A Palatal Expander is an appliance that is custom made for you. It fits in the roof of your mouth and is cemented in place. This appliance will widen the roof of your mouth (palate), to help improve and correct the way your upper and lower jaws fit/bite together. Although the expansion will occur within the first few weeks of having the expander, the expander will remain in your mouth for about 3 to 6 months stabilizing.

Expect…

Talking, swallowing and chewing to sound and feel awkward for the first few days

Pressure over the bridge of the nose

Spend more time brushing to insure a clean expander

Space in between your teeth

Soreness of your tongue

Activating Your Palatal Expander

Your expander will be activated ________ turns a night for ________ weeks.

If you miss a night of turning, do not try to turn double the next night.

 This is the blue key that you will use in turning the expander.

 There is a hole at the front of the expander that the blue key will fit into

 Insert key and begin to push so that the hole begins to turn toward the back of the patient’s mouth

 When you can see a new hole open, then you have completed the turn, and you will let the key fall out of the hole that is now in back.

Always turn key from front to back of the patient's mouth

Never pull forward on key to remove as this may cause the expansion to reverse