Apples

Hi Palate Expander Friends!

I am so proud of all of you and thank you for your comments and writing such nice things to me.

The one question I keep getting lately over and over is about eating apples. Everyone seems to have trouble eating them. They get stuck! I remember that. Lots of food gets stuck and all the time you hear from your mom and your dad and your doctor and your dentist that you are supposed to eat healthy food but apples are hard. So, if you are just getting your palate expander on, you should try to eat only soft foods because it hurts but you can still eat apples, once you have that time when you don't have to turn the key anymore would probably be a good idea. If when you eat the apple and any food really, that you feel it getting stuck, remember to use that little toothbrush your dentist gives you to get it out. And don't forget to keep brushing and use mouthwash too to try and rinse the stuck food out.

Your Friend

Colin

IF YOU ARE NEW, SCROLL DOWN TO BEG OF BLOG

Hi to my Palate Expander Friends,

One of the questions that was asked of me recently was whether or not you might have to get a palate expander when you have braces. The question is YES. Here is a picture I found of what it looks like to have braces and a palate expander at the same time.  I only had my palate expander on without the braces. I don't have all of my big teeth yet so I can't have braces yet, but I was thinking about how much it hurts when you have a palate expander and it must really hurt when y ou have both so I thought about it about the food and this is what you might want to eat when you have both especially.

Soup - like chicken noodles - soft...no chunks of chicken

Scrambled eggs (those got me through the really hungry times!)

Yogurt (though I don't like it but my mom said to write it!)

mashed potatoes

drink milkshakes - yeh!

Jello

rasberries (I love them! You can kind of suck them down and suck on them and they don't make you choke!)

Don't eat anything that you are going to have to chew! Oh, I forgot, my favorite - PUDDING!

My mom says I have to put something he althy on the list so how about V-8 juice because thats vegetables and I love vegetables especially cucumbers but V-8 I find kind of gross but I guess you should have something healthy too.

What do YOU eat with your palate expander or braces????

It worked!  My dentist is amazing! If you look at my teeth now, that wire they had put on fixed my front teeth that were going behind my bottom teeth and it really didnt hurt.
How r u guys all doing with your palate expanders???? leave a comment and i will answer you soon!
your friend
colin

My Tooth Adventure Goes On and On....

Happy New Year to my Palate Expander Friends!

Well, my friends, my teeth adventure is far from over. The last few months I have been going to the dentist and well not really, but I went a couple of months ago and then I got sick with a bad cough and since I have off from 4th grade this week for holiday vacation I had my appointment this morning and I was not happy. My dentist said that I have a "single tooth crossbite." which means 1 of my teeth is causing a big problem. So he had given me these popsicle sticks last time to push against my tooth but I guess it didn't work because he said today that I dont have an underbite but I have this crossbite with the one tooth. So my dentist is cool because I was getting really, really, nervous. My Mom said later on that my feet were shaking. So my dentist is smart and he said he wouldn't do an impression( thank goodness) but he needed to make up an appliance of some kind right then and there that would push this tooth out. This is my front tooth. 

So, he washed the tooth and took this brush thing and brushed it and then squirt some white stuff on it - the same stuff that they use to do fillings and then they attached a wire to my molar and then to my front tooth and this should push the tooth out.  My mom told me later that what was happening is that my bottom tooth was wearing down because of the way that I was biting. I have to go back on january 24th. That is 2 days before my birthday party.

The dentist had to take some pictures and they were nice enough to send them so I could put them on the blog. You can see in the picture how that front top tooth is going behind the bottom tooth when I bite down and now you can see the wire they put on. 

Happy New Year! Good luck with your palate expanders! I am so proud of you!

Your FriendColin

To My Palate Expander Friends...A Big Hello

Hi Palate Expander Friends,
I'm sorry it has taken me awhile to post again...I am now on a new dental adventure. My teeth are coming in kind of funny. One of my top two teeth is really far in and my bottom teeth are sticking out. I look kind of funny I think. Now my dentist does not want to put braces on me now so we have a new plan...I have to take a popsicle stick and push the top tooth out with it. I have to hold it in place for 30 minutes and then the bottom tooth that is really sticking out, I have to push it in with my thumb. It is painful. While I am doing it, I get a really bad pain in my jaw on my right side and in my ear. Its kind of weird.

I am so proud of all o fyou when I read all of your comments and that you are going through this palate expander adventure....my dentist told me that if I hadn't done it, my teeth now would be a lot worse so I am grateful that I had it. Do you know sometimes I kind of miss it because I miss writing on here every day.

