The dreaded palatal expander
Today we made a trip to the dentist to check to make sure Em's palatal expander had done it's job and her teeth were in the right place. Then we wait....for 6 months! So the good news is, the turns worked and her teeth are in the proper spot now. The bad news is she has 6 months to wait with the expander in her mouth holding everything in place.
Let me take you back to the beginning....
It all started with a regular check up and the dentist telling us Em had a cross bite. This could be easily fixed with a palatal expander. It sounded easy enough...but let me tell you, it's not as easy as it sounds. A rapid palatal expander can be used if the child is under 14 years old and their palate hasn't fused yet. This is the easiest way to fix a cross bite. If you wait, it requires surgery. So in the end this was the best course of action.
Step one: Dental Mold
For a kid with an extreme fear of gagging this was quite the challenge. But I'm proud to say that Em pulled through and we got the mold. I really shouldn't say we as I wasn't even in the room. She seems to be more brave when Dave is around so he got the pleasure of talking her though it.
Step two: Spacer Elastics
About 3 days before the device arrives they put spacer elastics in the back teeth to make room for it to slip on those teeth and into place. I figured this would be one of the easiest steps. But once again, new and uncomfortable only ended in stress and tears. Luckily the pressure the elastics create goes away within a couple minutes and she was fine by the time we left the dentist.
Step three: The Expander Goes In
This was the dreaded day. And I have to say I was prepared for this not to work. It took some time, some bribery and a lot of reassurance from both Dave, myself and the dentist. Finally after trying it in place a couple times they applied the glue and it was set. But the look on Em's face when she first closed her mouth with it in just broke my heart. I had read countless blogs and articles about and knew what to expect. I had told Emily what to expect as well but until it was in there we didn't really know. The fear and panic as her tongue was bumping up against it was so sad. She could barely talk and I could see how scared she was. We gave her lots of hugs and luckily she adjusted really quickly to it. By the time we were leaving the dentist her tears were gone and she was excited for some ice cream.
Because Em was so scared of it and had such a difficult time with all the steps leading up to the actual expander they suggested putting it in and just leaving it for a week. That way she wasn't being faced with an uncomfortable turn right after all the stress of having it put in. This was such a good idea! By the time we went to learn how to do the first turn she was comfortable talking and had no pressure from the expander....that was about to change.
This is a rapid palatal expander. We were told to turn it twice a day for 14 days. For a total of 28 turns. Luckily it doesn't all HAVE to be completed in 2 weeks. You can extend it if necessary and that was a good thing for us. The first few turns weren't that bad at all. She felt a little pressure but it was gone within a minute. But once we were about 4-5 turns in the pain started. Of course I was the one who had to do the turns which sucked. It's so sad to put your child through something you know is uncomfortable for them (or in Emily's words painful...even though she admitted it wasn't really pain). About 5 days in we took a break and skipped two turns, which we then add to the end of the timeline. This helped and the next 4-5 turns after the break were easy again. Then about half way through she complained that after the turn her tooth went numb. I brushed it off as just part of the process. But the next turn her eyes turned to panic and she said her whole cheek went numb. Luckily our dentist gave us his cell and was super helpful. He advised us to take a break for 2-4 turns and then start up again and see how it is. We skipped 2 turns and then got back at it and there was no more numbness or pain. We were now down to the final stretch and on September 21st we were done! Check out that gap! If it's working you should expect to see quite a gap. But we've been assured it will close up over the next few weeks as the teeth spread out.
Today was the follow up to make sure the palate is where it's supposed to be. The dentist was super happy with the placement of her teeth and said now we just wait for everything to firm up in place over the next 6 months. Sometimes they take them out sooner but they don't want to risk it with Em being younger. They expect a little bit of movement back but hopefully for the most part the jaw will stay widened.
So now we play the waiting game. The long term hope is that this will eliminate or limit the need for braces down the road. But for now it's taken care of the cross bite and that's the important part.
As much as Em has cried through most of the process, she has also learned to be brave and face her fears. Often times she realizes that her fear is worse than the actual procedure. I hope this will help build her confidence to trust us and trust herself.
UPDATE:
The expander is out! 7 months after it went in. The daily turns went quite well and then it was a waiting game until it was time to remove it. She did really well once she adjusted to having it in.
The removal appointment was a very stressful event. Emily is not a fan of change in any way. It took a lot of deep breaths and reminding her the goal is to have it out. Our dentists are amazing and after a few minutes of talking her into holding her mouth open...it was OUT. However, that sparked a whole new level of anxiety as she couldn't remember how to swallow or speak, and her mouth felt so bit without the expander in. But after about 24 hours she was totally back to normal! That's it for orthodontic work for now. I'm sure we'll be back at it once she's in her teens.
