Expander teeth – dental expander
Sometimes individuals think that they want one kind of treatment and find out they need another. Many individuals looking for braces may find out what they actually need is an expander teeth. The good news is if you are looking for a great Miami dentist for braces they likely will be able to help you find and install an expander that will work great for you.
When working with permanent teeth and expander work, early orthodontic care is key to successful orthodontic treatment. But what are these expanders? How do they work and what is the benefit of getting them? We’ll answer these questions and many more in just a moment, but first let’s take a look at what some experts in orthodontic medicine have to say about the benefits of a palate expander.
Palatal expanders can be used to achieve fast expansion of the upper jaw (Carvalho Trojan, L et al , 2017). They are especially effective in kids up to pre-teens to give the adult teeth more room. This is the age when bones are growing most rapidly and can adapt to the changes.
This technique causes an increase in the width of the upper jaw as patients commonly require (Carvalho Trojan,L et al ,2017).
The palatal expander may apply stresses on the teeth and if it’s uncomfortable, speak to your orthodontist near me (Carvalho Trojan, L et al , 2017) to get it adjusted. It will be doing a lot of work but it should not cause pain or loosen the teeth.
Does palatal expansion work in adults? Jaw expansion adults
The great news is the answer is a solid yes. Many individuals are most familiar with palatal expanders because they are very commonly used in kids and adolescents while the mouth is still growing and developing. However, the great news is that it is not exclusively useful only for them. Palatal expanders are useful for adults as well. The treatment time may take a little bit longer but palatal expanders are effective treatment for individuals of all ages.
It is important to know that the only way to determine for sure if you will be a good candidate for getting palatal expanders is to talk with your orthodontic office. Talking with your orthodontic office will let you know if you are a good candidate or even if a palatal expander is what you need in the first place.
Some individuals may require a different treatment or even a combination of appliances and so talking with your orthodontic office will help make clear what your particular needs are.
Do I need braces if I have a palate expander? Orthodontic mouth expander
It depends. ‘Need’ can mean many things and only a local orthodontist will know for certain if you actually need braces with your palatal expander. While you may not need them, the chances are fairly decent though that you will also need braces. The vast majority of individuals who get palate expanders also utilize braces as the two help adjust separate parts of your orthodontic palate. The braces may be straightening teeth and correcting gaps while the palatal expander is adjusting your palate itself.
These are two separate items and so often can be used in tandem to fix two separate issues. However, if you only need palate work done then you may not have to get the braces or vice versa. Only by talking with your orthodontic office will you be able to know for certain whether you will or will not need both.
What is the best age to get a palatal expander? Dental palate expander
We talked earlier if adults can utilize palatal expanders and the answer is a yes. However, as also mentioned earlier this may not be the best age to get a palatal expander as it is usually better to get a palatal expander while an individual is younger and the palate is still growing and forming.
So what is the best age to get an expander? According to the vast majority of orthodontists, the answer is around 7 or 8 years old. At this age, your mouth and jaws are still developing and so a palatal expander will be able to use the natural growth that occurs during this age to help progress the treatment far faster.
When adults get palatal expanders, it can often take many months or years for the treatment to finish its course as the adult palate is being adjusted from a set state whereas in children the palate is still growing and developing. This is one of the reasons why it’s important to seek out orthodontic treatment early.
The earlier that you can seek out orthodontic treatment is the best time to get it as waiting can make orthodontic issues slower and often more costly to fix. Treatment times that may take months in children can take years as adults. And of course that extra time will also usually mean extra money as well. The fact is orthodontic medicine is almost always cheapest when it’s caught early as opposed to when individuals allow things to go untreated for years.
Do braces/palate expanders change your voice? Dental expander
Individuals oftentimes don’t even think to ask until it comes up but the fact is yes, orthodontic treatment can change your voice or at the very least your speech patterns a bit. A palatal expander especially is going to have a potentially noticeable impact on your voice. However this need not always be the case.
Like all orthodontic medicine, your treatment is incredibly individualized and while you personally may not notice anything, an individual who got a palatal expander or braces might notice a change. Most often the changes are in the articulation of the vowels. Any words that require an individual to place their tongue all the way to the top of their mouth may notice a difference in the way that sounds as the palate is being expanded and shifted and our normal body responses are adjusting to the medical treatment.
This can occasionally lead to a slurred word or other differences in the way that our voice normally functions; however, generally speaking these changes will be so slow that you will automatically become accustomed to them without much thought. Before long you will be fully adjusted and there will be no net change in your speech pattern.
Reference:
Carvalho Trojan, L., Andrés González-Torres, L., Claudia Moreira Melo, A., & Barbosa de Las Casas, E. (2017). Stresses and Strains Analysis Using Different Palatal Expander Appliances in Upper Jaw and Midpalatal Suture. Artificial organs, 41(6), E41–E51. https://doi.org/10.1111/aor.12817
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