"You can do this!" Its uncomfortable and not really fun because you talk funny and it hurts to eat, and oh, your poor Moms having to turn it. My Mom still reminds me about that how she felt so bad about turning the key.

So while you are on your palate expander adventure, I am working on my popsicle adventure. Sounds funny.

You are all amazing.

Your Friend
Colin

You will soon have "independence" from your palate expander..joke for the day..

Happy 4th of July!

Hi Palate Expander Friends,

Happy 4th of July, Happy Summer, Happy Winter...I am saying this because we have people from so many different parts of the world reading this and I am so glad to once again say how happy I am to be helping everyone and giving everyone a nice place to write about what they are going through.

Today my Mom and I checked to see which countries are reading this blog this week and they are....USA, Canada, Qatar, South Korea, Ireland, Sweden, Australia, and Egypt. It is amazing to see how one little piece of metal can bring so many people together.

Remember to scroll down and read all the posts from the beginning so you can check out the palate expander adventure I had.

Enjoy the day and thank you for reading! Good luck to all of you!

Your Friend

Colin

Say thank you to Your Mom's

Say thank you to your Mom, because she is probably like how mine was, the one who was with you to turn the key for your palate expander everyday. Wish her the best Mother's day, because you know it couldn't have been easy for her or can't be easy for her to turn that key knowing she is going to do something that will help you in the long run but hurt you as she is doing it now. Mom's are great!

We got some new comments that I want to mention...congrautlations to Samantha, Alexa and Brandon for getting their palate expanders off! Job well done!

I am always getting private comments or emails asking what to eat...someone sent in the idea of smoothies which all you have to do is slurp up! Smart! Here is a recipe for a smoothie that is yum! It is dairy free in case there is someone out there who can't have milk.



• 1 cup strawberries
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 Tbsp honey

Instructions

1. Add the water and strawberries to the blender first.
2. Then pour in the honey and lastly add the ice cubers.
3. Blend on low and gradually move to high until everything is a red fruity liquid.
4. Then blend on high for another 30 seconds to aerate.
5. Enjoy your non-dairy strawberry smoothie.

Your Friend,

Colin

Congratulations to Samantha for getting her palate expander off! Yey! Job well done! I bet you are so excited about it!

And...much luck to Verity (I hope thats right!) who just got their palate expander put on, but guess what? Its a removable palate expander put on WITH braces! Verity is using Tylenol and eating soft foods to get through the beginning of all of this. Good luck...everything will be great and like Samantha, you will be so proud of yourself when you get through this! This removable palate expander makes me wonder...

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF A REMOVABLE PALATE EXPANDER ???? so I looked it up on the web...and these are the answers I found. Remember, I am only 9 years old...I'm passing on information anybody can find on the web though I will try to remember to ask my dentist when I go there.

"The obvious advantages of removable palate expanders are the ability to change as the patients need change. Permanent palate expanders are better for long term use that does not require many changes. Better for long term."
"Permanent palatal expanders are very difficult to clean around and can possibly cause difficulty in other dental treatment that might need to be done. The removable ones give you the opportunity to clean your entire mouth thoroughly, as well as let your palate rest, especially if any sores occur. Your dentist will also prefer the removable type"
 -  http://snippets.com/what-are-the-advantages-of-removable-palatal-expanders-vs-perman.htm

I also found this site which was interesting.

http://www.veryniceteeth.com/appliances.asp

I have another dentist appointment for my checkup in a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to it. I am a little nervous for them to see my teeth. I have lost so many teeth now. My mom says I am holey because now I have the big spot in between my two front teeth from the palate expander and I also have so many spaces in the front of my mouth where the teeth came out but my bottom teeth have no room and they are so crooked.

Keep writing and keep reading. I am so glad I am able to help so many of you with your palate expanders.

Happy Birthday To Me! Thanks for your comments!

Today is my 9th Birthday! One of the things I told my Mom that I wanted is that I can help even more people with my blog so I hope my wish comes true. Already we have over 12,000 hits and remember, I always check every so often to answer your comments.

Sarah, who recently got her palate expander wrote in to ask if the turns get any easier. Well I think I can say that they do because it is something you kind of get used to but it still hurts. Remember, every day that you turn it, is one less day. That is what I kept thinking or at least my mother kept sayiing to me.

Another comment came from Caroline who said she has a peanut stuck in her palate expander and can't get it out. It was written a couple of weeks ago and I am sorry I haven't written sooner. But, I think by now you know that now you know you cannot eat ALL foods, an dmaybe peanuts are somethin gyou should avoid. My dentist had told me to stay away from nuts and popcorn and hard candy and of course gum.

I am proud of all of you for going through this with your palate expander. You are doing an awesome job and you should be proud of yourself.

