What are Palate Expanders and How Do They Work?
Making room for adult teeth with palate expanders for kids.
Has your Orthodontist recommended a Palate Expander as part of your child’s treatment plan?
Learn about how palate expanders use growth during childhood to create space for permanent teeth to grow in.
Palate expanders can attach to teeth in different ways. The left expander is attached with acrylic and the right expander is attached with bands.
A “key” is used to activate the turn mechanism each night for the first month. Turning the key is not painful and it is how the expander creates space.
What is a Palate Expander?
A Palate Expander is an orthodontic appliance that helps the upper jaw grow wider than it would on its own. This appliance is comfortable to wear because in children the upper jaw is made of two halves separated by a growth plate. This growth plate is wide open until children are done growing so, the expander does not hurt.
This type of appliance can only be used while children are growing, which is why the American Association of Orthodontists recommends age 7 for a child’s first orthodontic exam.
Why are Palate Expanders needed?
Palate Expanders are recommended for patients who do not have enough space in their mouth for permanent teeth to grow in. This is determined in young children with a clinical exam by an Orthodontist, along with panoramic x-rays where the size and shape of permanent teeth are visible before they are seen in the mouth.
Creating space before teeth try to grow in gives them the best chance of growing into the mouth, reducing the possibility of extraction of permanent teeth, which was a common orthodontic practice in the past. The goal is to avoid the need to extract permanent teeth by making space for all permanent teeth before they are struggling to grow in.
The expander is turned each night for approximately one month, creating a space in between the upper two front teeth.
Once the expander turns are complete, braces will reallocate the space by moving the front teeth together. The expander remains in the mouth for 6 months total.
Wearing a Palate Expander during your Smile Journey
The palate expander and partial upper braces are placed the same day. The expander is turned each night for approximately one month creating a space in between the top two front teeth. Braces and wires close the gap and reallocate the space where it is needed.
Expanders remain in the mouth for a total of 6 months and are replaced with a palatal bar for a year to support the expansion.
Palate expanders are considered as part of phase one of a two-phase orthodontic treatment plan. Phase two begins when all permanent teeth erupt with full upper and lower braces to complete alignment and bite correction. Using expanders in phase one often makes phase two a much shorter, ideal phase of treatment.