How Palate Expansion Helped Our Sons’ Sinus Issues
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We've had many health issues in our family – candida, gut health, life-threatening food allergies, autism, low iron, anxiety, hay fever, and more. But one of the most persistent issues has been chronic sinusitis–inflammation of the sinuses. I have mild sinus issues due to seasonal allergies at different times of the year, and my sons had varying degrees of sinus problems that plagued them throughout their childhood.
I'm not one to go for the meds in these cases because of what I went through myself throughout my life. I took way too many allergy meds throughout my life, and even ended up overdosing on Afrin (a nasal decongestant spray), which is NOT a pleasant experience.
So I'm always looking these days for a natural solution to our ailments. I know we seem a little “uber crunchy” for some, but in an effort to avoid meds, we've used the following natural remedies:
- ear infection remedies
- antibacterial essential oils
- wart remedies
- head tension remedies
- sleep remedies and
- autism support.
When it came to my sons' sinus issues, pretty much every night I would have to clean out my youngest's nose as he would have daily buildup of mucus and such that would make night breathing difficult for him (and anything that disturbs a little one's sleep will for sure disturb mom's sleep, so it's best to find a solution if at all possible.
Between the two of my boys, my oldest had the worst of the sinus problems – apparently it was chronic sinusitis. His nose was pretty much clogged all. the. time.
His voice was constantly nasally, he was blowing his nose all the time (but it pretty much yielded no benefits) and he would even chew with his mouth open since he just couldn't breathe.
I don't know about you, but I can't stand having a clogged nose. I felt so bad for him.
We tried so many things for my oldest. He's been on a candida diet for a long time, has been gluten-free as well since approximately age 8 after his diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome, and he has been dairy-free his whole life since dairy is one of his life-threatening food allergies.
We even tried natural saline sprays.
Nothing worked.
Fast forward to about 1 year ago.
We were going around town looking for an orthodontist to work on my sons' teeth. I really thought that my oldest's teeth were pretty straight and that he didn't need much work, but my youngest's were fairly crowded on the bottom.
So we visited one orthodontist to see what he thought.
***He recommended braces for both boys. I hadn't noticed it, but my oldest's midline was off a bit and needed work.
For my youngest, he recommended an expander and braces. We call him “Goober” sometimes and Goober had inherited my narrow upper jaw.
I left with my $6000 estimate in hand, feeling the pain, but knowing it was worth it to take care of my boys.
We ended up getting a second opinion (a good idea when you're about to drop $6K) and then a third. At the third orthodontist's office we sat down–once again–to get a free consultation.
The result?
I was shocked.
In the middle of the consultation, the orthodontist asked:
“So, do your boys have sinus issues?”
“Ummmm..Yes,” I replied, not knowing why he was asking this.
“I thought so,” he said.
He poked around in my sons' mouths again for awhile and then stepped aside to tell me his recommendations.
Expanders for both boys, in addition to the already mentioned braces for both.
I really couldn't believe it.
See, my oldest's upper jaw was quite wide so I couldn't think there was any way he would need to be expanded. Plus the other orthodontists hadn't suggested it. So I sat there in disbelief, and then asked “Why?” Why did my oldest need an expander when his upper jaw was already so wide?
The orthodontist proceeded to show me the problem.
Though my oldest's upper jaw appeared to be the right size, in comparison to his lower, it was still narrow.
He then proceeded to explain more about his reasoning.
The Problems of a Narrow Jaw or Narrow Palate
When the jaw is too narrow, the breathing passages are compromised.
can lead to all kinds of issues including:
Chronic Sinusitis Can Lead to:
- lower oxygen concentration in blood
- mouth breathing
- poor growth and weight in children
- abnormal facial development
- abnormal dental development
- sleep apnea
- sleeping disorders
- high blood pressure
- cardiac arrest
- impaired learning and memory
- ADHD, depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, aggression, and bullying
- increased risk of hypertension and heart problems
It's my opinion that a narrow palette is a problem of epidemic proportion in our modern society and that we could alleviate many health issues by simply expanding the palettes of our children prior to doing other orthodontic care.
As always, I am not a doctor (nor an orthodontist) and I do not pretend to be one on TV. This post is not to be considered medical advice and is for entertainment purposes only and you should consult your physician prior to making any changed in your diet or your oral care.
To see a visual demonstration of how the airways expand when using a palate expander, see the images below. Source.
The images on the left are before palate expansion, showing a more narrow airway.
The image on the right shows the widening of the airways after palate expansion.
Unbelievable, isn't it?
Our orthodontist showed us x-ray images of patients who had palate expansions done so we could see the increase in their airway passages.
I was intrigued.