Please tell your friends who have palate expanders abou tmy blog. I would love to be able to help them too.

have a good day.

yoru friend

colin



IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS SITE, REMEMBER TO GO TO OLDER POSTS FROM WHEN I HAD MY PALATE EXPANDER ON

Happy New Year 2012! It is a new year. I am looking at my teeth and wondering when will I now get braces? I still have the big space in between my two front teeth from when I had the palate expander. The dentist says it will stay that way until I get my braces but I really need them I think and I would like tow rite about that too so I can help more kids like I am doing now. But I only have like 6 teeth that have come out so I have to wait but my bottom teeth really need braces I think.
Back to the palate expander stuff...


Linda from San Antonio wrote in and asked about the talking and the extra saliva because her son just got th epalate expander last week. How are you doing???
The talking gets better in time and remember, this is not on for a long time, less than a year so don't worry. With me I don't really think a lot of people even noticed I was talking different. The saliva was a big deal in the bginning when I first got my palate expander but then it got better and I wasn't drooling so much.

Happy new year!
Your Friend
Colin

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all of my Palate Expander Friends!

No matter what you celebrate, enjoy, have fun, be safe, and remember to brush!

Your Friend,

Colin

Responses to comments and hellos to some of our new readers!

First i want to say hello to my new friends, Sophie and Brandon who just got their palate expanders. Brandon mentioned that the mouthwash they give you is gross but ask if you can get a different flavor because the mouthwash really helps to get the food out and give you yummy smelling breath.
I think about you guys who are still going through this all the time. I know how rough it is and that it is not easy especially when I know some of you got it during Thanksgiving time and now that it is Christmas and Chanukah and all the other holidays you celebrate, its not a fun thing to add.
You are all going to get through this.
Please remember to send your comments. I read all of them and try to respond to all the emails i get too.
We just reached over 10,000 hits and have people reading this in almost 40 countries so remember we are all in this together.
Have a good day and remember, you are one day closer to getting the palate expander off. You should be proud of yourself because I am proud of you.
Your friend
Colin

Turkey with teeth

Happy Thanksgiving! Look at the picture I found of a cooked turkey with teeth. Do you think it had a palate expander????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I want to wish my new palate expander friends Jules and Micah good luck with their palate expanders which they both just got on. Good luck with the key that you have to twist on the palate expander. Don't be mad at your mom or whoever is turning the key because they are only doing it to help you and it is not an easy thing for them to do knowing that they are causing you pain.
I can't believe I almost have 10,000 hits on my blog. I am so excited about that. I am so glad that this blog is helping everyone who is going through this.
Eat lots of turkey but don't forget to brush and get that stuck food out of the top of your expander with that tiny tiny toothbrush.

Responses to comments :)

Hi Friends,
I hope you all had a happy Halloween last week and that you didn't eat anything that would stick to your palate expander! :)
Shreya from San Jose, California wrote that she is 7 years old and just got her palate expander. She wanted to know if it hurt when I first got it. Yes, it hurts. The whole thing is not a happy experience you know but in the end, you will be happy you did it. And be proud of yourself for going through this! It's not easy and that you are doing it, super cool for you! Give yourself a pat on the back!
Rachel and Eliza wrote too. Rachel wrote that her daughter is young too and is not happy with her palate expander and is having a hard time eating. Read my blog. Eating at first is tough. You have to teach your tongue to do new things to make it easier to eat. My mom started me off with scrambled eggs (which would get stuck!) and lots of milkshakes I could drink with a straw. Things you can drink with a straw are good at first because it doesn't hurt and the coldness feels good.
Thanks for writing.
I hope you all have a great day.
Your Friend,
Colin.
P.S. I went to Disney on vacation last week and my tooth fell out. What a great place for it to come out! Yey! And the tooth fairy brought me 4 bucks! Yey!

Hi to my friends. I found a video a dentist made of how to turn a rapid palate expander. I am pretty sure this is the same one I had because the key is the same and so is the appliance. So check this out.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+turn+a+rapid+palate+expander&mid=5EF7123F1210DB24868A5EF7123F1210DB24868A&view=detail&FORM=VIRE7

Oh, one hint could be that since it is hard to see, a friend of mine who had one said their mother used a small magnifying glass to see the hole better because its so tiny.

To our new friend, Micah who's mother wrote to me to let me know that Micah will be getting the palate expander a couple of days before Thanksgiving.  I remember when I got the spacers. They hurt a little when they got put in. I didn't like them but its just the first step to getting it over with so just do it, get it done, get the palate expander, write me about it and I will write you back and I and your fellow palate expander friends here can help you.

