Tongue crib and expander

A

Anita

Newbie
I recently started orthodontic treatment for crowding and a large overjet and overbite. It's gotten worse over time. My orthodontist said I have a tongue thrusting habit that must be corrected and started my treatment by putting on partial braces and an upper expander with tongue crib. I got them last week and they are very uncomfortable. My speech is bad with a lisp and it's hard to eat, swallow, and speak. My orthodontist said I would adjust and recommended speech therapy. I had my first appointment on Friday and my speech therapist gave me exercises for improving my speech and retraining my tongue so it doesn't thrust against my teeth. I want the appliance out, but my speech therapist and orthodontist but think it is really important. The expander is also painful and I have to turn it with a key.
 
He said I would need the expander for 9 months. He said I would need the crib for longer and maybe for the remainder of my treatment. But it's attached to the expander, so he said I would either get a new fixed crib after the expander is out or hopefully a removable one.

 
It's really uncomfortable and difficult to speak with. I also got a herbst now and can't speak. I am going to speech therapy and seeing if that helps.
 
The herbst is very uncomfortable. It is cutting up my tongue and the inside of my cheeks. It's so hard to even swallow without my tongue scratching the expander. My mouth has been very sore, though that's improving a little. My teeth don't touch now, so chewing is very hard and I have to use my front teeth. The herbst only allows my mouth to move a little , so there is so much pressure when I chew. After like 10 minutes of chewing the smallest bite, I try to swallow it, and it all gets stuck in my expander, tongue crib, and in the side of me cheek. The two screws on the bottom cause two bumps on the outside of my mouth to show at my lower lip, especially when I smile, and it's extremely sore. My jaw hurts and I have a really bad lisp and difficulty speaking. I already had a hard time speaking with the expander and crib, but this makes it much worse.
 
Hi you all,

Because of my narrow upper jaw, posterior crossbite and front crowding I started treatment last month. I now have a bonded upper hyrax expander. I will have this one for 6 months and then I will get a tpa in my upper jaw and fixed braces in both my upper and lower jaw with elastics. Luckily I won't get a tongue crib or a herbst till now. I recoin that will be a whole lot of metal in your mouth. Getting used to swallow and speak with a hyrax is already a 2 weeks job I found. And with each turn the whole situation changes a bit But it will be all worth it also when you are 40...hihi. Hang in there!
 
Saskia said:
Hi you all,

Because of my narrow upper jaw, posterior crossbite and front crowding I started treatment last month. I now have a bonded upper hyrax expander. I will have this one for 6 months and then I will get a tpa in my upper jaw and fixed braces in both my upper and lower jaw with elastics. Luckily I won't get a tongue crib or a herbst till now. I recoin that will be a whole lot of metal in your mouth. Getting used to swallow and speak with a hyrax is already a 2 weeks job I found. And with each turn the whole situation changes a bit But it will be all worth it also when you are 40...hihi. Hang in there!
[/quote

Oh wow, sounds like a lot to go through, but it wipo be worth it at the end for sure
Click to expand...
 
Is the tpa uncomfortable? What kind of elastics do you have?

Last week, I got my upper expander out. My orthodontist placed a new upper tongue crib and this one feels like it hangs down lower and is more uncomfortable. He activated my herbst to bring my lower jaw forward more. Again, it's hard for my teeth to touch. He also attached some wires to my braces for hooks and started me on elastics. I have to wear two triangles on each side and one on a box in the front. They are tight and it's hard to open my mouth. I got a lower lip bumper to help with crowding on my lower teeth. But worst of all, he fit me with headgear. It has a harness that goes around the top and back of my head and a strip on the sides that the facebow attaches too. I feel a lot of pressure when it's attached. My orthodontist said it's supposed to pull in my overbite and keep my back molars in place. I'm supposed to wear it at least 16 hours a day, more if I can.

I went back to the surgeon last week and I am scheduled to get my chin implant this week. We had discussed jaw surgery at the beginning, but the herbst is moving my jaw forward. He noted that I have more of a jawline with the herbst and my treatment, just no chin. He wanted to do the implant while I was still in the herbst and braces so they could be adjusted more if need be. He said that giving me a chin would accentuate my jawline more. It will be a procedure where I should be able to go home that day.


 
Wow Anita that sounds like a lot of metal going on around your mouth. I just had my first check up appointment after I got the bonded hyrax expander in my upper jaw. Things are going great. I will have to turn it each week for 1 more month and after that I will get the tpa in my upper jaw with fixed braces. Later on I will get fixed braces in my lower jaw combined with elastics to fit my bite. I hope I can get the brackets after x-mas but we will see. For now things work out fine and a don't have a gap between my front theet yet but I'll guess it will come in the next week or so. However it will all my worth it in the end!
 
Anita said:
The herbst is very uncomfortable. It is cutting up my tongue and the inside of my cheeks. It's so hard to even swallow without my tongue scratching the expander. My mouth has been very sore, though that's improving a little. My teeth don't touch now, so chewing is very hard and I have to use my front teeth. The herbst only allows my mouth to move a little , so there is so much pressure when I chew. After like 10 minutes of chewing the smallest bite, I try to swallow it, and it all gets stuck in my expander, tongue crib, and in the side of me cheek. The two screws on the bottom cause two bumps on the outside of my mouth to show at my lower lip, especially when I smile, and it's extremely sore. My jaw hurts and I have a really bad lisp and difficulty speaking. I already had a hard time speaking with the expander and crib, but this makes it much worse.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a lot! I feel so bad for you. It sounds like torture
 
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