And we decided to go forward with it.
Palate Expansion Results
My boys had palette expanders put in the roof of their mouths, and my youngest had an expander put in the lower part of his mouth as well.
Every day we had to insert a little “key” into a hole in the upper expander to make it a tad wider.
Little by little their jaws expanded.
their front teeth got spaces in between them…
They had to work really hard at flossing with all of that metal in their mouths and we ended up buying Waterpiks which were a life saver.
I really really like these – not as a substitute for flossing but they do a great job.
And one day I noticed.
Their sinus issues had improved greatly.
- No more “gunk in the nose” every night.
- No more constant nose blowing.
- No more continual open-mouth chewing (though it is a bit of a struggle due to issues apart from his sinuses).
- No more nasal voice.
- I was thrilled.
How fascinating.
Orthodontia, the Narrow Jaw and Chronic Sinusitis
When I was younger, the main way that orthodontia was approached regarding narrow palates was to pull teeth.
It happened to me and I am not very upset that it did. It was typically called “four on the floor” since orthodontists would typically pull 4 teeth to make room for the other crowded teeth (and I guess they wouldn't sometimes just drop the teeth on the floor after pulling them :).)
Now, orthodontists know better.
A wide jaw makes for:
A Happy Jaw.
and Happy Teeth,
a Happy Tongue, and–
Happy sinuses!
Now we can use the saline spray less frequently, my boys will sleep better, have more oxygenated blood, will likely get sick less frequently, which means they will need fewer natural illness remedies and will almost for sure avoid antibiotics and ear infections, which makes for a very very happy natural momma :).
Jaw Expansion for Adults?
So what's an adult to do? Your jaw is pretty much set unless you have super invasive surgery, right?
Wrong.
Thankfully, a company called Vivos has figured out a way to literally expand an adult, fully-formed jaw. Non invasive.
Vivos Life is FDA approved to address mild to moderate sleep apnea, and I can tell you from personal experience that it's literally life changing.
I almost never get a stuffy nose any longer, and while I was getting signs of apnea developing, they have resolved. Apnea is no joke, and no thanks to that CPAP machine – what a cumbersome mess that I'd like to avoid any way that I can!
It's not cheap, but more and more it's getting covered by insurance so I encourage you to check and see if it is where you live.
Do your children, or do you, have a narrow jaw?
Have you heard of palate expansion before?
With sarpe.
Hi there. Are you saying you worked w/ sarpe to expand?
Hello again, Adrienne. How long after the dilation started, your son’s sinusitis problem ended? I had surgery 4 days ago.
Hi there. What type of surgery did you have? And by dilation, what do you mean?
Hello, I’m 35 years old and I’ve had the same problems as long as I can remember. I will expand in the coming days. Unfortunately, doctors found it difficult to diagnose and I had many unnecessary surgeries. Thank you very much for the article 🙂 It was very useful.
Hi there. I thought I had responded to this earlier today but perhaps something went wrong. How are you going to be expanding? You might be interested in this. I will be writing / sharing about it, but it’s been life changing for me! https://www.vivos.com/
Did you notice any changes in the Aspergers with the palate expander?
Hi there. I don’t recall–sorry! But proper breathing is super important for everyone!
How much did your expanders run?
Hi there – I don’t recall but there was a wide variety of pricing among the orthodontists in our area. The offices with the most “gadgets” like video games and prizes for coming to appointments had much much higher prices than traditional “no frills” offices. I encourage you to call around. Also the ” no frills” office that we went to seemed to have the most thorough approach to this issue. Best wishes!
We just had a very similar experience with our youngest child who is 21. First thing the ortho asked was if he always sounded so nasally and if he has chronic sinus problems. He’s had two sinus surgeries in the last eight years. I wish we had known about the small jaw and narrow sinus passage before all the doctoring with the pediatrician. allergist and ENT doctor! Going to start an expander later this month and if that is not effective jaw surgery.
I so hope it works for you!
Tough situation. RPE at 21 is on the high end. I know a Dr. Barrowes from Utah does a great job supporting expansion for that age. Typically, they turn the crank.. then have to back-turn to try again. After age 14, results really taper…. but many cool things out there.
We have the same sinus trouble with our 12 year old daughter. Can you give me any more info on these expenses or a link to websites that may help us? One orthodontist we’ve been to wants to pull 4 teeth out but I’m just not sure if that’s the best thing.
Hi Liz.
I would personally not recommend the “4 on the floor” technique. I had that happen and my mouth isn’t a healthy shape as a result. I can’t say that is medical advice but I have had several oral practitioners tell me that they don’t recommend that any longer. Can you see if there is someone in your area that uses expanders for the palate?
