When it comes to orthodontics, it’s critical to understand when you will need multiple expanders – and this is always important to recognize and mention for your patients during initial consultations when ortho starts. After all, you want to create the optimal treatment plan for your patients – but it’s critical to know which type of expansion you’ll need to focus on successfully finishing cases.
How Serial and Sequential Expansion Apply to Interceptive Orthodontics
When it comes to orthodontics, it’s crucial to consider whether the patient will need to have several expanders. This issue may be seen in patients with a small maxilla or a vaulted palette, to name just a few potential causes.
Often, this may be based on the lab’s choice of jack screw diameter. Ideally, the lab should use a slim design to allow a flush fit to the roof of the mouth. However, as the size increases, the appliance will begin to sit lower in the mouth, and this can cause potential issues in more severe cases.
Once you have exhausted all of the possible turns for an expander in a patient, you may need to remove the expander, rescan, and create a new appliance. Make sure you keep the expander fitted while waiting for the new expander to arrive to prevent a relapse before finishing cases.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been looking to create a suitable treatment plan for your patients, letting them know at the outset when ortho starts about how things are likely to progress is vital. This is a crucial part of many patients’ treatment plans, especially when dealing with tricky cases.