A Complete Guide to Orthodontic Expanders

What’s the Role of the Expander in Orthodontic Treatment?

Often, patients ask: “What is an expander? Why do I need one? What does it do?”

I’ll highlight what they are, how they work, reasons people need them, what happens when they don’t opt for expansion, and the overall results of expansion.

What is an Expander?

The expansion device has small bands or rings that fit around the six-year molar teeth, fitting the upper roof of the mouth.

How does an Expander Work?

Usually Mom or Dad will help the actual expansion process, which they learn about at the orthodontic office. Here’s how it works: There’s a little hole in the expander and it comes with a key. You put the expansion key in the hole, pull backwards toward the throat, and it turns the expander once. It then turns a quarter-of-a-millimeter--enough to begin the expansion process. And, fortunately, you can’t turn it more than it’s supposed to. Most people don’t experience pain, but feel a bit of pressure. You do this once a day, depending on how much expansion’s needed. It could take three to four weeks or six to seven weeks to get the jaw where it needs to be.

Reasons People may Need Expanders

1) They have a thumb-sucking habit. This is probably the most common reason people need expanders. If your child sucks his thumb, he places the thumb behind his/her teeth.

2) They were born with narrow jaws. For whatever reason, the jaw didn't develop the width needed.d the front teeth as he’s falling asleep or watching a movie. That constant sucking constricts the upper jaw, making it narrower than what’s ideal. This can cause airway problems or the teeth to not fit together nicely. When these issues arise, it’s best to get that upper jaw back to where it needs to be with an expander.

3) They haveallergies and other sinus problems. You wouldn't think those would cause a narrow upper palette, but people with allergies and sinus issues tend to breath more through their mouth, especially when sleeping. They’ll be slack-jawed, sleeping with their mouth open. We call these people “mouth breathers.” Now when this happens, their cheeks are taut, creating a bit of suction and pressure on the upper teeth. Over the years, just a bit of pressure is enough to collapse the upper jaw due to the tautness in the cheeks.

4) Their teeth don’t fit together correctly. Teeth are anatomically built to fit together nicely and protect each other. When the upper jaw is a little narrow and the teeth don’t fit together well, it can damage the teeth.

What if orthodontists don’t expand the jaws?

When the upper jaw’s narrower than the lower jaw, the teeth won’t fit together ideally. As a result, you’ll shift your lower jaw to close your teeth and to bite. Over the years, this shifting of the lower jaw can actually cause it to grow in the wrong direction. So, if you’re constantly shifting to the right to bite and chew, you can get a little more growth towards the right causing a facial or skeletal deformity.

Expanders deliver nice results

Think Julia Roberts. People always talk about her nice broad smile. With expanders, not only do you get your teeth in a good position, protect them and the jaw joints, and open up your airway space, but you get a smile like Julia Roberts.

If you have always admired Julia Robert’s smile and an oral ailment is hindering your path to it, then contact Beecroft Orthodontics today to remove any obstacles in your path to a Julia Roberts like smile.

Beecroft Orthodontics, 10472 Georgetown Dr. Fredericksburg, Virginia

Phone: 540-898-2200

A Complete Guide to Orthodontic Expanders

FAQ’s: Getting Braces Twice

Why do Some People Need to Wear Braces more than once?

I often hear this question from new patients: Why do some people need to wear braces more than once?

Often, parents have a friend or their kids have a friend in elementary school with braces. Then a concerned Mom will come in asking, “Why does Johnny’s friend have braces? He’s only in second or third grade. He doesn’t even have all his permanent teeth in. Why would he have braces now? Will he need them again?”

These are all valid questions.

I’m not a huge fan of putting braces on twice when it’s not necessary. But, there are a handful of cases where it is a good idea to have braces once, maybe twice.

Reasons you may need braces early

1.) A growth imbalance--an underbite. Often, when people have an underbite, their lower jaws will protrude or stick out relative to their upper jaws. The main reasons are either the upper jaws are not developed as much or the lower jaws are growing too much. Most of the time this is due to a genetic component, like a father, uncle or grandparent has the same issue.

You will then restrict the growth of the lower jaw to help the upper jaw grow, which is most effective with younger children, 9-12 years old.

2) A habit--most commonly, a thumb habit. When a child goes to bed, he puts his thumb in his mouth for a soothing effect, creating suction at the roof of his mouth. This causes the upper jaw to narrow and constrict. At the very least, if there’s no skeletal or tooth change, we have appliances that fit in the upper mouth and distract the thumb. This gives the child motivation not to put his thumb there.

3) The teeth are in a traumatic position. Sometimes, you don’t have a jaw imbalance, but the teeth came in just a little funny. Often, it’s not because the jaws are out of harmony, but the tooth is just displaced backwards. The reason you want it corrected earlier is every time you chew and bite, you create micro-trauma to that area. You want to get those teeth in the proper position to relieve that chance of something traumatic happening to the teeth.

