My 8 year old needs a palate expander

redheaded

Wed, May 18 2016, 9:25 pm

Went with my son at 8 to ortho by recommendations of dentist.
Ortho peaked into mouth at consultation and said yup needs it, and talk to my girls in the front. She gave me a paper on payment methods and pricing. They wanted everything up front, or minimal instalments. I don't pay my dentist before I get a root canal!

I opted out. 2 and 1/2 years later, dentist said his mouth accommodated the teeth without intervention.

In other words the problem corrected itself. Baruch Hashem!

Chayalle

Wed, May 18 2016, 10:12 pm

amother wrote:

I also use dr. Krug and he put it in when my child was eight. It didn't cost me a penny because dr. Krug takes insurance.

My child was in sick pain the first week it was put in that we almost pulled it out. Child threw up for three days. Still bothers child and complains when eating but it's still in the mouth. Honestly it was free By me and I didn't realize what a big procedure it was so I didn't even do research on it until it was in and child was complaining and I was like what did I just do.

You must have awesome insurance if it covers orthodontia to that extent. I paid a couple of grand for DD's appliance and braces - $1200 down and over 100 a month for 2 1/2 years. In addition to what my insurance paid.

greenfire

Thu, May 19 2016, 12:37 am

Unique wrote:

I'm dealing with this now for my 8 yo also. I was just wondering if anyone had to first pull some baby teeth before putting the expander in? The orthodontist called me today to cancel the appt to put in the expander because he first wants us to get 4 teeth extracted....anyone had a similar experience?

sonny boy had 4 teeth pulled - but for some contraption other than an expander ... I cannot recall his age but I do recall the agony

also there are dental schools that are worth checking into as they charge half price or cover special dental situations that would be good learning experiences for their students [supervised] ...

zeifreilich

Thu, May 19 2016, 10:04 am

Good Morning Everybody, and thank you all for your input!
I thought my daughter was the only one needing an expander. Didn't know there were so many people out there that actually had gone through this.

My daughter's only problem is crowding. I saw for myself, that when her tooth fell out, the others just came together and the new tooth has no room to come down. The dentist showed me on the x-ray where she has quite a few teeth that don't have room to come down.

It was a regular dentist that suggested this. He told me that the orthodontist will tell me to wait, but I shouldn't. If the orthodontist I'm using for my other kid doesn't want to do it, I should come back to him. He'll refer me to an orthodontist that will do it. This gives me the impression that he's doing some kind of business with that guy.

So the real question here is, does she really need an expander???

About the removable ones, if they are just as effective, I would probably go with that. As for her losing it in school, I'm not worried about that. I work right next to her school. I can bring it to her in the morning, right after breakfast, and then I can spend my lunch break with her while she eats and I'm in charge. But are they even more expensive?

sky

Thu, May 19 2016, 11:20 am

amother wrote:

What insurance do you have? Did he take medical insurance. I have dental insurance but it will only cover a portion of it. They would not take medical insurance. I was wondering if I could still get it covered as a tongue thrust issue...(I'm not using Dr Krug, glad to see Chayalle's post, I thought I was way over spending)

doublemama

Thu, May 19 2016, 12:04 pm

25 years ago I had a pallette expander that was cemented into place. I remember it hurt like crazy the first few weeks of turning it with the key and then once the jaw was expanded ) It hurt the next few times with the turning and then it stopped hurting. So I say the first month was pretty painful but then it stopped hurting. It gave me one heck of a gap between my two front teeth! It was just a bother because it was in the way and food got caught up into it. It was absolutely worth it and I would do it again.

Ds got a removable palette expander 2 years ago. He could take it out to eat but had to wear it the rest of the time. There was no pain, and it didn't really bother him at all.

The cemented one works faster but is painful, the removable one takes longer but is gentler.

Oh and it was completely covered by insurance. He is still in braces now.

amother

Amber

Thu, May 19 2016, 12:16 pm

If you're in Brooklyn, try Refuah Family Dental - they are located on 13th Ave and 54th Street and phone is 718-435-3400.

I've had some work done there and know that they also do palate expanders and other orthodontic procedures. They also take insurance so you might not have to pay so much $$ (depending on what insurance you have.)

QUEENY

Thu, May 19 2016, 2:59 pm

My son got one cemented in his mouth at 6 yrs old bc there wasnt enough room for his teeth..we had to use a key for awhile..then he got a space maintainer on the top..to keep the space..then he needed another palate expander and a space maintainer on the bottom..he is 11 and just got a full mouth of braces..with his palate expander inside and space maintainer on the bottom.. I always ay he has the most expensive mouth I have ever seen..we are up to 10 grand in 5 years.

happy12

Fri, May 20 2016, 7:56 am

My son was 9 when he got his expander. Ortho said I should have come earlier.he had it together with a night brace to pull his teeth forward. After that he had a bite plate to straten his bottom teeth. He did not end up needed braces because he go this palate expanded before his adult teeth came in.