Micah's Mom made a comment about how it is difficult for her too. This is just like how my mom was - you know the woman I called the "Torturer!" hahahahahahahahahahahahahhaaa! I just asked my mom and she told me that yes, it was hard for her because she knew what she was doing was causing me pain because what mom wants to cause her son pain. But my mom got through it and I think her giving me a couple of bucks made her feel like she was stopping herself from giving me guilt and I didn't mind because I was getting money. But really a message to all the Mom's, I am glad my mom helped me with this. It means she was being a good Mom.

I hope you all have a good day. Oh, and happy halloween!
Your Friend,
Colin

I miss it.

Do you know I can't stand not having a palate expander anymore. I really, really miss it. I miss the key too. I mostly miss the palate expander. I really wish I had it so I could write more and more to you again but I keep trying to come up with things to tell you so I do a lot of research online and answer your comments.
Yours Truly,
Colin

Mouthwash

Hi Friends,
A lot of people have been writing to me to ask if you can use mouthwash when you have a palate expander to get the food unstuck. Well, I didn't really use it because it stings my tongue but I did swish around water in my mouth and that helped to get the food out sometimes. But don't forget to use the little brush thing your dentist gives you and if the dentist doesn't give it to you, ask him because it really helps. You kind of stick the brush between the top of your mouth and the palate expander and move it back and forth and it gets the stuck food out. I used to keep it in my lunch box last year.
Me and my Mom found this website that sells the little toothbrushes. They call it a palate sweeper. here is the link we found (NOTE: we are just posting this because we thought it might help soem of you but we didn't use this, we used the one from the dentist). http://www.dentakit.com/lpapaclto.html
Have a nice day and thank you for reading my blog.
Your Friend,
Colin :)

Responses to comments

I hope you guys are all doing okay with your palate expanders. Congratulations to Alexa who is almost done with the turning. Great job!
Makayla is another one who is joining our palate expander group - we have to make a name for all of us who have had or will have, or are having a palate expander like the p.e.'s... no thats like for gym. We shoudl name ourselves. Anyway, good luck to Makayla. It will be okay as all of us know and soon enough the whole palate expander adventure will be over.
Have a good day.
your Friend,
Colin
p.s. if you are new to my blog, don't forget to scroll down so you can read my almost daily adventures of when i had the palate expander.
have a nice day.

Why Have a Palate Expander if You're Getting Braces Anyway???

Hi  Friends!
I hope you are all doing well with your palate expanders! I've had mine off now for about a month but I still like to be in touch with you and say hello because if you are reading this, that means you are going through the experience of having a palate expander and I am certainly someone who understands what you are going through.

One of the questions I've gotten over and over is...

Why Have A Palate Expander If You're Getting Braces Anyway?????

I asked my wonderful dentist the answer to this question which is...

"The palatal expander really is treating the bones to ensure that the upper and lower jaws are the same size.  Yes, the teeth move now but it's because their is more space. Braces alone do not correct this problem."
I hope that answered the question.

One of our readers mentioned that her palate expander broke but after all the turns were done, so her dentist took it off. I know you are supposed to keep it on for awhile after you are done turning the key, but if this reader can let us know how long ago the turns stopped, that would be great.

I hope you all have a good day.
Your Friend
Colin :)

Answers to Some of Your Comments

First I have to say that I learned a lot about 9/11 in school this week and even though I know that I wasn't born then, I hope that it never happens again and that we are all safe and happy.

Found this online and thought it was interesting to share on my blog. These are two different kinds of palate expanders. I had the one on the left.

Now to answer some of your comments...
To Alexa:
Alexa got her palate expander on last week but this week will start to turn it. Alexa was like me - we both first got it on and then we waited before we started turning. With me, my dentist thought I was a little nervous so he wanted me to get used to it. I talked to my dentist about this and he said that sometimes kids get so scared with the palate exander so the dentist will have them get used to it before they start doing the key.
To Lucy:
Lucy wrote and said that having a palate expander is not fun. It is NOT something that is fun, but I tried to look at the positives and sometimes you will see that I wrote lists like "what you can do with a palate expander." I tried to make it funny. Maybe you can add some to the list and I can make a new list.
To Jessica:
Jessica wanted to know if I am eating a lot of popcorn now that the expander is off and the answer is YES, YES YES!!! and my Mom is happy to be able to give me popcorn for my school snack again. Yey!

I still check my blog almost every day so if you questions, I can answer it. Remember, I went through this and I know what you are thinking and how you are feeling and so are all of the thousands of people that have checked my blog.
Have a good day.
Your Friend, Colin