Expander not working...

Message

#1 Post by **vlsh** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:52 pm

Ok I need to rant. My whole situation is frustrating.
I am 25 years old. I've been wearing braces and an expander for 5 months 3 weeks and 4 days.
I understand that most adults who were told to wear an expander as an option to fix their crossbite, there would probably only be a 50/50 chance it will work. Am I the first adult on here who has actually experienced the expander NOT work? Most of the posts I've read on this site of adults who wore an expander say it worked for them (even a 40+ yr old if I remember correctly, nonsurgical). Most wore the screw-key type expander, I've only read a couple with a spring or the quad helix expander. Mine is a spring type, and probably the most rare:

I went to the ortho Monday for an adjustment and she gave me the news that my expander has NOT been working. Really ruined my day, actually it will probably ruin the rest of the time I'll be wearing braces. She also put a new bracket on my very last upper left molar, the same side of the crossbite (didn't have one there in the first place, after 6 months, ortho puts it on now??). For what reason, I don't know. I was still thinking about the words she said, "expander not working after over 5 months."

Anyways this is what my teeth look like now after about 6 months:

You can see the crossbite on MY left side in the pic clearly visible. If anything, it's actually more visible and worse then before (pre-ortho picture below). The bracket holding the expander in place on my second to last molar is clearly visible, whereas on the other side it disappears into my cheek. The other thing I notice, is the bottom arc on the same left side of my mouth seems to be going wide left...causing the crossbite to worsen. Can that actually happen??
I do have to wear an elastic (they told me it was the "lightest") on the same left side (no elastics on my other right-side).

So, the crossbite looks worse then when I didn't have any dental work done at all. I know braces can make your teeth worse before it gets better ..but in my situation, its the crossbite getting worse from what I see. And the most frustrating part about all this is, the ortho said in the next appointment if nothing happens in terms of expansion, she will take the expander off.. so she will take it off while the cross bite looks this bad????!!@

Here is my teeth prior to any ortho:

(bad quality picture, didn't have my camera at the time so i used my cell phone)

I can see movement for my front teeth in the past 6 months, but the crossbite is definitely worse. Actually in this pre-ortho work picture you can't even tell I have a crossbite. My crossbite was very minor in the first place. Compare my pre-ortho work to my present-ortho work picture above, and you can see a huge difference in the crossbite.

I still can't get over my frustration after sleeping on it yesterday.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone who had a crossbite see it worsen while wearing expander and braces. Anyone?

#2 Post by **CanberraRaiders** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:22 pm

Your crossbite has definately become more severe. It was hard to tell you even had one by the picture you posted in the other thread.

I'm no expert but I do wonder why some people get the spring type expander over the key turning RPE? it doesn't make sense to me. It seems as thought the key turning RPE gets results almost every time. I have a friend who has the same type of expander as yourself and I don't think she has got any expansion either.

Have you spoken to your ortho about getting the key turning expander at all?

#3 Post by **felicia** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:35 pm

Reading your post ,I was wondering exactly the same thing as CANBERRARAIDERS: why do some people still get these primitive looking expanders?
And one more thing...Why is your orthodontist noticing that it's not working only after 5 months??????????????

#4 Post by **vlsh** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:46 pm

Canberra:
I haven't talked to my ortho about it yet, when I went in yesterday to get my bracket put back on, it was done by an assistant and another ortho was in the office.My sister whose 18 also got braces a few months before I did and she used the same spring expander I have. It worked perfectly for her. She already got them off.

I am contacting the ortho tomorrow. I'm not sure if they even have the key type expander, but I'll ask. I do want it if it can make things right. Maybe switch orthos at the same place since they have 3 or 4. It is a really reputable place too, it just sucks this is happening to me.

felica:
I don't know why only after 5 months my ortho noticed. I thought it was working when I went in for an adjustment back in January when the ortho gave me bite turbos. I couldn't fully close my bite, the only place where there was contact between my upper and lower jaw were at the bite turbos.. chewing was a nightmare. Ortho wanted them on so my expander could work without interference from my bottom teeth. I only wore them for 1 week, they fell off twice in the same week while I was sleeping when I can't control how hard my teeth are clenched. But after i went in for the 3rd time to get the turbos back on the ortho said I didn't need them anymore. yes its frustrating, i actually woudn't mind it too much if it didn't work, but the crossbite getting worse is another thing. I'm contacting them tomorrow.

#5 Post by **DrBlur** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 3:47 am

I'm a 30 yr old adult who's getting an expander, and it's going to be the turn-key type. Also I'm having some minor surgery to "loosen" the palate so that it will work...I didn't even know you could get an expander and expect it to work without surgery as an adult??

How do those spring-expanders work, just by exerting constant force through the spring? Doesn't seem like it'd work very well at all...

#6 Post by **peach** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:54 am

Hi Vlsh. Sorry ur hittin a rough spot in ur tx. I had expanders (top and bottom) for 6 mths to widen my arches. I didn't have a cross bite but an overbite and deep bite. I had the turn key ones and they did their job. I can totally relate to feeling frustrated. My smile looks worse now then when I started because my front teeth are slanted and my smile looks gummy. it'll be 3 yrs in braces come this june and I'm still not near the end. Try talkin w/ ur ortho. To figure out what the next steps are in ur tx. And hang in there. I always hear it gets worse before it gets better. I just wish I wasn't so impatient!:)

#7 Post by **TumbleDryLow** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 8:54 am

I also had a "primitive" expander, the quad helix. I only ended up having mine for about 2 months as when they took it out of my mouth to adjust it, it broke. My ortho decided that she didn't want to make me a new one and could correct my crossbite with wires and elastics alone. I think my ortho was not trying for actual expansion of the jaw, but rather using it for brute force strength to move those molars outward. (They were sort of tipped inward towards my tongue.)

I guess what I'm really saying is: don't give up hope yet. My mouth was a mess. I was told that my crossbite might not be fixable without surgery, yet with crossbite elastics and 30+ months of treatment, it turns out my crossbite will be 100% fixed. As a matter of fact, my ortho actually exclaimed at my last adjustment how pleased and excited she was at how much my crossbite has improved in just the last 4 weeks. Just keep on with treatment and try to stay positive. There were times I looked in my mouth and wondered how in the heck things could get better, yet they did.

BTW, my last molars were not banded until after my expander was removed. My guess is that she put a band on that molar b/c you will be wearing elastics to try to correct the crossbite on that side. And at least in my case, those elastics really did work.