Episode 322: Child Expansion Journey: Real Talks with Lily and Mia

Hello, friends, and welcome to episode 322 of the Untethered podcast. This is your host, Hallie Balkan. I have my two daughters joining me on this episode that you're about to hear. My nine year old Lily, my seven year old Mia. So they're gonna join me, we're gonna jump in, dive into their expansion journey. You're in here straight from the mouths. Their mouths. We've done episodes like this before, but it's been a while because they're in a new expander now and they're a bit older, so they can talk about it in a very different way. So listen in, hear what they have to say. And if you have a child who's. Whether it's a child you work with or it's your own child who is going through expansion, this may be an episode that might be helpful to share with them. If your kids have questions, you're always free to reach out to me at Hollybulcken and I will ask my children for you and you can get a message back from them to your child if you so desire. They want to help other children understand what it's like and it's not all rainbows and unicorns over here. So take a listen. Maybe listen before you share with your child a little cautionary tale. No, it's mostly all good things, but they're sharing the real, real here. So let's jump in. Welcome to the Untethered podcast. I am your host, Holly Balkan. I'm a certified myofunctional therapist, feeding specialist, podcaster, business owner and mentor. This podcast is all about getting your questions answered and collaborating with colleagues to bring you the most up to date information in the orofacial myofunctional therapy, airway tethered, oral tiss and pediatric feeding therapy space. If you're new here, I challenge you to keep an open mind and join my mission to spread this message far and wide. If you've been around since June 2019, thanks for being a loyal listener. As we jump into today's episode, remember to listen with correct oral rest. Posture, tongue up, lips closed, teeth apart, breathe through your nose. Let's get started. Quick disclaimer all information, content and material of this podcast Podcasts are the opinions of the speakers and is for the informational purpose only and not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis and or medical treatment of a qualified healthcare provider. Hello friends and welcome back. So today if you're watching on YouTube, you can see that I have my daughters Lily and Mia with me. And Lily's nine and a half years old. She'll be ten in August. Mia just turned seven in February. Say hello.

Hi. Hi.

Anybody want to share a fun fact?

Yeah.

Okay. Lily's got a fun fact. Yes, Lily.

So this is my hedgehog.

She's holding a little purple, squishy hedgehog.

And his name is Gary.

Hello, Gary.

He a lot of intimates. Yeah, earlier. Earlier this morning he kind of like stuck to the wall, like.

Yes, he got stuck to the wall. And now there's a mark on the wall where Gary was playing. Right. And Mia, Mia, do you have a fun fact to share with us? No. Okay. That's all right.

Appliances are not fun.

Appliances are not fun. Well, that's a not fun fact. So that's. So that's okay. And that's what we're going to talk about. Right? Okay. So they're here to talk about their experience with their appliances. We have worked with some incredible airway dentists. Now we're with an airway ortho. And so big shout out to Lily's airway dentist in Maryland, Dr. Jennifer Tippograph, who is my co author and creator of our TOTS series books for kids, which are coming out soon. So keep your eyes, ears peeled for that. More information on that. Lily had an ALF appliance, an upper ALF appliance, back when we lived in Maryland for about a year. And we got some really great expansion. We knew she would need more expansion down the road as she continued to grow. So when we moved here to South Florida, we were going to Dr. Miriam Barahill in North Miami, who was amazing. And both girls at that point went into rapid palatal expansion with like a hyrax. But it was customized so it had a forward growth component added to it. Um, they also had those appliances on the bottom jaw, on their lower jaw as well. And we got some expansion there. Uh, we weren't sure if Lily would need more at that point, but we knew Mia was gonna need another round of expansion. And so it's been maybe a year and a half since you guys got those out. I think Lily, you were. Oh, maybe longer for you. Cause that was like age you dropped. Gary, that was age six and a half to seven and a half. Ish. Maybe for Lily. Um, and she's now nine and a half. So it's been, I guess it's been been a couple of years already. And you were four, you were in preschool. Now you're in first grade. So when you're like four to five, when you had Your appliance, right? Yes. Okay, so let's jump in to what is in your mouth. Mia, do you want to go first? Do you want to show them? Okay, so Mia has the same setup as Lily, but they're going to show you because they got to actually pick. Oh, I forgot to tell you there. We're now with Dr. Dr. Koval. Right. In Boca. So she happens to be 10 minutes from our house, Dr. Svetlana Cabal. And. And it's just really, really nice to have a provider so close by again. So if you're in Boca, highly recommend. So, Mia, you have the haas. Well, it's like a HAAS appliance, but it's been, like, very customized. So if you were to look up a HAAS appliance, H A, a, s, you'll have an idea of what it is doing. But it's been, like I said, very customized. So it's not your traditional haas. But the idea is to grow the palate on three planes, which has always been our. Our goal with all of the expansion appliances that we've had. And then you have the removable lower expander through Invisalign. Right. So do you want to show everybody your mouth? If they're watching on YouTube. Okay, so go like this.

We got pick up colors. And I picked. I picked sparkly blue.

She picked sparkly blue. All right, show us your dark sparkly blue. So if you guys can see that, if you're watching. Thank you, Mia. Beautiful, beautiful. And Lily, why don't you show us yours, too?

