Palatal Expanders Are the Secret to Making Room for a Confident Smile

What if there isn’t enough space in my child’s mouth?

It goes without saying that as children grow, so do their mouths. Ideally, everything grows at the perfect rate, resulting in the optimal spacing between those adult teeth. Unfortunately, that’s not how life works. Some children need a little extra help making room for incoming teeth. This could be due to them having a small jaw, or even due to a severe overbite. When this happens, it can be necessary to act early to help a child’s teeth have the best chance of success.

What’s the solution to these problems? Palatal expanders are a gentle and effective solution to making space for those adult teeth. 

What is a palatal expander?

A palatal expander is a device that is used to widen the upper jaw. It is fitted to the roof of the child’s mouth and is expanded little by little with a special key—so there’s no need to come into the office every time! 

A palatal expander  is typically used when a child’s mouth is too small for all of their adult teeth, and is more effective if used before their jaw is done growing. It’s often used if a child has a severe crossbite or severely crowded teeth. The aim of a palatal expander is to ensure there is enough room for all of your child’s adult teeth as they come in.

But isn’t orthodontic care something specifically for teenagers and adults? Braces are a very common treatment as a child enters those high school years, but some dental issues require early intervention, such as crossbites or over bites.These are best treated before the jaw is done growing. If the problem is not dealt with while they are still young, more invasive procedures, such as surgeries, can be necessary to repair the bite.

Why are palatal expanders helpful?

If your child’s jaw is too narrow for all of their incoming teeth, it can create all kinds of issues with misalignments. Those teeth typically do what they can to push through, no matter what stands in their way, leading to teeth settling in all kinds of positions. Palatal expanders prevent overcrowding before it gets out of hand by widening the jaw enough for all of the incoming teeth.

But that’s not the only thing it’s good at. Palatal expanders can help improve your child’s breathing and make future orthodontic treatment easier and more effective.

What to Expect During Treatment

If you recently heard that your child could benefit from a palatal expander, it’s completely understandable that you would wonder what you should expect throughout the treatment. The device is placed on the roof of your child’s mouth by the dentist. But once the device is placed, you don’t have to come in each time it has to be adjusted. You can do it at home with a special key. This fits into a slot at the roof of the mouth and is turned little by little to expand. You want to do this every day so that the adjustments are small; this ensures the entire process is done with minimal discomfort.

One of the many misconceptions about palatal expanders is that they are painful. As the teeth and jaw adjust to their new position, there is going to be some pressure. If this is uncomfortable for your child, it can be treated with over-the-counter medications such as Ibuprofen or Tylenol. 

The treatment varies from case to case, but is typically only a few months long. Often, further orthodontic work is needed to keep the jaw from going back to where it was before. Your child will have a specific game plan just for their orthodontic care. Once they are done with their palatal expanders, it is time to move on to the next stage in their orthodontic treatment!

Early Interventions Can Be Helpful

Palatal expanders are here to help the kiddos with overcrowded teeth make room for their adult teeth. This results in a healthy, confident smile. With time, all of their hard work will pay off! Though this treatment is typically done at a young age, it can reduce the need for more complex care or procedures later on in life. Once the jaw is done growing, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to adjust bites like this without surgery.

Are you wondering if your child might benefit from a palatal expander? If so, don’t hesitate to contact us for a consultation. Whether your child needs their regular cleaning or they’re ready to move on to orthodontic treatment such as palatal expanders, we are ready and waiting to help their smile be the best that it can be! Making an appointment with Must Love Kids has never been so easy.