Orthodontics - Expander + Braces

[glitzy07]

My two boys, ages 8 and 10, are getting expanders placed today at the orthodontist.

Anyone have any experience with these for their kids, and willing to share tips and tricks? What kinds of soft foods should I be buying for them to get through the first few days?

I'm nervous. lol

[minniemouse]

Both my girls had expanders. They aren’t too bad once they get used to them. We did a lot of Mac and cheese for the first 2 days. Turning the key isn’t bad if they sit still. One of mine would move and then she’d get poked by the key. Ouch.

[nicolewi]

Ugh. Can't say this has been my favorite thing, but you'll be fine. DS has an expander. We had to crank it daily for like a month and that wasn't the greatest; seemed medieval but went okay overall. He didn't enjoy it. A few times I just couldn't get the darn thing to turn for some reason. I'd have DS lie on his back in the hallway under a light, and I had to wear my reading glasses to see the tiny hole! Food gets stuck in it so they gave him a squirter thing to help clean it off.

He did okay with eating in general. You can always do things like pudding, ice cream, yogurt; DS said things do sometimes get stuck and make him feel a little gaggy.

You can do OTC pain meds if sore.

[julygal]

Get yourself a waterpik if you don’t have one. Be prepared for the amount of food stuck in the expander the first week. They learn how to eat with less food stuck so it gets better. My kids never had too much discomfort so I served it as long as the food was expander safe (i.e, not sticky, raw fruits/veggies cut up, etc.).

[CrazyLucky]

DD had expanders. It was not as bad as I expected and she was pretty good about not eating things she couldn't. Once she got everything off, she add all kinds of trail mix and chewy stuff for a day. LOL

[abs]

DD had an expander. The first few days were rough as she learned how to eat and talk with it but no big deal by day 5 or so. Lots of yogurt and applesauce with fruit cut up super small. I think she only needed it for 7 months or so instead of the year we were planning. Worked well and now braces as soon as we find time.

[frlcb]

My daughter just had her expander removed after having it for 6 months. The first day or two she was sore but after that she had zero issues other than food sometimes getting stuck. Agree with the waterpick but she actually really liked soft picks to get rid of food (amazon or grocery store or target)

I made my husband do the key. It was only a month and I couldn't do it. She barely felt it.

[thebreakfastclub]

My son's expander was not a big deal. I gave him ibuprofen that night and I think he had ice cream for dinner.

The next day he was pretty much back to normal.

[hbomdiggity]

DS got the expander when he was 7 and he was so excited, lol. Until that night he was crying in pain. Pudding, yogurt, ice cream for the first 24hours. After that, he really never complained.

[VillainV]

C had one recently (age 9-9.5ish). We had to turn it every day. It hurt going on, but the daily turns didn’t seem too painful. There’s a learning curve to figuring out how to get the little pin lined up to turn it. We had best luck having C lay flat on the sofa and tilt his head all the way back, then I’d use the light on my phone to locate the hole, and do it as quickly as I could.

For the expander, and for braces, I highly recommend a WaterPik or some other kind of water flosser.

[sent]

Mar 18, 2024 13:03:55 GMT -5 nicolewi said:

We had to crank it daily for like a month and that wasn't the greatest; seemed medieval but went okay overall. He didn't enjoy it. 

Everyone has given you great advice already. I'm just here to say that an expander is a really great treatment for our under age 10 patients and even some over age 10 patients. I'm only quoting this because yes, it does seem medieval but it really does work. And I want whoever is reading this to know that there is A LOT of misinformation filling up the internet about how a traditional metal palate expander is so awful and harmful and "not gentle forces" and all this other garbage. Then to top it all off, Invisalign, a giant billion dollar corporation, has just put out an ad calling traditional metal expanders old fashioned and wrote all this other stuff that is just not true to sway consumers into asking for their new alternate expander product. 

[ellipses84]

DS didn’t complain much about pain or discomfort with the expander. After 2 months we went to get braces on but we ended up needing the expander on for another month so that was delayed. We had to adjust it at home for a set number of days after each appt. Once braces are on, the appts are much more manageable (like every 6 weeks). DS has multiple major issues and we saw a phenomenal difference after the expander.

He complains a lot about his braces especially after an adjustment, but he doesn’t like to take any pain meds or use wax to keep his braces from cutting him. Our ortho recommends he eat right after because it may take a couple hours to a day for the pain to set in.

If they had their teeth cleaned before the expander that is fine. If not and they are due soon, you may want to have it done before they put the braces on. DH and I never had braces so we took DS to the dentist after the braces were on and they felt they couldn’t clean his teeth adequately. He doesn’t have the best hygiene and had not been doing a great job with the special braces flosser tools we bought. We had to reschedule, get the wire taken out at the Ortho, go to the Dentist for a cleaning, then go back to the Ortho to get the wire put back in. No cavities but apparently that’s common. They recommended a better electric toothbrush and a water pik (new water piks are wireless, chargeable and much smaller than the old school kind I had as a kid). That’s been a lot easier for him to get the food out of his braces.

[ellipses84]

DS did complain about the expander gagging him when he ate certain foods. He avoided the list of off limit foods, but sometimes meat like a big bite of burger or crispy bacon would get caught in it.

Once on vacation the expander came off one molar and we called the ortho who had us take it off completely and we had to go in and have it put back on once we were back home.

[redheadk]

DD was not super bothered by her expander. She got it placed in early June 2023 and it was removed last month. Her mouth was sore the first day but some Advil and a snow cone got her through the worst of it. She didn't mind having it cranked, even when we had to do it two turns at the beginning. One friend said it made her daughter's nose tickle but multiple people reassured me that their kids weren't bothered by it and that was true for us, too. I think some things were harder to eat while she got used to it but it really wasn't a big deal at all.

For turning it, It worked best for us to have DD lay on the bed with the lamp on and my phone flashlight pointing into her mouth. It was easier than I thought.

Definitely get a waterpik!



I felt really bad for her when she had to get braces on with the expander but she rolled with it better than I anticipated. She got the expander off last month and her power chain so down to just regular braces right now.

[glitzy07]

Thank you everyone! The boys did better than I expected on Monday when they got them on. Minimal pain and complaining, but definitely getting used to eating different foods and cleaning it out when stuff gets stuck.

I turned the key for the first time yesterday with little fanfare. Just had them lay on our couch with the natural light coming in and it was pretty quick. redheadk Our ortho who placed the expanders warned the kids that they may feel a nose tickle when turning. So weird!

I think it helps that my older son really wanted braces and he knows this is the first step towards them. He is self-conscious about his teeth (lots of teeth in a small mouth, just like me!), so pushing through this for the end result is worth it to him. Our younger son was definitely less excited about it, but seems to be handling it well so far.

[osulori]

Ditto the waterpik! That thing was a godsend. Just make sure C and D know they are not allowed to terrorize each other or anyone else with it...you can guess how I learned that one Glad they're doing okay so far!