Thanks for posting this Adrienne. My youngest caught a sinus infection late last year and nothing was throwing it off. We tried steroids, nasal sprays (the saline kind) and many other things.
What finally helped him is rinsing his nose with salt water using a neti pot. I theorize that it’s the flow of saline liquid in turn invigorating the flow fo mucous.
I’d never even heared of a netipot before.
After doing a bit of research, the fascinating thing is that it has been used for thousands of years in India. And we only noticed it in the last 10 or 20 years. Although the sinus infection with my youngest is not totally gone yet, it has markedly improved and now only comes up blocked when he wakes up. Have you had any experience with neti pots?
Yes, I have done saline washes for years. I think the bottles in this post are more effective. https://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/how-to-make-your-own-saline-nose-wash/ The tips might help you?
Our first 4 children were expander this way, unfortunately not far enough. After the first two failed to “keep” their expansions and adjustments (two sets of braces) we ended up in ALF devices, that actually work with their cranial rhythms. SO, the moral of the story is make sure they’re looking at tongue space and projected tongue space… because MOST don’t. Our ortho was supposed to be the best in the area. $25,000 later – I have ONE child that was expanded far enough, and that’s my 5th child. 🙂 Once we met with a myofunctional therapist and a FUNCTIONAL orthodontist, our eyes were opened.
TOO little, too late for the oldest two. Sad. He got our money – and we have two children with midline issues, and jaw issues, and teeth that aren’t straight.
Oh no!!!! I hope ours projected properly. So sorry.
Hi Adrienne,
I live in NC can you recommend an orthodontist close to the Raleigh area who practices this method. Thanks
Hi there. I’m sorry, but I do not. I would look up palate expansion and start making phone calls and find someone who really knows what they are doing — looking at the relationship b/c the upper and lower jaws. Best to you!
I have been trying to expand my palate entirely through exercise. By holding the tongue on the roof of the mouth you can expand the upper palate. It has taken me about 6 months to make enough space for my entire tongue to fit as before my upper palate was too narrow for the rear of the tongue to fit.
It also dramatically improved my posture as I used to suffer from forward head posture, but moving the tongue to the roof of the mouth corrected my head alignment and allowed me to stand up straight.
You can look at Dr Mike Mew’s youtube videos for more info.
He talks about tongue position here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh9OqEd5z1k
Also adult palate expansion (with an expander) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCNqbvOALZI
Google dna appliance. Expander for adults just fda approved. I have zero business relationship with the product but thought id shar it with u. Cost about 4-6k depending on the dentist u go to that offers it.
I think it’s not around anymore? I am looking to see if things like this are really doing anything. No one in my area seems to do them typically w/ adults.
Oh, they are around–the dentist or ortho has to first get certified to offer it. It is growing faster than ever. They just got it FDA approved this year for a potential cure for sleep apnea, as it has been shown to cure many cases (not sure the word potential is the correct word, since all cases are different…). Anyway, here is a list of dentists throughout the world that offer the DNA appliance for Jaw expansion :
(link replaced by blog owner since it became inoperative. Those reading might wish to check out this company. Adrienne is now using an appliance from this company on her jaw: https://www.vivos.com/) And here is the video that first brought me onto this product :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHRTuY4s3eY And lastly, there are other products now for Adult Jaw (airway) expansion that are like the DNA Appliance. The Homeoblock is one of those, and if you google that product, and go to that website, you will find a list of dentists that offer it. There are a few other products just like it. It’s interesting though how some elect to market their product for “airway expansion” thus targeting people most likely with Sleep Breathing Disorders such as Apnea and UARS. And other companies market the same product for an alternative to plastic surgery to give a “fuller” face with nice jaw development which gives less wrinkles, etc. And some market it for Straighter teeth! Basically they all do the same thing. When you push both jaws forward and widen the jaws, it automatically gives a fuller/nicer face, give straighter and wider smile, and opens airways. The DNA appliance I think doesn’t look to market one aspect over the other, but shows the whole picture, that is why I am starting with that at a dentist office in Cincinnati here in the next few weeks. Hope this helps!
I have read some dentists that offer this accept health insurance, and with a sleep study showing apnea, or any medical condition such as chronic sinitus (sp?), that they can get most of it, if not all of it, approved to be paid through health insurance. If anyone finds that dentist that does accept health insurance for the product, please share. The once here in Cincy do not, and due to the cost (about 5-6k, and I have kids that I’d like to get this for too), please share! thanks.
Thanks. I have read a lot about these and can’t tell if they really work or are a scam– what has your experience been? Please do share and sorry for approving this late. I kept reading it and wondering and then got distracted :)!