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I am 38 years old and I have wanted to fix my teeth since second grade. I am now finally in the process, which is totally exciting. When I went for my consult, in May 2010, to my dismay I was told that I would need to have a palatal expander. My dentist wanted to try first without surgery, but was unsure if it would work. June 8th I had spacers put in. June 10th the actual expander was put in. I was instructed to turn it twice, with the key, once a week. I was hoping and praying that this would work, but after reading many posts, and info on palatal expanders on people over 17, I was very, very concerned. I also read that people were turning it more often. I tried once to turn one additional turn on a different day, and it started digging into my gums. Ouch. I have not tried that again. I will post a picture of after I had the first two turns (June 17) to initialize the process, and a current picture.
It seems to be working. I have a little tipping I think in the very back, but not sure if that will be a problem. I am starting to get some small spaces. I wanted to post because it seems like there isn't a whole lot out there that I could find showing the palatal expander working. I am still currently turning my device. I believe I will be turning till it can't turn anymore. I was told that it will be a three or four year process, which does include braces as well.
Hang in there everyone. The expander is truly a horrible device but it worked for me. I am 40 yrs old. Had SARPE on June 3, 2010. I got my braces on Sept. 8. Truly the worst day was the day the RPE went in. I salivated like crazy. I burped like crazy. I wanted to rip the bloody thing out. My surgeon wanted it installed a week before the surgery claiming that people handle the the SARPE/RPE better if they live with the RPE for a week before the surgery. I can say for me that was not the case. My ortho went to install the RPE a week early and I panicked. It feels so constrictive and talking is DEFINITELY difficult. I did not know how I would function at work with it. Ultimatley I had it put in the day before the surgery. This was the best thing I did! I still have the expander in and expect to have it in for another 3 months (6 months in total). I found the spacers a bit painful but mostly annoying. The RPE is by far the worst part - worse than the surgery for me. Braces have been a breeze so far. I turned the RPE twice a day for 17 days, beginning one week after the surgery. I felt no pain, just a bit of pressure that went away after 5 mins or so. To those just starting out - I feel your pain. I did start to get used to the RPE after approx 2 months but I have yet to have a single moment when I wasn't acutley aware of its existence in my mouth. I am greatly looking forward to the day it comes out. On the cleaning side, I used proxy brushes for the first couple of months. I could not use a waterpik due to the surgery. I've now started with the waterpik at home and still use proxy brushes at work. Hope this helps and I wish you all well.
I think it would be encouraging to see more before and after photos of those who have had sucess with palatal expanders without surgery, and those with, but especially those without.
Happy2Smile wrote:I think it would be encouraging to see more before and after photos of those who have had sucess with palatal expanders without surgery, and those with, but especially those without.
I am currently wearing a palatal expander without surgery. My results have been pretty positive so far and I can tell a big difference in the space between my teeth when flossing. My last day of turning the expander is 4 days from now and I will then be posting pictures in my braces story (link is in my signature) if you want to take a look in a few days!
Happy2Smile wrote:
I think it would be encouraging to see more before and after photos of those who have had sucess with palatal expanders without surgery, and those with, but especially those without.
Thank you to those who have responded and posted links to see their before and after photos.
It is amazing how many different palatal expanders their are.
sjs8906 Those springs sure are interesting.
How does one post pictures on here. I put a link from my facebook page, but is their a way to just get them on here?
i had my expander put in early last year at 28 years old. It was an RPE which i turned once every other day. i ended up only doing 27 turns out of the 30 because i got scared that my teeth were tipping too much. After i was done turning my ortho said i could have it taken out. In total, i wore it for 3 months but it would of only been about 2 months if i would of been able to get an earlier appointment. Unfortunatly my ortho office has a jammed full schedule.
