Metal Mouth Message Board

I am 47 and had an expander put in on Thursday, this is sunday and I'm in pain, my tongue is so sore and sides of mouth and it's so hard to eat, does this all go away? I have sores on tongue, I'm using a water pic, and Motrin. Help if there is any???? Gramsinbraces

Hi there. So sorry to hear the expander is really messing things up in there. I promise it does get better, if that is any consolation.

Some things that I found helped:
1. The mildly numbing mouthwash you can buy at the pharmacy/chemist and/or teething gel like bonjella
2. Warm salt water rinses obsessively
3. Drugs. Go the pain meds.
4. Limiting talking if you can. I think I had a card in my back pocket for a while that said "Can't speak. Large uncomfortable metal device in my mouth" or something similar which I would just whip out at colleagues (!). People may think your odd but hey, I'd rather be odd and in less pain.

Are you getting surgery as well? I wrote a little post which summarises my time with SARPE and the dreaded expander- you may or may not want to look at it: viewtopic.php?t=15504&highlight=

Best of luck. I really really promise it gets better

Hi went to doctor today and he packed my expander with wax and gave me a mouth rinse for pain and to help heal the sores on my tongue..I do have some relief now. Thank you for all your ideas and I will definately save your email. Hoping for a better tomorrow. Thank you ....

Don't worry fellow braced one, the pain does go away!

If I looked back on this website I would see my post re: this problem, back in July. I wanted to get it ripped out only hours after it went in! It is now December and the expander is out, my palette is wider and braces never felt so easy. The hardest thing about this experience thus far (5 months in) has been the expander. I found spacers no problem, tightening of the wires no real issue, but the grief the expander gave me was horrific.

You will get a sore tongue, you will have an imprint left on your tongue where the expander tends to rest, you will get food permanently stuck....BUT you will also get the perfect smile you are after, you will feel relieved once it comes out and you can talk properly again. Short term pain, long term gain for sure!! It never feels that easy when you are in the situation but looking back I am happy in metal at 27 years of age and would prefer them to stay in longer than estimated if it means the smile will last my lifetime!

My tips for the dreaded expander:
-Try not to talk so much, days in the office and round my boyfriend when I didn't say too much meant a pain free day!
-When resting, try to keep your mouth slightly open so your tongue is not resting on the expander.
-Sucking ice always felt great on a sore tongue!

Anyway, that’s my two pennies worth ) Stick with it!