Palate extender

[Barbara Bomberger]

The rapid expansion kind. Anyone else with older kids had em?

[H Schinske]

wrote:

>The dentist wants to put one in my 7-year-old, but at the time she had only
>lost two teeth and I questioned whether this was something that is done on
>children this young. I will be getting a second opinion at the end of August
>on whether or not it is done this early.

My daughters both had palate expanders put in at 8. Yes, orthodontia is done
differently now, often in two stages, in early and late childhood. I can see
with my kids already that their newer teeth are getting more space to come in
straighter to begin with.

--Helen

[dragonlady]

In article >,
"Sue" > wrote:

> The dentist wants to put one in my 7-year-old, but at the time she had only
> lost two teeth and I questioned whether this was something that is done on
> children this young. I will be getting a second opinion at the end of August
> on whether or not it is done this early. Everything that I have read about
> it, says that it does work, but I am very unclear as to when it should be
> done. How old is your child? --
> Sue
> mom to three girls
>
> Barbara Bomberger > wrote in message
> ...
> > The rapid expansion kind. Anyone else with older kids had em?
>
>

My daughter started wearing two orthopedic devices when she was about 6;
one was to widen the upper palate, the other to lengthen the lower jaw.
They both worked wonderfully. If she had cooperated more, she'd have
worn them a little longer, and I suspect her teeth would be perfect; as
it is, there is only a slight problem with two teeth being a bit
crooked, but no overbite worth mentioning. (The overbite before she
started wearing them, and the overcrowded teeth, were quite pronounced.)
She did not wear braces (she stopped cooperating, and it wasn't worth
the $$ and energy) but even without them her teeth look pretty good.

Now if I could just convince her to take the toungue piercing out . . .
(she's 20, and I've told her I won't pay for any more dental work.)

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

[Sue]

The dentist wants to put one in my 7-year-old, but at the time she had only
lost two teeth and I questioned whether this was something that is done on
children this young. I will be getting a second opinion at the end of August
on whether or not it is done this early. Everything that I have read about
it, says that it does work, but I am very unclear as to when it should be
done. How old is your child? --
Sue
mom to three girls

Barbara Bomberger > wrote in message
...
> The rapid expansion kind. Anyone else with older kids had em?

[dejablues]

My middle son got one when he was 8 (he's 10 now). He wore it for about 6
months. It worked well, as a space needed to be made for one adult tooth
that was behind another adult tooth (he had a narrow jaw and large teeth,
and this tooth was actually under his tongue). He actually enjoyed having it
cranked <G>.


"Barbara Bomberger" > wrote in message
...
> The rapid expansion kind. Anyone else with older kids had em?

[Denise]

"Barbara Bomberger" > wrote in message
...
> The rapid expansion kind. Anyone else with older kids had em?

I had one in junior high. My 9 year old step daughter currently has one and
just got braces put on. My 5 year old will probably get one when she's a
couple years older.

[Mary Gordon]

I have three kids 12, 9 and 5, and the oldest two had palate extenders
starting around age 8. We have a great orthodontist - and she's state
of the art - she actually teaches othrodontistry at the University of
Toronto.
She saw each kid around the time permanent teeth started coming in,
and planning for what would need doing started around the same time.
The youngest just lost her first two baby teeth, and she has her first
orthodontist appointment this fall.

They can predict with great accuracy now how a child's jaw and palate
will develop, and what their permanent teeth are going to do (they can
see them on x-ray and predict before they come in what the problems
are going to be).

The extender made a world of difference for our older two. It
corrected a cross bite for both of them (youngest has the same thing)
and made a ton more room on the top, so permanent teeth moved into
place straight. Combined with some extractions of baby teeth that
weren't coming out fast enough, it has greatly reduced the amount of
time braces and other work will be needed (i.e. instead of fixing it
after the fact, this early treatment prevented most of the mess).

I wish they were available when I was that age. I had a ton of
orthodontic work done as a kid, but the underlying problem was big
teeth and a small arch - which could have been greatly improved with a
palate spreading applicance.

