Metal Mouth Message Board

I will be getting spacers in January so that bands can be placed to hold my an expander in my upper jaw. Are the bands usually placed at one appt. and the expander placed at another appt.? I have heard that the spacers are the worst part of ortho treatment. What does it feel like to have the bands on your teeth. I also heard it's not pleasant to have an expander either. Which is worse, the spacers or expander? I will have to wear the expander for about 5-6 months before the braces are put on my teeth.

Wishing all of you a Happy Holiday season and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!

My new year will be off to a good start - getting the impressions done for my expander on 1/3/06.

ssfw

Katie,

Thanks so much for the info.
You're message was not too long. The more information I get, the better. I like to know what to expect. I was suppose to get the expander with the key but my orthodontist changed his mind and will fit me with another type of expander that he felt would work better, I forgot to ask him what kind I was getting - I just know it will take 2-3 weeks to get after the impressions are done. I think I'm thinking of more questions because the day to get the impressions is coming up soon and I want to know what to expect from the beginning - I think knowing what to expect makes me less nervous when the orthodontist does what needs to be done.

Thanks again.

ssfw

ssfw:

I got my spacers today. When they first went in, my gums were really irritated, but then that went away and I just had a headache. Nothing intolerable, but the headache has been constant all day and has varied in degree of strength. I am waiting to see what happens in the next few days because I know that the pain can change over time! I'll keep you posted.

I'm not sure what your experience with the expander will be, but in no way is the discomfort from the spacers thus far too much--it all still seems quite worth it!

Hi ssfw,

We were chatting about expanders a few weeks back but I haven't been back yet to tell my story...

I found that the worst bit was the two back coils (I have a quad helix) they cut my tongue up pretty badly. The first night was awful, every time I started to fall asleep my tongue relaxed and got caught on the coils. It was agony. I solved this by sticking a lump of wax to each coil. I did this for about two weeks after which my tongue had toughened up and I no longer need wax anymore.

My speech was very badly affected for the first few weeks, initially I refused to even answer the phone as I sounded terrible. It's settled down now though, although it's still not perfect.

The only pain, other than the tongue slicing thing, is typical braces pain, as the teeth which are being expanded are achey and tender.

The worst thing now for me is that eating is very difficult. When the expander first when in I lived on soup and yoghurt for the couple of weeks and actually lost nearly half a stone. I was happy with my weight before so this wasn't a good thing! I can now eat just about whatever I like, although with varying degrees of difficulty, and the weight has started to slowly go back on. My main issue is that as my bite changes none of my teeth touch so I can't chew. I'm having surgery though so this is because my teeth are being prepared to have a good bite after surgery not before. If I remember rightly you have opted not to go for surgery so you probably won't have the same degree of bite probles that I have.

The great thing is that I can already see a difference in my arch. I will start a braces story and post all my pics so you can see.

Take care,
Katie

My brothers expander has the bands that go around his molars built into it.

Thanks for asking about this, ssfw!

I think its interesting that many people have had their expanders put in several weeks or months before their braces went on. I think my orthodontist will put my expander and braces on simultaneously, and if not, not more than a week apart.

I wish you the best of luck with your spacers and expander! It's sounding like the braces experience is really very different for everyone. Hopefully the previous responses have put your mind at ease a bit. I know it has mine!

Again, thanks for posting.

Happy New Year Everyone.

Many thanks to all of you for your replies - the replies have really helped me in knowing what to expect. I think the more I know, the less nervous I will be. I'm still not sure of what kind of expander I will be getting - I was initially suppose to get the one with the key but my orthodontist changed his mind and decided it would be better for me to get another type of expander - I will ask him tomorrow.

Yes, tomorrow is the day that I will begin my orthodontic treatment. Tomorrow's appointment is to get the impression for my upper arch expander so I'm sure this will be an easy appointment - I think I'm just a bit nervous because I am beginning the orthodontic treatment. It took me awhile to make the decision to proceed with the orthodontic treatment to correct a crossbite on one side and reduce my overjet of 5 mm to about 3 mm, but am glad I made this decision. I am not suppose to get my upper arch braces until I've worn the upper arch expander for 5 months. My orthodontist will know about 2 months after that if I will need lower braces. My orthodontic treatment will be 12-16 months if I need upper braces and the expander only and 16-20 months if I need the expander and full braces. I'm not really concerned about the full braces becasue at this point even if I need minor orthodontic treatment on my lower teeth I'm going to proceed with the full braces - my orthodontist's main concern with the lower braces is to be sure the bite is right.

Now, I am still trying to decide which type of braces I want. I'm thinking about ceramic on top and metal on the lower but I won't have to make this decison for a few months.

ssfw

Hi Katie,

Thanks for your reply.

It seems you have adjusted to having the expander - I'm happy for you. It didn't take you very long to adjust. How has the rest of your ortho treatment been?

I, too, will be getting a Quad Helix - my ortho initially was going to give me the Rapid Palatal Expander (with a key) and after we had talked he said either the Quad Helix or the RPE will be fine and the outcome would be the same. He told me with the Quad Helix he will have to make the adjustments so I'm not sure if it entails more appts. to the ortho office - I don't mind because I'm only about 10 minutes away and my schedule is pretty flexible. He told me that the RPE uses the key and it is usually easier if somebody turns it for the patient (but can be done by the patient using a mirror) and I just did not want to involve anyone to do this for me which is one of the main reasons I chose the Quad Helix. The other reason is the Quad Helix looked more comfortable than the RPE, I may be wrong about this. Also, with the RPE, I didn't want the chance of getting frustrated at this early stage of ortho treatment by having a problem with the key.

The spacers have not been a major problem for me.

Keep us posted on your progress.

ssfw

Svensk Tiger wrote:Hi ssfw,

We were chatting about expanders a few weeks back but I haven't been back yet to tell my story...

I found that the worst bit was the two back coils (I have a quad helix) they cut my tongue up pretty badly. The first night was awful, every time I started to fall asleep my tongue relaxed and got caught on the coils. It was agony. I solved this by sticking a lump of wax to each coil. I did this for about two weeks after which my tongue had toughened up and I no longer need wax anymore.

My speech was very badly affected for the first few weeks, initially I refused to even answer the phone as I sounded terrible. It's settled down now though, although it's still not perfect.

The only pain, other than the tongue slicing thing, is typical braces pain, as the teeth which are being expanded are achey and tender.

The worst thing now for me is that eating is very difficult. When the expander first when in I lived on soup and yoghurt for the couple of weeks and actually lost nearly half a stone. I was happy with my weight before so this wasn't a good thing! I can now eat just about whatever I like, although with varying degrees of difficulty, and the weight has started to slowly go back on. My main issue is that as my bite changes none of my teeth touch so I can't chew. I'm having surgery though so this is because my teeth are being prepared to have a good bite after surgery not before. If I remember rightly you have opted not to go for surgery so you probably won't have the same degree of bite probles that I have.

The great thing is that I can already see a difference in my arch. I will start a braces story and post all my pics so you can see.

Take care,
Katie