Rapid Maxillary Expansion

Has anyone tried Rapid Maxillary Expansion in their child?

Hi SleepingUgly

I know how good you are at researching, however, I found these with an Australian search engine, which might have produced something of interest to you.

http://www.orthoorganizers.com.au/artic ... iances.htm

http://www.aso.org.au/members/NSW%20Bri ... es_009.pdf

http://www.orthoorganizers.com.au/artic ... zation.htm

http://www.ada.org.au/App_CmsLib/Media/ ... 191250.pdf

cheers

Mars

By the way, when I want to search a specific country I use Copernic Pro

I don't know if it is the same type of procedure as my daughter had but...

When my daughter was referred for braces, I did some research and decided on bioblock treatment (Orthotropics) instead. Besides not having enough room for all of her teeth, she also had a small airway and she snored. The dentist told us that traditional orthodontics don't address the airway problem or correct mouth/tongue position hygiene (and that poor hygiene leads to receding jawlines). Our dentist wouldn't start treatment until I researched both alternatives, orthotropics and orthodontics. Part of the treatment included a widening appliance. After the treatment she no longer snored. She is an adult now and her smile is beautiful.

r

[Edit: I just looked at some of those links Mars posted and noticed that maxillary expansion is surgically assisted, so my answer is no, never tried it.]

For the uninitiated, can someone explain in simple English what Orthotropics is and what Rapid Maxillary Expansion is?

I will read the articles too, but would appreciate it in plain English (the websites leave the details about what is actually done until after they have convinced you of the importance, and I don't have patience for that at the moment!).

With micrognatia (small lower jaw due to Noonan's syndrome) this is an issue of concern for me. My daughter had a first phase of othrodontia to widen the palate (very successful!) and I know there is another phase coming. I want to be able to speak to her orthodontist about the airway issue as part of the treatment plan. When we started the first phase, he did mention lower jaw positioning in passing, but not in great detail (I wasn't aware of the OSA connection at the time). I would like to know the options out there(though I'm not comfortable with the idea of surgery for her).

I have the same jawline and airway configuration (I have Noonan's as well). One of the things that really bothers me is that surgical procedures to advance my jaw were proposed since the time I was a teenager ( for purely cosmetic reasons), but some of the proposals were pretty barbaric and today would be considered very bad approaches. And my orthodontia care (pulling teeth to make room and pushing back my top teeth) also contributed to an even narrower airway as an adult. I worry that anything "state of the art" today might not be so good in the long term for my daughter, and surgery is so drastic and cannot be undone. So I personally feel that I would want to avoid surgery for my daughter at all costs. But if there are non-surgical options, I'm very interested in learning about them.

Janknitz wrote:For the uninitiated, can someone explain in simple English what Orthotropics is and what Rapid Maxillary Expansion is?

I am also uninitiated regarding Rapid Maxillary Expansion. Orthotropics is a non surgical alternative to orthodontics in which they "guide the growth of the jaw." My daughter had a series of removable dental appliances. No surgery, which was important to me as well. The following site is fairly straightforward: http://www.orthotropics.com/




r

I haven't read enough to feel comfortable that I'd explain it accurately. There is no surgery involved in children, as far as I know. This is a good article for explaining what it is and has some pictures, but I can't find a full-text version online:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15283012