Hooks in back of palate expander are driving me insane.

[jahmeanne]

Hi all,

My name is Jamie, and I'm a 36-year-old woman who is getting Invisalign. I had braces when I was younger, but sadly, my orthodontist did not consider my narrow palate.

As a result, I had my palate expander inserted last Tuesday. To be honest, I'm about ready to rip this thing out of my mouth. I understand that we cannot yet post pictures if we're new, but I was really hoping someone could tell me what kind of expander I have in place.

For context - I'm getting two screws placed in my expander tomorrow morning so I can begin turning it. The back of my expander has two small hooks which are driving me insane. My tongue has two deep / painful canyons in it and it's been next to impossible to eat and drink comfortably with it. I've been putting dental wax on these areas, but the hooks cut right through them.

I've tried looking up images of the expander I have in place, but I cannot find any that have the two hooks in the back. I'm really hoping I was not given the wrong type of expander, or that it was setup incorrectly. I may ask the surgeon tomorrow if there's anything that can be done to them because I truly don't know if I can last 6 months with these two little hooks constantly cutting my tongue.

Is anyone familiar with what type of expander I may have? If so, does this agony with the tongue get any easier? Like I said I have a picture, but can't post it since I'm new. Thanks!