Metal Mouth Message Board

I am 19. My left canine tooth came out on top of another tooth a few years ago because of getting a tooth pulled out. Anyways, every now and then, I would feel pain from that tooth. Nothing too painful but enough for me to decide, maybe I finally want to get braces. I went to the orthodontist. He said, it's a bit late but let's get started. I didn't think anything of it because I know of this forum. People get braces when they are older than me. However, at every visit, he would remark that it's really late to get braces. I got more and more stressed over it. On wednesday, he said he doesn't want to end up with me needed jaw surgery because my bone is too strong for the expander. This took the cake. I have been worried since then. If that's what will happen, forget having better teeth. I don't care. I never had a problem eating or with any other tooth before braces. This dentist is getting annoying because he is always busy. He only goes to the office twice a week and his office is PACKED! Way too many patients for him to handle properly I'd say. After every visit, the day after, I notice a different problem because some pain for that visit is overpowering it. Right now, the filling on one part of the expander wore out. It cut up my tongue over yesterday and today. I can't brush my teeth without being in pain since my tongue is sore and my toothpaste is irritating it further. I had it for 3 weeks and I already needed one of the four rings cut off..will this even last 4 months? I doubt it.

I have to say, none of my real pain came from the stress on the teeth and more from a wire that is too long or this sharp part of my expander. I never expected this pain. It's ridiculous.

Moreover, for the past two times of turning the expander, my mom and I noticed that it is getting more difficult to turn the expander. We're worried about turning it twice a day until Wednesday. We're going back tomorrow to see him about this and the sharp piece of the expander.

Hello!
I started my orthodontic treatment about two years ago when I was 18 and needed my upper palette expanded. My orthodontist told me that it would have about a fifty-fifty shot at working if we tried to proceed without surgery because of my age. I also had a bit of an underbite so I went with surgery. It sounds like your main complaint was moving that tooth which makes me wonder why you needed an expander in the first place? As far as I know expanders are only used to change the shape of the jaw not move teeth unless they need to be pushed out.

Give us an update if you can! How are you doing, how many turns have you done so far?

Everyone's experience will be different and different orthodontists will have different treatment plans and success rates. I'm 28 and was told my ortho had about a 50/50 success rate with palate expanders around my age. It really depends on finding an ortho you're comfortable with. It sounds like you're already well into treatment with one and some people don't have many options around but I still cannot stress enough how happy I already am to not go with my first consultation. But seriously if he doesn't like dealing with 'adult' patients don't let one orthodontist deter you from getting your smile fixed.

The expander is meant to "break" the suture (direct middle) of the palate. In older patients, there can be tipping of the teeth - my ortho explained they did expect some of this and (in some cases) it's okay if it's watched closely.

I'm also a little confused about their use of an expander on you. Perhaps there's a bit more going on, and you want to double-check with them about what is the diagnosis? They should be able to explain the diagnosis and why they are doing whatever treatments.

The expander will have more pressure to work against as you go along, it's okay if it's getting harder to turn. Of course mention it to them, along with any pain and concerns. While palate expanders aren't always comfortable, sharp pains aren't something you should just put up with.

I checked often and there were no replies. Okay so the big update is, on Saturday, another ring fell off a tooth. This made the entire appliance slanted and it put a force on one of my teeth in an incorrect way. It took me two days of pain and suffering but I finally got the entire expander removed. The ortho I have has turned out to be unreliable because he told me to go to the hospital in an emergency and no one knew what to do with my situation.

He went away on vacation AGAIN! and left no emergency contact.

My parents want me to end the treatment right here and now because if I have an emergency, I will have no help when I am away at college. I thought I would come back home in that case but he is UNRELIABLE. After I got it put on, he started saying it's too late. Why tell me this AFTER he took the money and not BEFORE.

Okay so it's been 16 days before an update. He was like, there is a second option. I just have normal braces now, no expander. I have the molar rings in place and had the wires changed twice so far. Right now, I have the rubber bands on my teeth. Hopefully I will see the results at the end of this. There is a bit of good news right now though. My mom started asking if he thought this treatment would work and he said if he couldn't, he would just quit.