Need to expand the upper or lower palate?
A palatal expander, also known as a dental expander, is designed to expand the upper or lower palate to create room for crowded teeth; commonly used for children.
The expander creates room for teeth, while not having to remove any. Its purpose is to help the natural growth of a child’s mouth to create a functioning bite where the lower and upper teeth meet together properly.
Generally if your child suffers from one of the following issues, they may need orthodontic expander treatment:
The palatal expander can be used on both the upper and lower jaw for different purposes.
The purpose of an upper jaw expander is to stretch the palate to grow larger.
Expanders have two parts which are generally connected in the middle by a screw that has to be turned to apply pressure. It’s important to follow your orthodontists instructions on when and how much to turn the screw to expand your child’s mouth.
This pressure created slowly causes new bone to grow, which expands the upper or lower palate to the optimal growth.
This process helps to reduce the problems mentioned earlier – crossbites, crowding and impacted teeth.
On average, your child can expect to have an expander for around 3 – 6 months.
The skeletal maturation should be used to predict whether your child requires a palatal expander or not.
Ideally your child should be still growing, as this makes the expander treatment work.
There are a few possible side-effects:
Your child should be visiting the orthodontist at around eight years old for their first check-up. During this check-up, you will know whether your child will require orthodontic treatment or not.
For more information on the palatal expander and other treatments, please contact the experienced team at HiTech Ortho by clicking here.
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