Cleaning under expanders/palatal arches

[Lisa65]

Those of you who have a bonded TPA or expander. How do you clean under it?

I've got a Nance which seems to attract bits of just about everything I eat. Because it's quite tight I can't really get the nozzle of my waterpik under it. I can just about wedge it partly under the front edge but I cant get to the back and it gets really nasty up there! I can't really thread floss through either because its right at the top of my mouth and I can't see what I'm doing.

I've also tried an interdental brush which again will go under the front but isn't long enough to reach right through to the back of it, and trying to get it in from the back almost chokes me!

I don't want festering food living up there for the next however many months and am desperately trying to think of a device which will do the job. I found the Lil Palates tool in the shop on this site but I live in the UK, and there doesn't seem to be a UK distributor for them.

Before I order some in desperation and pay for international shipping, I wonder if anyone else has come up with a home grown solution and if they're willing to share it?

Thanks

[cbushnaq]

I'm having the same problem as you. I have a plastic floss needle that the ortho game me for threading floss. The end of it is very thin and I can usually manage to move whatever is stuck to a different spot then use a water pic or tooth brush to dislodge it. But it is very slow going. I think I worked for about an hour last night getting something out. So far I have managed to always get it whatever is stuck out. Good luck and if you find something else that works let me know.

C.

[Wired1]

I used SuperFloss -- it has a long "self-needle" piece that can be threaded up and over. You'll have to get used to finding the end deep in your mouth, but if you push it far enough it'll hang down.

The foamy part did a pretty good job of getting stuff out. Sometimes it would take a bit of cha-cha'ing, but you eventually get it done. Worse comes to worse, you can (in the privacy of your own home) reverse blow through your expander and/or actively swish hot salt water and spit forcefully.

Okay, now I'll come really clean ... when I really got desperate I would use a 4" arrow vane. I'm an archer and we use these for outdoor shooting (use feather fletchings for indoor shooting). Anyway, I found that if I cut off the thick part of the vane that attaches to the arrow, I could slide the vane under my expander and clean out gunk. I'm sure I'll catch flack for this, but it worked. It's long, flexible, cleanable and throw-away-able. If you have an archery shop in your area, go visit and ask for 4" or 5" vanes. Normally you can buy just a few (like 3) and they are cheap. If you want to get some online, let me know where you are and I can give you distributor addresses.

Hope this helps!

[Lisa65]

I tried the superfloss but couldn't get it threaded through, it's too tight a gap for the stiffened end to go through without bending. But i did hit on a solution last night, which was one of those plastic cable ties. It has one smooth and one ridged side, so putting the smooth side uppermost against the roof of my mouth I was able to slide it right under and push out the bits of gunk!

I live in the UK. Perhaps I'll look out for some of those arrow vanes. they sound good, but in the meantime my cable tie should do the trick!

Thanks for your suggestions.

[Wired1]

Lisa65,

You are on home turf for archery! One of the best and nicest places is Quick's Archery with four stores to serve you in Waterlooville, Sapcote, Walton-on-Thames and Honiton. Or online at http://www.quicks.com/

That zip strip was a brilliant idea too!

[Lisa65]

Thanks Wired1! Waterlooville is only just up the road from me. Maybe i'll pop up there this weekend and stock up.