Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi

I've had the arch expander on my top teeth for 6 weeks now (before the I.A) as my arch was narrow.

However, now there's now a significiant difference between the right had side and left hand side.

The RHS is about 6 mms wider than the LHS, which hastn't moved much at all.

I went to my dentist in sutton last week and he looked at it for a few minutes brought up my pictures, reaslied they weren't my pictures and that he couldn't find mine and said that they had probably started out unevely alighned to the side and the expanader had just made that difference more obvious.

I had never noticed them being differnt on either side.

He added that it sort of slips back anyway, but if it slips back anyway why get the expander for six weeks in the first place.

Really it looks pretty crap, like something i'd nearly get braces for?!

I'm not happy and when I go back I'm going to tell him that I don't want to proceed with the next step of filing and getting the I.A on if i'm heading towards a point where I get what I came for (less protruding front teeth), but a new problem:Four to five teeth visible on one side and three on the other...

It allmost looks like i have a lopsided smile.

I also amn't keen on one persons comments that after the shaving they had constant sensitivilty and had to have some stuff stuck on?

I'm not into cosmetic mucking around if it has any impact on my health, or like causes any long term problems. I know that's the price other pple are prepared to pay, but i wasn't hugely bothered in the first place, just thought if it was easy and problem free why not...

Ye gods! : )

So anyways I'll keep you posted..

Anne

Hey~
My expander did the same thing.
THe right side of my teeth got gaps but not in the centre. and most teeth got gaps between but not in the centre.
It shoudl be OK.
Braces will fix it.

Karen

The expander widens your palate and can't really control your teeth. It is the job of the brackets to scoot your teeth around your new, wider, arch.

SirWired

if u stop wearing ur expander the teeth will move back RAPIDLY

i used to take it out for hours at a time to hang with friends n drink but when i puit it back in sometimes it wudnt fit or wud hurt

i finnaly can stop wearing the POS because i got braces woo!! im not liking how they look but in a year i wont regret it

Hi Anne, I'm in Belfast. I've been wearing an Inman for two weeks now. Like you, I was positively spooked by the idea of the IPR filing. I said to my dentist 'I'd rather have crooked healthy teeth than straight unhealthy ones' but he assured me there's no evidence that taking a bit off the enamel has any negative long term effects. I'm trusting him on that!

The IPR isn't painful, and I've had 3 bouts of it now. The first session was unpleasant just because of the brute force needed to get the tiny file between my teeth which are really tightly packed. But it's been fine since then.

As for arch expansion - curious thing, when I went for my initial consultation about Inman, I asked about possible expansion, but my dentist kind of brushed it aside with the same comment your guy made - that it tends to 'relapse' or some such. So I assumed he wasn't going to bother with it at all. I went back 3 weeks later to pick up my Inman and I found that he'd attached an expander to the Inman, and I have to give it one key turn every week while I'm wearing the aligner. He said it's just for a small bit of expansion so I don't have to have so much filing done.

Sounds like maybe your dentist could have incorporated the expander into the aligner for you so you could cut down on treatment time? I don't know, though, all these dentists seem to have their own ways of doing things. My teeth are uneven at the moment, too. Not sure if that's the result of expansion or the fact that my right front tooth always protruded a bit more than the left one, so I have to be patient and let both sides even up in time. But my actual arch feels a bit lopsided! Ah well, I'm going to trust my dentist and hope in 10 weeks time it's all worked itself out.

Hope things improve for you, too!

Hey, i had the SARPE & learnt 2 late that my expansion was asymmetrical. I was swollen from the surgery still & had more swelling on the side that expanded more. I was only able to tell after the swelling had gone down a month later. My braces did help, but i still see it, even though my loved ones don't. I also did it more for health reasons, although i always wanted a lovely smile! Lol! I would suggest asking your orthodontist if he can "tie off" the side expanding more, until the other side has caught up. I wish i had noticed mine earlier. It bothers me no end sometimes when i look too closely in the mirror or a picture. Even my nose expanded more on my right side!! Good luck, hope it all evens out for you.

Hi

thanks to everyone who send on their comments!

I know one person above said when he took his expander out for a few hours he could feel a big difference but I'm wondering if the two sides even out (somehow?) I really do like this whole arch widenened thing, and could i get to somehow hang on to that bonus long term.

It wasn't what i first went for, my main reason was protruding teeth, but now that i have a wider arch i think it's (potentially) really great, and makes my long horsey face less long loooking, - it all counts when you're nearly mid thirties! : )

So my question is, when the expander comes off and the inman goes on, do you guys think i would pretty quickly lose all that new arch i just got and that the dentists objective is simply to buy a tiny bit of space for the front....

I'm almost thinking of not being inpatient and spending lots more money and jumping ship to the Invisalign product if that were the only way to get that wider arch *and straighter teeth combo.

So much for not being too bothered about my teeth. Oh the vanity : )

I'll ask my dentist of course but if anyone has been there, done that and could fill me I'd really appreciate it

Anne