day 10, expander infomation...

hi guys,

Sorry I haven't posted in ages, school work has been insane!!!! But... Guess what?! I got my expander. I got my RPE 10days ago and turned it for the first time on Sunday. I'm going to tell you about the first day with it, pain, first turn and how I clean it.

Before I start there will be pictures as soon as I can get my camera working.

FIRST DAY WITH MY EXPANDER

So, I got my expander last Monday at around 1:30pm. They showed me how to turn it, how to remove it(yes I can take mine out), how to protect it(I bought a case for it) and told me I would have lisp. I got it in and didn't talk until I got into the car. Then I started gagging and had to keep spitting. It was horrible. It took around 3-4days to get used to an about 5minutes to stop gagging. Your lisp stops after around 4 days as well. I do produce more saliva and I can't pronounce certain words but apart from that it is fine.

PAIN

So the second day I had my expander in I started to feel lots of pressure as my orthodontist had turned it once before he let me go home. It wasn't like 'OMG THIS IS SO UNBEARABLE I'M GOING TO DIE' sort of pain. It was like 'THIS IS NOT VERY COMFY BUT I THINK I'LL SURVIVE' sort of pain. Paracetomol helped so much. And ice cream numbed the pain. Win-Win situation.

FIRST TURN

I turned my RPE for the first time on Sunday the 22nd September in the morning. My RPE has 4 small holes and I put the key in and turn it in the direction the arrows are pointing. And that's it. I have not felt any pressure since turning the RPE which is weird but at least I have no pain.

HOW I CLEAN MY RPE

My RPE has hooks that go around my molars and I pull them down and pop it out. I then clean my teeth and then once done I swish some mouthwash around my mouth. Whilst I swish, I take my soft bristled toothbrush which I use just for that.  I take toothpaste, place it on my toothbrush and clean the surface of the RPE, rinse  the RPE off, spit out the mouthwash and then I put it back in. Done and dusted.

So that is it. I hope this helped anyone getting an expander or people who have their expander. I will try to post a little bit more often now but its hard with all my homework. But I will try to post more now.

Bye guys.

Lets go back in time....

Hi guys,

Long time, no blog. So lets have a little recap. So in 2days i'm getting my rapid palatal expander (RPE) fitted to crack the crossbite and make my top jaw bigger. My last blog i did was talking to you about what they did at my last appointment which was on the 6/9/13. I explained what they told me i would have to have done and my treatment time, which is roughly 24months.

Over the past 8days i have been doing my research on what an RPE is and how i would eat and talk again and i learned about the rainbow passage. The rainbow passage is a piece of speech in which they use on people who have trouble which speech and can't read that. It uses phonics and sounds. So when i get my exapnder they suggest that i read the rainbow passage to get used to speaking again.

The rainbow passage is:
When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act like a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colours. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

So that's it really, I cant think of anything else to say. I will do photos and a new blog of my RPE when I get it fitted this Monday.

Bye guys.

no braces(just yet)...

Hi,

So today was my second appointment. Turns out I won't have braces for a little while.

My orthodontist said I had a X-bite, an over jet and an overbite.

Which is why at my next appointment which is in 10days, I have to get an expander brace, which is basically this appliance that gets put on the top of my mouth and you turn it and  it pushes my molars outwards. You will get a better explanation if you search up 'expanders'.

So I have to have that for 6 - 8 months. Then I get that removed and have 4 of my premolars extracted. So I have to have two token from the top(one on the left side and one from the right side) and the same from the bottom, which will leave me with 24 teeth.

THEN I can have braces and then its a bumpy, painful ride to the finish line. one word: ouch.

So there you have it. Finally I can start my journey to straight teeth. Thanks to everyone who is interested in my story/experience/journey. I appreciate it.

10days guys...

Bye..