Mary G.

[LFortier]

H Schinske wrote:

wrote:
>
>
>
>>The dentist wants to put one in my 7-year-old, but at the time she had only
>>lost two teeth and I questioned whether this was something that is done on
>>children this young. I will be getting a second opinion at the end of August
>>on whether or not it is done this early.
>>
>>
>
>My daughters both had palate expanders put in at 8. Yes, orthodontia is done
>differently now, often in two stages, in early and late childhood. I can see
>with my kids already that their newer teeth are getting more space to come in
>straighter to begin with.
>
>--Helen
>
>
I know someone with an 11 yo and they chose to have the bicuspids pulled
rather than do the palate expanders. Is the palate expander really like
an act of torture, as they felt? I'd much rather my dd with braces in
her future not lose teeth unnecessarily.

Lesley

[chiam margalit]

Barbara Bomberger > wrote in message >...
> The rapid expansion kind. Anyone else with older kids had em?

My daughter had one for 6 months when she was 3. She needed it for a
crossbite. I had to turn that damn thing every night and it was
HORRIBLE. I think I hated it worse than she did. She had a retainer
for another 1.5 years, and she's getting braces for her crossbite next
month. :-) IOW, while it did make her mouth bigger and all her teeth
fit just fine, it did not 'cure' the crossbite, which she inherited
from dear old me!

Marjorie

[dragonlady]

In article >,
LFortier > wrote:

> H Schinske wrote:
>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >>The dentist wants to put one in my 7-year-old, but at the time she had only
> >>lost two teeth and I questioned whether this was something that is done on
> >>children this young. I will be getting a second opinion at the end of August
> >>on whether or not it is done this early.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >My daughters both had palate expanders put in at 8. Yes, orthodontia is done
> >differently now, often in two stages, in early and late childhood. I can see
> >with my kids already that their newer teeth are getting more space to come in
> >straighter to begin with.
> >
> >--Helen
> >
> >
> I know someone with an 11 yo and they chose to have the bicuspids pulled
> rather than do the palate expanders. Is the palate expander really like
> an act of torture, as they felt? I'd much rather my dd with braces in
> her future not lose teeth unnecessarily.
>
> Lesley
>

My daughter didn't like it, but only because it interferred with her
thumb sucking. In her case, it was adjusted less often than daily; on
occassion, she said she ached a little in the 24 hours after it was
adjusted, but a small amount of an over the counter analgesic (we used
Tylenol) was enough to take care of the discomfort.

Frankly, I think it was less painful than yanking teeth would have been!
Plus what you end up with is a mouth full of hte right complement of
teeth.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

[H Schinske]

wrote:

>My daughter had one for 6 months when she was 3. She needed it for a
>crossbite. I had to turn that damn thing every night and it was
>HORRIBLE. I think I hated it worse than she did.

I can see that it might turn into a big deal on a 3-year-old. Fortunately it
isn't common, AFAIK, for expanders to be needed that young. One of my girls
minded the turning a lot, but was okay if she could do it herself, closely
supervised of course, and the other hasn't minded a bit. They were both eight.

--Helen

[dragonlady]

In article >,
(H Schinske) wrote:

> wrote:
> >
> >My daughter didn't like it, but only because it interferred with her
> >thumb sucking.
>
> In our case the orthodontist wouldn't put it in until after the child had
> stopped sucking her thumb. The deformation from thumb-sucking had to go away
> first, and it had to be clear whether or not tongue-thrust therapy was needed
> after all (it wasn't).
>
> --Helen

Our dentist/orthodontist said it was clear from the X-rays that her
upper palate was too narrow and her lower jaw was too short (and from
looking at her Dad, it was clear that she had acquired these things the
old fashioned way); thumb sucking had nothing to do with either
condition, and he said that the retainer/palate widener might reduce her
thumb sucking (it didn't). He said that in her case there was nothing
to be gained from waiting.