For me, i felt no pain at all. Sometimes just a little clausterphobic in my mouth. I actually liked the little pressure and tingling that i felt in my nose and cheekbones when turned the key. (that must sound so weird) What was absolute hell, was going to work and talking. I was very self-conscious and could not pronounce anything with a long "e" sounds... and there are a lot! Also had trouble with "R". I took me about 5 weeks to sound normal with the exception of a few words that never sounded right. Eating was less challenging. I could eat everything except spaghetti by the 3rd week. The first day with the expander, it took me about 2 hours to eat a small yoghurt.
I'm not going to say it was easy. I was sometimes almost in tears because i was just so embarrassed by the way i sounded. It was a big deal to me in a professional environment. However, its amazing how resiliant we are. Right now, the time i had the expander seems like such a small, insignificant blip in time. I probably didn't get true arch expansion but spaces showed up between my molars and it did its job. I had a pretty bad crossbite and severe crowding. After the expander i got invisalign. I'm on my last few trays of refinements now and i'm quite happy with the results. It was totally worth it.
Junkee wrote "After i was done turning my ortho said i could have it taken out. In total, i wore it for 3 months"
I am surprised that you were able to take it out so soon after being done turning. Once I am done turning I will still have to wear the palatal expander to make sure everything is stable, and bone grows back.
I'm 30 years old and got my braces 6 months ago for the second time due to the fact that my jaw continued growing and teeth continued shifting way after I got my original braces off when I was 15.
My dentist was the one that insisted on me getting evaluated by an orthodontist. He has nothing to gain or lose financially or othwerwise by me getting treated, so I took his advice as being completely objective and went to see an orthodontist. His only major concern was the fact that my upper arch is not as big as it needs to be, and he think I would benefit from maxilliary expansion.
My ortho saw me and she told me I need braces for 8 - 10 months to correct a crossbite and some crowding. I relayed my dentist's concerns about the arch and she brushed it off saying that unless I was willing to undergo SARPE, which I'm not, that an expander probably wouldn't work. I also have Damon braces which supposedly can avoid the use of palatal expanders.
So im approaching the end of my treatment and saw my dentist last month for a regular checkup. He's thrilled with the results so far, but continues to insisit that if my upper arch is not expanded more than it is now, I am asking for trouble. This is inspite of the fact that my ortho already reduced the radius of my lower jaw by IPS (i.e. sanding down my bottom teeth to make them smaller, and thereby reducing the size of the lower arch). I brought up the expansion issue once more to my ortho last week and she brushed me off again.
So i've got two professionals, each with my best interest in mind yet they seem to be differing on what I feel is an important issue. I think it would be very ackward to go to another orthodontist to get a 3rd opinion, but at the same time I want to make sure this issue is nipped in the bud and that I dont have to go through this again.
My brief and not-very-educated research has found that there is an appliance called a quad helix expander that is used to treat crossbites and expand the upper jaw with a different force than an RPE. Kind of sounds like I would be a good candidate....??
Had my upper jaw surgery yesterday, and the expander added last week. I honestly think I'm glad it went on first before the surgery, as I could have a day or two of the salivating and really odd talking without the pain etc after the surgery. I guess this is different with everyone.
Apart from the funny talking which is improving, I find drinking the hardest. Can never completely swallow my mouthful!
Have a nice big gap between my front teeth post-op, and am just about ready to give the expander it's first turn on my own. Will see if I hate the expander after that!
When I went for my consult, in May 2010, to my dismay I was told that I would need to have a palatal expander. My dentist wanted to try first without surgery, but was unsure if it would work. June 8th I had spacers put in. June 10th the actual expander was put in. I was instructed to turn it twice, with the key, once a week. I was hoping and praying that this would work, but after reading many posts, and info on palatal expanders on people over 17, I was very, very concerned. I also read that people were turning it more often. I tried once to turn one additional turn on a different day, and it started digging into my gums. Ouch. I have not tried that again. I will post a picture of after I had the first two turns (June 17) to initialize the process, and a current picture. 