4) The teeth are severely crowded. Sometimes when teeth are so crowded, your permanent teeth don’t have a chance to come in naturally. When that happens, you may have impacted teeth, which may cause trouble down the road. If you have so much crowding that it’s limiting the chances of your permanent teeth coming in, orthodontists will intervene a couple ways:

• Spread the teeth out or tip them in certain ways to make more room.

• Direct the general dentist to remove some baby teeth at the appropriate time to allow permanent teeth to come in.

5) Speech problems. Often, people with speech impediments or other speech issues have issues due to the position of the teeth. We can often fix this early.

6) Airway issues. If your child is snoring, having a hard time breathing at night, or was diagnosed with sleep apnea at a young age, we want to expand the palette. By widening the teeth and upper jaw, we can get amazing changes in the volume of air produced, inhaled and exhaled.

7.) Social reasons. Young kids come in and say because their teeth are flared or they have buck teeth, kids make fun of them at school. I advise we are happy to get those permanent teeth nice and straight, and we’ll monitor them, but they may need braces again when rest of the permanent teeth come in.

Why get braces early?

When you have braces early, there’s always the chance the rest of the permanent teeth won’t come in ideally. Sometimes they come in nicely and you don’t need braces or just need a few tweaks. Other times, they come in like the previous teeth came in and you almost need another set of braces. But when you get them early, you reduce a lot of the complications that would have come about.

The team at Beecroft Orthodontics are experts of dealing with every oral condition that might arise. Contact us today for further information or if you want us to help you pave the way to a perfect smile.

Beecroft Orthodontics, 10472 Georgetown Dr. Fredericksburg, Virginia

Phone: 540-898-2200

FAQ’s: Getting Braces Twice

Daily Life and Orthodontic Appliances

How will Braces, Expanders, Retainers, and Invisalign Affect my Life?

As you can imagine, with braces, expanders, retainers, or any other orthodontic appliance, there’s an adjustment period. And, you may have to do a few things in your life differently as you adjust.

I’ll discuss what to expect, changes you may experience, and how you can minimize any unwanted distractions or deviations from your daily life.

Braces

Here’s what you can expect:

• A general soreness for about a week after the initial appointment and two to three days after the adjustment appointments.

• Soreness in the teeth as well as lips and cheeks (from rubbing against the braces).

• Food will get stuck in the braces. Be more diligent with brushing, flossing and your overall hygiene. If you aren't, you can experience swelling, redness, inflammation of the gums, as well as the beginnings of cavities around the braces. This leaves a white ring around the braces that’s unsightly when the braces come off.

• You’ll have to be more careful with activities where you may bump your lips like wrestling and football. When you play sports, wear a mouth guard. Now, you can’t wear normal mouth guards because they will not fit over the braces and the teeth. And, the mouth guards can’t be form-fitting because the teeth will move. You don’t want them to impede the movement of the teeth. Most orthodontists have special mouth guards for braces and different kits for keeping teeth clean.

• I often hear: “Do I need to be worried about kissing my boyfriend or girlfriend who also has braces?” I can assure you I never heard of someone getting stuck to someone else with braces. Myth debunked.

Retainers and Expanders

• When it comes to talking, expect an adjustment period of a couple of days. You may have a little bit of a lisp, but this doesn’t happen with everyone. You may struggle speaking because those appliances are in the roof of your mouth so you can’t form some of your “S’s” and “T’s” by bringing your tongue to the roof of your mouth--causing a lisp. So, just read a book out loud for the first couple of days to speed up the process.

• Food may get trapped underneath the appliance, so use a water pick. Water picks shoot out jets of water that tend to do a good job of getting rid of any unwanted leftover lunch from an expander or retainer. They are inexpensive and can be purchased at any one of your local stores.

Invisalign

Invisalign is nice because you can take it in and out, so you don’t have to be concerned about issues that can arise with braces, retainers and expanders.

You will wear the trays 20-22 hours each day, so some people find snacking and drinking less convenient. You should take out the trays to snack and drink. To avoid staining the trays, drink through a straw. And, rinse out your mouth after you snack before putting the trays back in.

I’m reminded of a patient I saw about a year ago who was an ER doctor, big triathlete, and exercise fanatic. She loved to sip on red Powerade all day long, but was really worried about staining her teeth. She ended up getting Invisalign but didn’t want the trays to turn red. So, I told her she could take the trays out, drink Powerade, then put the trays back in. But by doing that, she didn’t have the trays in for 22 hours of the day, so I recommended she drink through the straw. She tried that and it actually worked out really well.

It’s amazing how a minor tweak can make all the difference to accommodate your daily activities. Remember, these are minor tweaks, and you shouldn't see too much of a burden on your day-to-day life when it comes to braces, retainers, expanders or Invisalign.

Contact Beecroft Orthodontics today for any further information or questions that might still be troubling your mind or set up an appointment for your oral problems with our experienced team.

Beecroft Orthodontics, 10472 Georgetown Dr. Fredericksburg, Virginia

Phone: 540-898-2200

Daily Life and Orthodontic Appliances