So I have sleep apnea (use cpap machine), which I'm pretty sure is because of my airway anatomy (have no other risk factors apart from anatomy. I'm not overweight in the slightest).
I have a high arched, narrow palate with very mild crowding which I assume causes my sleep apnea and also makes it hard to mew properly. Mike Mew seems to use palate expanders on a good portion of his patients.
I live in brisbane QLD Australia, I don't know what orthodontists here use for palate expanders...
Is there any reason why someone like myself shouldn't use a palate expander apart from the usual concerns of gaps between teeth and such? Why aren't they used more often?
I wonder about this all the time and never get an answer when I ask here. You would think that the idea of expansion = facial shortening/releasing the mandible/illusion of forward growth being discussed so much should mean that more people would be looking for an orthodontist to supervise their use of an expander but that doesn't seem to be happening. My palate is also vaulted, and it seems obvious that just mewing isn't going to help us without an appliance to drop the palate.
A lot of orthos don't believe adults can expand their palates, which might be why it's uncommon to hear of expansion as a treatment for sleep apnea. Sleep clinics often use appliances that keep the lower jaw forward so it's out of your airway while asleep, but of course complete remodelling is a lot more ideal than sliding a retruded jaw forward and temporarily holding it in place.
Yea some people that use MAD for a medium or long-term period develop problems from the mandible being unnaturally held forward all night.
Skull and Jaw Correction
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