Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello,

I just got my upper brackets on last week, and had impressions/bands sized for a quad helix expander which will be going in about 3 weeks from now. I have a narrow palate/crossbite, and, as per my ortho's plan, am NOT having expansion surgery or any extractions (I also have all of my wisdom teeth).
As I will be turning 35 in a few weeks, I am just wondering what this is going to be like for me. My ortho estimates that it will be in for around 6 months.

If anyone over 30 has had a quad helix in for expansion, I would appreciate any feedback you can give me:

How long did it take you to get used to it?
Was your speech altered at all? If so, for how long?
Was eating a real nightmare?
How long did you have to have it in for?
Was it really effective in widening your smile?

Thanks everyone!

Hi Blonde - welcome!

I'm 27 and I've had my quad helix in for four weeks, I'll try to help out since no one else has replied yet.

1. It took a solid 2 weeks before I became fairly accustomed to the apparatus.
2. I'll be honest, even after 4 weeks I have difficulty annunciating certain words. The first few days I was very embarrassed but as long as you focus on what is coming out of your mouth most people won't notice.
3. Again, being honest, eating was very VERY awkward the first few days. It took 1-2 weeks before I got used to it.
4. My ortho says I'll need it for about 5 months. Coincidentally I'm getting married nearly exactly 5 months after having this piece of hardware installed. Two days after that I'm going on a two week honeymoon in Jamaica. I really, really, hope to have it removed by then but I won't hold my breath

Hopefully this doesn't scare you, I felt a little overwhelmed after having it installed and started second guessing what I was doing. Keep your chin up and remember that this it is just a means to an end. I've hardly experienced any pain with my quad helix so at least that's some good news for you. Give it a week or two and you won't hardly think about it.

IceBlonde wrote:Hello,

I just got my upper brackets on last week, and had impressions/bands sized for a quad helix expander which will be going in about 3 weeks from now. I have a narrow palate/crossbite, and, as per my ortho's plan, am NOT having expansion surgery or any extractions (I also have all of my wisdom teeth).
As I will be turning 35 in a few weeks, I am just wondering what this is going to be like for me. My ortho estimates that it will be in for around 6 months.

If anyone over 30 has had a quad helix in for expansion, I would appreciate any feedback you can give me:

How long did it take you to get used to it?
Was your speech altered at all? If so, for how long?
Was eating a real nightmare?
How long did you have to have it in for?
Was it really effective in widening your smile?

Thanks everyone!

Hi,

Thanks for the reply! I will admit that I was really concerned about the fact that no one had replied to me I guess I am a bit nervous because I haven't found much info for adults over 30 being treated with quad helix appliances...My ortho is very confident, and says he has used these in adult patients because of the very gradual expansion that is necessary. LOL, he told me that I would probably talk funny for "about an hour", but it wouldn't be that bad (hmmm, something tells me that he hasn't had one of these things in his mouth before...)

So, I guess I will just have to expect the worst, and then I can be pleasantly surprised if I find that it's not that bad

I am getting it put in the day before my birthday, and had to check with my boyfriend to see if he had booked a dinner at a fancy restaurant first, LOL. We are going to have the dinner BEFORE I have it in.

I hope you do get yours out before your wedding! I am not married or even engaged yet, but it did occur to me that if I do get married within the next 2 yrs, I will be in braces! Oh well, I guess I can smile with my mouth closed for pix...

Thanks again for the reply!
IceBlonde

My ortho also said I would only have trouble taking for an hour or so - definitely not the case for me. I noticed that not all quad helix expanders go behind all of the teeth like mine. If yours doesn't cover your front-most teeth I think it will be a lot easier to talk normally. Similarly, my ortho is very respected in my area and he claims to use quad helix expanders all the time with adults. For you and me both I hope they are right! Good luck.

IceBlonde wrote:Hi,

Thanks for the reply! I will admit that I was really concerned about the fact that no one had replied to me I guess I am a bit nervous because I haven't found much info for adults over 30 being treated with quad helix appliances...My ortho is very confident, and says he has used these in adult patients because of the very gradual expansion that is necessary. LOL, he told me that I would probably talk funny for "about an hour", but it wouldn't be that bad (hmmm, something tells me that he hasn't had one of these things in his mouth before...)

So, I guess I will just have to expect the worst, and then I can be pleasantly surprised if I find that it's not that bad

I am getting it put in the day before my birthday, and had to check with my boyfriend to see if he had booked a dinner at a fancy restaurant first, LOL. We are going to have the dinner BEFORE I have it in.

I hope you do get yours out before your wedding! I am not married or even engaged yet, but it did occur to me that if I do get married within the next 2 yrs, I will be in braces! Oh well, I guess I can smile with my mouth closed for pix...

Thanks again for the reply!
IceBlonde

Hmmm, it's going to be interesting to see what my expander is going to look like. I have a crossbite/open bite situation, but my 2 front teeth are perfectly straight, to the point that he put those 2 brackets super close to each other so they wouldn't move at all. My side teeth are the ones that really have to round out to match my bottom bite, which isn't that bad (I don't even have my bottom brackets on yet).

Maybe I will luck out and get one that is not near my front teeth as much

I don't think I asked you about the pain factor; did you experience any pain/discomfort? Any sores in your mouth from this thing?

Thanks!
IceBlonde

Pain hasn't been that bad. A few teeth that the metal wire pushes against were tender for a few days. The piece of metal that anchors to my molars sticks out to the sides a bit so that irritated my cheeks slightly. I'd say the most uncomfortable part of the quad helix has been a sore tongue. Some days I would wake up and my tongue would be very sore from pushing against the metal wire. That went away after a couple weeks for me - I'm not sure if my tongue got tougher or I learned now to press it against the metal wire as much.

IceBlonde wrote:Hmmm, it's going to be interesting to see what my expander is going to look like. I have a crossbite/open bite situation, but my 2 front teeth are perfectly straight, to the point that he put those 2 brackets super close to each other so they wouldn't move at all. My side teeth are the ones that really have to round out to match my bottom bite, which isn't that bad (I don't even have my bottom brackets on yet).

Maybe I will luck out and get one that is not near my front teeth as much

I don't think I asked you about the pain factor; did you experience any pain/discomfort? Any sores in your mouth from this thing?

Thanks!
IceBlonde