Metal Mouth Message Board

Lost the hole in my expander. My mom's the one turning it and she can't see the second hole towards the back of my mouth. Are there supposed to be two holes or just one? This is my fourth day, and the first two days went fairly well with the turning and we were able to see the hole towards the back of my mouth and then the third day, we lost it. If we mistakenly didn't turn it all the way, can we somehow reverse it ourselves and then turn it back the other way?

ahhh... Problem solved with a little bit more researching.
For anyone else having difficulties with this, visit this youtube link and it should straighten everything out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8kk0aeUw90

I still haven't tried it, but I'm sure it works lol, so brb.

Oh yeah, I have another question... I think my expander is backwards, because I have to move it the other way from the way in the video. The surgeons moved it a few mm already, but I'm not sure which way, and there is a gap from that movement, but my ortho told us to move it in the complete opposite direction from the way the video is showing. Does anyone else move it from back to front? It has only been 3 days of turning so I don't know if the gap is becoming bigger or smaller. I just hope I'm not moving it the incorrect direction.
I also want to know if I continue turning and it turns out to be the wrong way... I won't damage my bones and stuff would I? Should I just wait for the next appointment?

Hi,
Expanders are all different, you should turn the way you were told to by your Doctor. Why don't you give them a call if you're unsure?

Van'braces wrote:Hi,
Expanders are all different, you should turn the way you were told to by your Doctor. Why don't you give them a call if you're unsure?

Yeah, you're probably right. I actually don't have his number and he's usually busy with other patients. Do you think it's a good idea to just wait out a few days(4 days) of turning and show up for the next appointment or will that fuse my bones or something? We still weren't able to do the turns. For some odd reason the hole that we can see is blocked or something because the key won't fit. I'm not sure what to do. Thanks for your input though.

I turned my expander from back to front as well. I've never come across anyone else on this board who did it that way so...pleased to meet you

The most likely explanation for losing the hole is that you didn't fully complete the previous turn. You should be able to find the original hole to complete the turn if you shine a strong light in your mouth, or get someone to do it for you. It might help to lie with your head tipped back like you would in the dentist's chair.

If that doesn't work, I second the idea of calling your ortho's office just to see what they say. You must be able to find the number somewhere! I can't imagine for a moment that your bones will fuse in as short a time as 4 days and it probably wouldn't hurt to leave it that long, but it's best to check with the ortho if you're unsure. My ortho has always said he'd far rather get a dozen unnecessary calls than miss one necessary one -- if you get what I mean. Not sure the expression works so well in translation!

sauerkraut wrote:I turned my expander from back to front as well. I've never come across anyone else on this board who did it that way so...pleased to meet you

The most likely explanation for losing the hole is that you didn't fully complete the previous turn. You should be able to find the original hole to complete the turn if you shine a strong light in your mouth, or get someone to do it for you. It might help to lie with your head tipped back like you would in the dentist's chair.

If that doesn't work, I second the idea of calling your ortho's office just to see what they say. You must be able to find the number somewhere! I can't imagine for a moment that your bones will fuse in as short a time as 4 days and it probably wouldn't hurt to leave it that long, but it's best to check with the ortho if you're unsure. My ortho has always said he'd far rather get a dozen unnecessary calls than miss one necessary one -- if you get what I mean. Not sure the expression works so well in translation!

Thanks for that explanation. I'll give it a try. I am actually a patient at a university, so my dentist is actually a student dentist. Well he took all of his classes already and now works there for a few years for experience(I think) and then goes out to be a dentist on his own. I don't have his personal number and he's not always at the university and last time I called the university dental clinic, it sent me to voice mail. I'll just try to get it to turn again, but if not I'll show up in 2 days to figure out what's wrong.

I thought I was the only one turning it from back to front but I guess not. Glad I'm not the only one. I was a little scared that maybe he isn't quite sure he knows exactly what he's doing since he's still kind of a student there. He seems well informed and educated about all this stuff when I speak to him so I trust him. Anyways, thanks again.