Damon System dental arch expansion in adults

[aythegreat]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if the damon system is able to expand your dental arch if you're an adult. I was told it does slightly, nothing like it would when you're a child growing up. And it would depend on your teeth. Any thoughts on this?

[Sunny]

Archwires move the teeth and these are not specific to a brand of brackets.

When you've stopped growing, your bones become solid, which means that the only way to change bone ... like expand it, is by surgery. What the archwires can (and usually) do, is move the teeth to a better place in the available jaw bone, which can make the teeth arch look broader, due to the teeth being side by side.

I recommend you talk to a few ortho's and listen to what they have to say about your best treatment. If an ortho tries to sell you a product rather than a treatment, I recommend you be very aware and consider why they'd do that.

Good luck with your research.

[wiredmouth]

I have the same question that started this original thread. During my consult before getting the braces put on my top teeth, I was told that my damon braces would expand the top jaw. i was referred to an oral surgeon to discuss orthognathic surgery too beacause my top jaw is much smaller than my bottom (resulting in a minor underbite) which the surgeon thinks can be corrected by bringing the top jaw forward. The ortho or surgeon did not mention a particular surgery for 'arch' widening though? Strange.
however, my sister (at age 28) had braces and her orthodontist (whom I think was a regular dentist with some training in orthodontics) put a 'thing' in the roof of her mouth. Why am I not getting a "thing" in the roof of mine. My next appointment is on March 23.

I'm new to braces and I'm just worried. I consulted with my regular dentist with training in orthodontics who then referred me to a regular orthodontist with much more training . other than that I've not consulted with any other orthodontists. maybe I should have.

[Sunny]

WM you'll find this question has been answered many times on these forums. It does get confusing due to the advertising that manufacturers of some brands are using to sell there product. All you need to remember is that once you've past adolescence your bones are fused, therefore your bones can only be moved with surgery. This means that the only way to expand your jaw is with surgery.

The archwires achieve tooth movement within the existing jaw bone. It's often amazing at how much space does exist in the jaw once the teeth are lined up. In my case my class III bite became worse, due to gaps on my upper arch closing and rotated teeth on my lower arch.

At age 28 your sister's ortho may have chosen to use a 'thing' that went across the roof of her mouth to help push her teeth around in the existing jaw bone. Depending on what is needed, some ortho's take this approach. With a young person, an expander (across the roof of the mouth), can push the bones apart and it stays open allowing new bone to form and therefore broaden the palate. With persons who've gone through adolescence, this can be done with surgery that breaks the bones in the palate, and an expander is put in place to the width needed, while new bone forms.

Multiple consults is recommended, but hopefully in your case you're chosen well and you'll be thrilled with your results!

[PrimalNut]

My dental arch (not palate) did undergo some expansion through tooth being tipped into their straight position. A lot of people don't realise that their pre-molars are actually tipped inwards, leaving no room for the lower jaw to come forward, or the tongue to be placed inside the upper palate.
I had a malocclusion type 2, my dental arch wasn't considered narrow and it even was U-shaped, not V-shaped, BUT, even though it looked 'normal' it was a far cry from my genetic potential. My dental arch was widened through Damon just by placing the correct archwire Form onto my teeth, giving it a broader, bigger U. My palate itself wasn't widened, but my entire face has remodeled. My cheekbones are more prominent, my nasal bridge has come down a bit, my forehead seems rounder, not as flat.
Breathing has become easier to the point that I am off nasal sprays. My sinus has been draining very nicely ever since braces were put on.
I feel dizzy most of the time, my eyesockets seem to yank my eyeballs around, I'm guessing the bone is remodelling behind the eyeballs. I also had (or still have) an astigmatism in my right eye that I needed glasses to keep that eye under control. I do not need my eye glasses anymore to control my eye muscle. The eye is now focused on a target without spasms. Most, or I should say ALL of my pain for the last year having braces has been in my entire maxilla, cheekbones, eyesockets, frontal sinus and nasal bones. Very little pain coming from actual teeth.
I have another 5 months or so to go (so my Ortho says), and this is going to be awesome when done! We also had another set of xrays done half way through and bone did remodel around all the teeth that moved to their new position, outside the original dental arch. Total 'expansion' 4 mm in pre-molar region at ~10 month in braces. Also, my tongue used to feel too big for my mouth. It now fits into my upper dental arch.

I also am not trying to achieve something that I genetically aren't meant to be.
If anyone knows anything about human race characteristics, I am a typical Dinarid from northern Europe. My dental arch will naturally be rather long, not wide. I still show all first 10 teeth and my last molar will be exactly under my irises. The distance between nasal bones and ear is very long. Ears are set far back on the head. Longer legs than torso, long arms and fingers, long neck. The overall bone structure of a dinarid is slender and tall. A lot of people have unrealistic expectations after studying Weston A. Price, who only seems to focus on races with wide faces and prominent cheekbones. He never went to the middle east nor did he study the Dinarid who make up about 15% of europe. Not everybody suffered from malnutrition to the point of being utterly deformed. Most of us just lack a little bit of bone development in the maxilla and sleeping comfortably in the same position every night can put stress on ones face creating bone deformities. Good example are the native Indians who pressed a wooden board on the back of babies heads to create tall skulls. My mother put me on my belly night after night, turning my face to the left. Needless to say I ended up with a flatter right side of my face with impacted wisdom teeth and crowding of teeth. The left side of my face (which was always up) developed normal, with a normal arch, straight teeth and wisdom teeth with tons of room.

Well, I hope this info helps for some of you wondering about their 'narrow palate'.

p.s. excuse my butchered English, it's not my first language.