Expansion with Metal Expanders
Expanders use the baby teeth as handles to make more room for the adult teeth that will grow in later and/or correct cross bites. Cross bites are caused by a narrow upper arch which prevents the teeth from coming together correctly in the back.
Rapid Palatal Expanders are recommended for children with severe airway constriction. Palatal expansion especially benefits children with symptoms of sleep apnea by increasing the patient’s airway measurements. This leads to better breathing and sleeping ability!
Your speech may take one to two days to adapt to the new wires. Practice reading out loud at home and repeat any words that your new tongue position has difficulty making with your expander.
The expander is typically followed by either upper front braces and a lower crozat/lower lingual arch or upper and lower Invisalign. Both of these options widen the lower arch to match the upper and close residual spaces in the teeth.
A lower lingual (“tongue side”) arch is used to either hold your teeth in their present position or increase the existing space that is available for your erupting lower permanent teeth. Please do not play with the wire using your tongue or fingers. Lifting the wire up continuously with your tongue will cause breakage and appliance replacement.
Brush carefully after each meal, including the teeth that have the separators between them. Avoid using dental floss between the teeth that have the separators.