It was interesting to look at the x-rays, and understand that her
overbite had nothing to do with toungue thrusting (which she did) or
thumb sucking: the ANGLE of all of her teeth was exactly right: the
problem was entirely that her lower jaw was too short; the narrow upper
palate was making her teeth crowded, and while there was no problem yet,
her permanent teeth would have come in crooked. DH, alas, has no chin,
and a huge overbite -- but all of his teeth are straight.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

[Barbara Bomberger]

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:51:40 -0700, "Sue"
> wrote:

>The dentist wants to put one in my 7-year-old, but at the time she had only
>lost two teeth and I questioned whether this was something that is done on
>children this young. I will be getting a second opinion at the end of August
>on whether or not it is done this early. Everything that I have read about
>it, says that it does work, but I am very unclear as to when it should be
>done. How old is your child? --

fourteen! We hadnt even thought about it unti l "braces" age and then
it came up. Hes about a year late for braces.

First he has an rapid expansion thingie (I turn it twice a day and am
not sure if Im doing this right, so we go back tomorrow for another
"lesson".

Then after two weeks the thing just sits there for about six weeks
while his mouth "sets"

Then its retainer time.

Barb
>Sue
>mom to three girls
>
>Barbara Bomberger > wrote in message
...
>> The rapid expansion kind. Anyone else with older kids had em?
>

[Barbara Bomberger]

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 11:23:51 -0400, LFortier
> wrote:


>>
>I know someone with an 11 yo and they chose to have the bicuspids pulled
>rather than do the palate expanders. Is the palate expander really like
>an act of torture, as they felt? I'd much rather my dd with braces in
>her future not lose teeth unnecessarily.
>

Well, that was my feeling, were in day three, and as I said, Im not
sure if im doing the thing right, so we go back for a "tightening
lesson" tomorrow hopefully

That said, no pain. Brief twinge ( and hes a big baby at fourteen)
each tightening. HOWEVER, his mouth is full, and he is learning to
swallow with this big thing in his mouth. Lots of drinks (instant
breakfast and son, soft foods that are easy to swallow, and he has to
brush and rinse seriously each time.

Put it this way - I have offered the kid one of my tylenol pms and he
says, oh no thanks.

Barb
>Lesley

[Barbara Bomberger]

wrote:
>
>>My daughter had one for 6 months when she was 3. She needed it for a
>>crossbite. I had to turn that damn thing every night and it was
>>HORRIBLE. I think I hated it worse than she did.

Okay, I think that my son is almost too old, but three years old!!!

We should have done this at twelve, but were moving to Germany,
finding new doctors, settleing in and so on.

Theoretically they can do this for a few more years

Fortunately, my son opens and lets me crank, am and pm. Were just not
sure that im cranking correctly

hehe

BARb
>

[LFortier]

Barbara Bomberger wrote:

>On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 11:23:51 -0400, LFortier
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>>I know someone with an 11 yo and they chose to have the bicuspids pulled
>>rather than do the palate expanders. Is the palate expander really like
>>an act of torture, as they felt? I'd much rather my dd with braces in
>>her future not lose teeth unnecessarily.
>>
>>
>>
>
>Well, that was my feeling, were in day three, and as I said, Im not
>sure if im doing the thing right, so we go back for a "tightening
>lesson" tomorrow hopefully
>
>That said, no pain. Brief twinge ( and hes a big baby at fourteen)
>each tightening. HOWEVER, his mouth is full, and he is learning to
>swallow with this big thing in his mouth. Lots of drinks (instant
>breakfast and son, soft foods that are easy to swallow, and he has to
>brush and rinse seriously each time.
>
>Put it this way - I have offered the kid one of my tylenol pms and he
>says, oh no thanks.
>
>Barb
>
>
Thanks. My child is, shall we say, less than stoic, so I'm not sure how
this will all go for us when we get started.

Lesley

[Chookie]

In article >,
Barbara Bomberger > wrote:

> The rapid expansion kind. Anyone else with older kids had em?

No, but I just heard that they help with bedwetting, of all things!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"...children should continue to be breastfed... for up to two years of age
or beyond." -- Innocenti Declaration, Florence, 1 August 1990