I'm being impatient

Message

#1 Post by **BracketRacket** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:08 pm

Sorry! I have my follow-up visit with my ortho soon (the 21st) and I guess I know all the details then...but....I'm just a worrier (and being impatient!)

Obviously, this all depend on each patient and their situation and what course of action the doctor deems best, but I was just wondering what the different options are for a narrow top arch.

I know a surgically implanted palate expander is one, and of course, extracting teeth, but are there other methods that are also possibilities? I'm just trying to learn as much as I can...I'd like to avoid surgery if it's not completely necessary (doctor said it would be "ideal") and I'm just interested in other common ways of working around it.

Thanks guys!

#2 Post by **Snowglobe32** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:57 pm

My top arch is narrow and my ortho said surgery was not necessary and he could widen my arch with braces. I didn't believe him at first but I saw some previous patients and it worked for them. Surgery was never an option for me just because I didn't think it was absolutely necessary and the idea of someone "separating" my arch, having to turn some device several times a day, then having a big gap...was too much for me.

Guess what, it has only been 3 months since I had my braces put on, and I can see a difference. I can feel a difference with the way my tongue hits my teeth also.

My first consultation, with another ortho, wanted me to have surgery, at a cost of $13,000 inlcuding the cost of braces. No thanks.

I would consider all of your options, see what the ortho suggests and get some feedback from those here who have had the surgery.

#3 Post by **TumbleDryLow** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:43 am

Sometimes non-surgical expansion works--sometimes not. As an adult your palatal bones are fused, but I have read that a few people on the board have gotten some expansion this way. You are not going to get as much as with surgical expansion for sure, and in some cases you get only tipping of the molars, not actual expansion.

#4 Post by **VA5** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 4:25 pm

Snowglobe32 wrote:My top arch is narrow and my ortho said surgery was not necessary and he could widen my arch with braces. I didn't believe him at first but I saw some previous patients and it worked for them. Surgery was never an option for me just because I didn't think it was absolutely necessary and the idea of someone "separating" my arch, having to turn some device several times a day, then having a big gap...was too much for me.

Guess what, it has only been 3 months since I had my braces put on, and I can see a difference. I can feel a difference with the way my tongue hits my teeth also.

My first consultation, with another ortho, wanted me to have surgery, at a cost of $13,000 inlcuding the cost of braces. No thanks.

I would consider all of your options, see what the ortho suggests and get some feedback from those here who have had the surgery.

Do you mind my asking what your ortho did that made you see a difference in your arch size?? Did they do anything specific? I'd like for this to happen to my arch as well.. however if they do the top then the bottom won't line up with the top.. so how does this all work??

#5 Post by **TumbleDryLow** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 8:55 am

I think we need to be careful when throwing around the term "widening the arch". True widening of the arch can usually only happen in an adult with surgery and expansion. One can "feel" as if the upper arch is wider without surgery--as in my case too. I had so much crowding plus a crossbite that my upper molars were all tilted into my mouth making my upper arch seem more narrow then it really was. Now that those molars are uprighted and my crossbite is nearly 100% corrected, I feel like my tongue has a lot more room too. When comparing photos, in the beginning the teeth in my upper arch were in a triangular formation. 4 extractions later and the crowding and the crossbite corrected, photos today show me as having a nice rounded arch. Did my palate actually expand? No, but it does look that way.

#6 Post by **VA5** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:30 am

TumbleDryLow wrote:I think we need to be careful when throwing around the term "widening the arch". True widening of the arch can usually only happen in an adult with surgery and expansion. One can "feel" as if the upper arch is wider without surgery--as in my case too. I had so much crowding plus a crossbite that my upper molars were all tilted into my mouth making my upper arch seem more narrow then it really was. Now that those molars are uprighted and my crossbite is nearly 100% corrected, I feel like my tongue has a lot more room too. When comparing photos, in the beginning the teeth in my upper arch were in a triangular formation. 4 extractions later and the crowding and the crossbite corrected, photos today show me as having a nice rounded arch. Did my palate actually expand? No, but it does look that way.

That makes sense. Well even in my case, I would like a more rounded arch. Mine is very narrow looking. I'm sure that the teeth can move minimally outward.. roots and all.. b/c if they can move them back and forth, why can't roots be moved minimally outward? I bet they can, just a little bit. Right?

But yeah, I do hope mine is more rounded b/c it is like a twisted looking, narrow u right now. i want a nice rounded u.

#7 Post by **Snowglobe32** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 6:32 pm

VA5-

So far I have just had arch wires, yesterday I started on the 16's (or is it 18's?) My ortho is completely amazed at my progress. He said my teeth are moving really fast (which probably just means a slow down is coming

). Yesterday, he said the arch will
widen (he did use the word widen) even more with the wire I have now.
My case might be different because my bottom arch is wide and my upper arch is too narrow. We looked at the photos yesterday, there is definitely a difference. His overall goal was to widen the top and make the bottom not so wide.

I do agree with Tumble though, but I guess this question is best left to the experts.

#8 Post by **ghotieyes** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 12:05 pm

I had an expander with ceramic brackets, then Damon brackets and just a wire, and 4 extractions. The expander wasn't surgically implanted, just cemented to 4 of my teeth. The Damons eliminated the need for an expander, although the brackets are more visible than ceramics. My arches were pretty narrow to begin with but widened quite nicely. I have pics in my story (which hasn't been updated in a while, but a majority of the work is documented)