Metal Mouth Message Board

I really read and learned a lot on this forum prior to my 2nd appointment that was 3 days ago. When my orho said I need spacers I was like:I know all about it thank you,no need for explanations...
Unfortunately,I read a lot about certain nasty little wire called TPA...
So, I asked if I will need a TPA and to my great dissapointment I heard a positive answer. Than I said it is out of the question and that i do not want that thing and asked is there any alternative. Ortho said,Ok if you don't want it,we could put another band on 2nd molars or tube (i think he said that). The reason I am against it is the stories i read here,about problems with speech (unable to pronounce certain sounds) and sore tongues for weeks...The nature of my work cannot tolerate speech problems but I am scared that the molar bands won't do the trick of keeping the molars in place. (I have the 2nd biscupids extracted and have to pull front teeth back in order to close the gaps and reduce a big overjet.)
I would appreciate if all the TPA ppl here were to tell me how big your problemes were cause I'm still not sure what to do....

i had one in for about 6 months or so. Speech will be difficult at first, but after a week or so you will get used to it, believe me. You won't even know you wearing it after a while.

i had one in for about 6 months or so. Speech will be difficult at first, but after a week or so you will get used to it, believe me. You won't even know you wearing it after a while.

It sounds to me like you are confusing the TPA with the RPE. The RPE is a Rapid Palate Expander. It is uncomfortable, difficult to eat with, and very hard to talk with. The TPA is a Transpalatal arch. It is bascially just a wire that runs acrossed the top of your mouth and connects to the molars on each side. My son has one of these and it doesn't affect his speech at all. He had a pendulum appliance (very similar to the RPE that I currently am wearing) and for like 6 months we could hardly understand him. Since getting the pendulum out and the TPA in he says he doesn't even notice it and you cannot tell at all when he talks.

Most of the stuff I have read about the TPA has been very positive. I'm sure it would not be a big deal for you to wear it if it was necessary. I'm getting my RPE replaced with a TPA in 6 weeks. I'm absolutely ecstatic about it and can't wait.

Mia_cro, don't have a TPA but have had two x upper second bicuspids extracted to make room to pull back an overjet. No talk of TPA or any other appliance required, just another set of molar bands placed on my second molars and a thicker archwire went in. Apparently powerchains and elastics will do the job of pulling the overjet back.

Good luck!

Hi mia_cro,

I have a quad helix expander and I did have some minor speech problems the first 2-3 weeks. My tongue became sore after the first week and because I tried not using wax in hope that my tongue will toughen up on its own - big mistake - because of this, my tongue became more sore. I finally took KK's great advice and used wax on the area of the expander irritating my tongue and rinsed a few times a day with warm salt water. This did the trick.

I would say about 3 weeks after the placement of the expander, I was almost back to normal then 1 month after the placement of the expander everything was back to normal. I have had my expander for almost 3 months now and forget that I even have it, unless I am eating and that's not a big deal.

KK said her orthodontist advised to rinse with warm salt water daily throughout ortho treatment - sounds like good advice to me.

I do suggest you ask your orthodontist the pros and cons of using an expander vs. the alternative option he suggested to you. Also, keep in mind that everybody is different and ortho appliances that may irritate one person may be fine with another person. For example, I just had a minor problem chewing when I had the spacers, otherwise, it was not a problem to me.

I hope this info. helps.

Good luck and keep us posted.

ssfw

hi mia cro, i think i'm in the same situation. my ortho said i would probably need to use a tpa to keep my molars in place also beacause of the 2nd bicuspid extracted instead of the first. now, i have 2 molar bands on each corner of my mouth to keep them in place. my ortho told me she'd try to move it back first without the tpa to save me from the inconvenience. she's observing it right now and i'm hoping too that it works! i must say, she babies me too much.

Hi,

if your ortho wants to place a TPA, then your molar bands have these
little tubes on the inside to attach it. I think in most cases it is this way.
Otherwise it is welded to the bands. Now if your bands have these tubes,
then your ortho can very quickly install it. But, and this is my point here,
can also very quickly remove it too. So, if that is the case, I would try it for
some days or weeks. If it doesn't work, your ortho can remove it and
apply the other solution. I say this because I had a TPA too for about 6
months. It did not infuence my speech at all. I only had a very sore
tongue for some 2 weeks. Then suddenly all pain went away and I hardly
noticed it anymore. I even prefered it staying in when my ortho removed
it for some minutes. It felt like it supported my molars in some way. So,
it was not a bad experience for me. Only this initial pain and the fact that
a TPA is a real food trap. But with that too I could live ...

Hi I had the quad helix expander it sucked big time it was the worst part of braces for me. Luckily I only wore it for 7 weeks and then the ortho finshed me of with the direction he put my arch wire its amazing how much he has been able to do just with the wire. if you can avoid a expander I would !!!!! I hated mine
good luck Pinkdiamond

Day 1 - TPA placed, been a month and a half now. When I got home with this thing and tried to talk, I was flipping out. I could still talk clearly, but only if I went REAL slow. However, after a few weeks, I had pretty much recovered from my speach impedement. I really had no discomfort from the brackets at all and to this day, have never had to use wax, but the TPA sucked (slashing my tongue) for about a week. The challenge that still remains is eating with this thing. I admit that it has gotten much better, but I can't wait for it to be gone. I'm hoping these gaps will close quickly so I can be rid of it. I say that if your Ortho thinks you need it, give it a shot (and that means at least a month). If you don't necessarily need it, I sure wouldn't beg for it!

A big thanks to all of U for the suggestions and comments on your situtation. To keep you posted- I've been to my 2nd appointment yesterday and I DID NOT GET THE TPA!!!!!!!
I've got power chains instead and elastics....The 2nd one sucks,the pain woke me up at 6 am and I had to take it off... Plus,I really hope I'll get faster in putting them on,so far I'm pretty clumsy...
I think I'll put them only when I go to bed cause during the day I have to talk a lot and it's too painful...Just hope 8 hrs per day is enough....
Thank's again to ya all!!!!!