Let me take you back to the beginning....
It all started with a regular check up and the dentist telling us Em had a cross bite. This could be easily fixed with a palatal expander. It sounded easy enough...but let me tell you, it's not as easy as it sounds. A rapid palatal expander can be used if the child is under 14 years old and their palate hasn't fused yet. This is the easiest way to fix a cross bite. If you wait, it requires surgery. So in the end this was the best course of action.
Step one: Dental Mold
For a kid with an extreme fear of gagging this was quite the challenge. But I'm proud to say that Em pulled through and we got the mold. I really shouldn't say we as I wasn't even in the room. She seems to be more brave when Dave is around so he got the pleasure of talking her though it.
Step two: Spacer Elastics
About 3 days before the device arrives they put spacer elastics in the back teeth to make room for it to slip on those teeth and into place. I figured this would be one of the easiest steps. But once again, new and uncomfortable only ended in stress and tears. Luckily the pressure the elastics create goes away within a couple minutes and she was fine by the time we left the dentist.
Step three: The Expander Goes In
This was the dreaded day. And I have to say I was prepared for this not to work. It took some time, some bribery and a lot of reassurance from both Dave, myself and the dentist. Finally after trying it in place a couple times they applied the glue and it was set. But the look on Em's face when she first closed her mouth with it in just broke my heart. I had read countless blogs and articles about and knew what to expect. I had told Emily what to expect as well but until it was in there we didn't really know. The fear and panic as her tongue was bumping up against it was so sad. She could barely talk and I could see how scared she was. We gave her lots of hugs and luckily she adjusted really quickly to it. By the time we were leaving the dentist her tears were gone and she was excited for some ice cream.
Because Em was so scared of it and had such a difficult time with all the steps leading up to the actual expander they suggested putting it in and just leaving it for a week. That way she wasn't being faced with an uncomfortable turn right after all the stress of having it put in. This was such a good idea! By the time we went to learn how to do the first turn she was comfortable talking and had no pressure from the expander....that was about to change.
This is a rapid palatal expander. We were told to turn it twice a day for 14 days. For a total of 28 turns. Luckily it doesn't all HAVE to be completed in 2 weeks. You can extend it if necessary and that was a good thing for us. The first few turns weren't that bad at all. She felt a little pressure but it was gone within a minute. But once we were about 4-5 turns in the pain started. Of course I was the one who had to do the turns which sucked. It's so sad to put your child through something you know is uncomfortable for them (or in Emily's words painful...even though she admitted it wasn't really pain). About 5 days in we took a break and skipped two turns, which we then add to the end of the timeline. This helped and the next 4-5 turns after the break were easy again. Then about half way through she complained that after the turn her tooth went numb. I brushed it off as just part of the process. But the next turn her eyes turned to panic and she said her whole cheek went numb. Luckily our dentist gave us his cell and was super helpful. He advised us to take a break for 2-4 turns and then start up again and see how it is. We skipped 2 turns and then got back at it and there was no more numbness or pain. We were now down to the final stretch and on September 21st we were done! Check out that gap! If it's working you should expect to see quite a gap. But we've been assured it will close up over the next few weeks as the teeth spread out.
Today was the follow up to make sure the palate is where it's supposed to be. The dentist was super happy with the placement of her teeth and said now we just wait for everything to firm up in place over the next 6 months. Sometimes they take them out sooner but they don't want to risk it with Em being younger. They expect a little bit of movement back but hopefully for the most part the jaw will stay widened.
So now we play the waiting game. The long term hope is that this will eliminate or limit the need for braces down the road. But for now it's taken care of the cross bite and that's the important part.
As much as Em has cried through most of the process, she has also learned to be brave and face her fears. Often times she realizes that her fear is worse than the actual procedure. I hope this will help build her confidence to trust us and trust herself.
UPDATE:
The expander is out! 7 months after it went in. The daily turns went quite well and then it was a waiting game until it was time to remove it. She did really well once she adjusted to having it in.
The removal appointment was a very stressful event. Emily is not a fan of change in any way. It took a lot of deep breaths and reminding her the goal is to have it out. Our dentists are amazing and after a few minutes of talking her into holding her mouth open...it was OUT. However, that sparked a whole new level of anxiety as she couldn't remember how to swallow or speak, and her mouth felt so bit without the expander in. But after about 24 hours she was totally back to normal! That's it for orthodontic work for now. I'm sure we'll be back at it once she's in her teens.
Comments
Post a Comment