how to create expander dynamically?

How do you know if your child needs a palate expander?

• My daughter is 11 and after her last cleaning, our dentist suggested we take her to an ortho to see if she needed braces (she has already lost all of her baby teeth). My daughter has had 3 different dentists in her lifetime due to moving, and NONE ever said she needed a palate expander, or to go and talk to an ortho to see if she did. I have read numerous articles on palate expanders being best for kids under 10 bc the palate bone is still not fully developed. Anyhow, I take her to the ortho and he says to get a palate expander to create "more space" - she already has gaps in her front teeth. No crossbite, no overbite, no underbite - it was sheerly cosmetic. He did not elaborate too much on what it was, only that it went on the roof of her mouth a few months before getting her braces on. We did our 2nd molding last week, and the assistant that did the molding showed us what the contraption was, and that we would need to turn it with the key every day, and I further researched it. I also called my dentist and she said she didn't feel my daughter needed it, and that the palate expander is a big procedure. I made my first payment before knowing all the details - and we still had one more fitting before the expander was made. I canceled - the lady in the office is giving me a hard time saying that it's probably already made, etc etc etc. I've now learned the hardway and going to an ortho my dentist referred in the first place - I chose the current bc of friends. Has anyone gone through this? Of course, if this new ortho suggests she needs it, we will have no choice, but I find it hard to trust people now given the state of the economy and being cheated for things that aren't really needed in the first place.

• Answer:

  I have an expander on right now. But you shouldn't really trust people nowadays. Maybe you should go check on another dentist/ortho?