Recently I went to the orthodontist because I've been considering braces. My teeth are relatively straight but I just wanted to make them look perfect. Now depending on how your teeth are aligned will affect the process in getting braces put on. My teeth were too crowded and needed to be "expanded" in order to make room for the braces. My orthodontist recommended a palate expander which is seen in the picture above. The expander itself kind of reminds me of a spider thats trying to push your teeth away from it.
Here are the steps most people go through for their expander:
1. Teeth molding impression - Expanders are custom made for your teeth and need to fit according to your teethes shape and size. The mold is kind of like a huge piece of bubblegum except maybe a little odd flavoring
2. Ring sizes - Ring sizes are needed in order to custom fit your expander. This might cause some pain for people because you must bite down on the rings for them to slide in to the tooth crevices
3. The expander - The expander can be put in either the top, bottom, or both sides of your mouth. For me it didn't hurt at all when they put it in but it does feel very weird at first.
Now once you got your expander in, there is one chore you must do everyday with it. You will receive a key which is like a little metal stick that is very thin and must stick it in the hole of the expander. The hole in located in the middle of the expander (as seen above) and you must turn that key in the hole towards the back of your mouth twice a day usually. Once in the morning when you wake up and once at night before you sleep.
Side-effects of an expander:
- Causes speech impediments for about a week or so because the tongue isn't touching the room of your mouth when you talk (assuming you got an expander on the roof of your mouth)
- Food will get stuck in the crevices of the expander when you eat. This becomes very annoying because its hard to get the food out unless you have a pipe cleaner or you use your tongue for a long time to get it out.
- There are prongs that stick out of the sides of the retainer and touch your cheeks. This irritates me because I either have to use wax to cover up the prongs or use my tongue when the prongs cling to the inside of my cheeks.
In The End Its Worth Your While
It only lasts about 4-5 months and you'll get used to it after the first couple weeks. Remember also that this is also just a recommended step on your path to getting braces. So you might not need to get and expander (Hooray for you)! One noteworthy thing about the expander is that it is beneficial to your nasal airways and will allow you to breathe better.
