just brought out the wax again. My teeth go through periods of soreness espcially on the bottom, about once a week...I don't do anything to the bottom expander...I'm curious with the springs how it decides to move. Hmmmmm....
Lower Jaw Advancement & Mentoplasty- Dec 31st...Happy New Year!!!
I've had my expander for almost 3 months and i honestly have found the experience horrible. I couldn't talk or eat for the first 2 weeks, and then after I learned how to talk and eat, the expander cut into my tongue so bad that it was swollen, making so painful that I had trouble talking and eating again. The turning of the key wasn't painful, it was just the cuts on my tongue that made me hate this expander so much. This last month has been a lot better, since i've stopped turning the key, the expander isn't cutting into my tongue, so I can talk and eat basically with no problem. Food still gets stuck sometimes, and ocassionally I trip over my words if i start talking fast, but now it just a minor annoyance to me instead of causing me pain. I've also lost 15 pounds since i've had the expander in my mouth, since I eat a lot slower, making so I don't eat as much as I use to. I don't know if that's a bad thing or a good thing.
I'm having a little bit of a problem with my expander. I only need to turn it 2 times a week and my husband turned it for me last time. When he tried to turn it today, he couldn't get the key to connect well with the hole. I looked and the hole is visable but we just can't seem to get the key to make a good connection so that we can turn it. I think it might be because the hole (while visible) is on a slight tilt. I know I'm not the first to deal with this so does anyone have any suggestions?
This happened to me many times. There were times when I had to have my husband and both of my sons try before we could get the key in again. It took a lot of patience and a lot of angling in different directions sometimes to get the key in the hole. If you feel like you just can't get it you can go to your ortho's office and they will line it up for you.
Don't get me wrong. I love the waterpik. It's become a good friend since nothing else seems to dislodge the food... Oh, and it's great fun...I've already sprayed myself in the eye 
At least my speech hasn't been too bad... I hope it doesn't get worse when I get the lower expander in 2 weeks. 
Sorry that I can't provide you with any other info. since I haven't gotten mine yet.
. I called my orthodontic office and inquired about ways to dislodge the food in my expander when I'm at work or out eating. The person I spoke to didn't know of any portable waterpiks but had suggested using a monojet, which I could easily get from my dentist. She also suggested using my toothbrush and swishing water around in my mouth... Unfortunately that just hasn't done the trick for me. So I called my dental office and they provided me with two monojets. I thought that was great and went out to eat right afterwards to give it a test run but the monojet just wasn't strong enough to dislodge the delicious chicken that was clinging for dear life to my expander. I went home (a little disappointed 
with the experience) and used my waterpik. Later in the day I stopped by Target to check out the waterpik section again and came across a portable Interplak waterjet by Conair. It was 20 dollars and looked like it might work well. I tried it out today and it had a descent amount of water pressure 
. It's not as fantastic as my Ultra Waterpik but it's pretty handy and easy to transport (It fits very easily into a small bag). You don't have to worry about having an outlet available when you're out. You just charge it up at night and then it's ready to go the next day. Just wanted to pass on my find.
I can relate to how annoying it is to swallow... I also have noticed some imprints on my tongue, which hits my expander each time I swallow... Try the warm salt water rinses that KK has suggested... You might also want to try Colgate Peroxyl...It doesn't taste bad and it seems to relieve some of the soreness... If you're still having problems with the swollen tongue, call your orthodontist and ask if this is normal. I'm guessing that once the swelling goes down, your speech will get better. I noticed that my speech gets worse if I think about it too much... I try to relax my mouth.... Also I've been practicing speaking out loud. I hear from others on this site that you will get use to the expanders. Good luck.
:):)