Trouble with palatal expander and lower braces?!

Trouble with palatal expander and lower braces?

I just had a palatal expander, along with braces on my bottom teeth, put in yesterday morning. However, I've been having a lot of problems since then. For one, it has been increasing difficult to eat: My teeth have become very sensitive and often food will become lodged in between the top of the expander and the roof of my mouth (I know it's a gross mental image but please bear with me here). And to top that off, I can't talk to save my life with the expander in and no one can understand what in the world I'm saying. Since the roof of my mouth is covered, I can't quite finish off the s, l, y, and some other sounds.

What are some things I can do to in response to this?

1 month ago
Man- it was so easy to take the ability to talk and eat for granted- I think I'll throw a party when this hellish thing come off~

As for the soreness, that will subside in a 2-4 day time period. Just take tylenol or ibuprofen about 1/2 hour before you eat, and stick to softer foods. In order to get your tongue used to the expander, you need to talk alot. I always tell my patients to read aloud for a night or two to get used to the feel of the expander against their tongue. If you are having trouble with food becoming lodged in the appliance, I suggest going to the grocery store, and in the toothbrush aisle you can find proxy brushes, which are like miniature bottle brushes that get into tight spaces well. Even better would be to purchase a waterpik, but those are expensive.