I picked neon pink.

Yeah. So you can see when they bend back that they've got those colors. And so. Thank you, girls. So they lilies is banded around four teeth, two back molars and two premolars, I believe. And then Mia's. We couldn't. She's got a tiny little mouth, and we could not get the ones to hook properly around the premolars. They actually took those off and. Right.

They cut them off.

They cut them off and. Hold on, Lena, you want to say something? They cut those off, and she just has hers attached to the back molars. But if you can tell, it's up in their palate, and it's actually helping to push the sides of the palette away, the left and the right side to split the palette down the suture line to get some nice expansion. So did you want to share something, Lily?

Yeah. If Mia's palette. If Mia's teeth are like, so smaller than mine, then when I. When I compared our Invisalign, when I compared our Invisalign to each other the other day. Hers was bigger, interesting.

So hers was, like, wider. I'll have to look at. I'll have to look at this later. That's pretty. That's interesting. Well, and maybe her lower one is wider, but her upper palette is a little smaller. I don't know. We'll have to see. We also do have, like, the molds that they used right from the. Like, they did a. I think an ITERO scan or whatever. The digital one. Yeah, we could. We can show that if you want to.

Sure.

You guys, you want to go get it in the little white bag that they gave you? You guys have, like, the model of your mouth. Do you want to get it or. No, you don't have to go look and see if you can find it and come right back. I'll talk to them about, like, why we're doing this while you guys are gone. So when they come back, we'll talk a little bit about, you know, like, what we're doing every single day. I'll say that for when they come back. So why are we doing this? Well, expansion. Like, we. Our goal is to make more space for the teeth and our jaws to grow. And so, Lily, this is your. How many times have you had expansion? Three. Yeah. This is her third time doing expansion, and it's basically helping to grow her jaw. And when we can expand the jaw, it helps us breathe easier. It opens the airway. So I hear Mia coming back. So we know that this is Mia's second time being an expansion, and I think Mia it make. It's been really helpful to have your jaw expanded, because she actually was a kiddo who had chronic croup and nine times as a three year old. And so that's why we went into a more rapid expansion with her from the get go instead of slow expansion, because we were kind of in an airway crisis with her. So do you guys want to show these? Keeping in mind that a lot of people are listening so very, very quickly. Not everybody's watching this on YouTube. Just show everybody real quick the little mold of your mouth. Hold it up, hold it up. It's okay. It broke a little. That's all right. Yeah. So they've got their little mold.

You have this too.

You too.

It's just not on there.

It's just not on there. Yeah. So we'll hold this nice and close for anybody who is watching online. But so they use this ITERO scan, which then 3D prints this really cool model of their mouth and they can then form the appliances to fit properly. What's interest is when I hold it up against. You guys are actually expanded very similarly, I think.

Who's.

Is this you, Lily?

Yeah, that's me.

Lily, I think you had a little bit more expansion when you look at your back molars. Yeah, you're. You were expanded a little bit more than Mia, but that's because Mia was younger, so that's so fascinating. When I hold these together. Anyways, so those are pretty cool. But I want you guys to tell them, what do you have to do every single night right now?

Turn our appliances. And it makes her.

Yeah, so we have a little key, and we have to turn the appliance. And, Mia, do you like the key turning?

I hate it.

You hate it? Go ahead.

On the first night. No. On the second night, you turn, and it hurt so bad. I cried.

Yeah, that happens sometimes because, you know, it's pressure, right? It's not so much pain, but there's, like, a lot of pressure, right? And you guys are like, ooh, my nose, my face. In the beginning, right. As you know. Cause it was putting pressure on your palate. And your palate is connected to the floor of your nose, which is connected through the bones that are all around this part of your face, the mid face. So if your appliance had a name or a superpower, what would it be? Have we named our appliances?

I think mine would be Mia junior.

Mia junior. Okay, Lily, how about you?

Mine would be the horrible pink appliance.

To. No superpowers.

Yeah. Yeah. Mine has a superpower. Mine's superpower is to expand my mouth.

To expand your mouth. How about you, Mia?

Can I have two?

Sure.

To expand my mouth and to not hurt.

Got it. So what's the hardest part? Do you guys think about doing expansion? Even you can think about the Invisalign, too. Yes, Lily.

For the Invisalign, it would be like keeping track of it and making sure you don't lose it and making sure you have the case and putting it in the case. And for the pink thing. Yeah, for the expander. Eating and having to pick food out of it.

Yeah, we do that after, like, every meal when you're at home, right? Yeah. Mia, how about you? What is.

Cause, like, the toothpicks are minty flavored, and our food tastes like.

Yeah. Is that the hardest part for you too? Like food getting stuck? No, it's the hardest part.

So for this.

You can just pick the thing that's the hardest for you. It doesn't have to be for both appliances.

Maybe just one thing in general for the top one.

Do you want to think about it?

Not eating? Certain foods are so yummy.

Oh, yeah. Things that are, like, really chewy and sticky right now. Yeah. Yeah. So what is, like, the funniest or weirdest thing that's, like, happened with your expander? Mia, why don't you think about that while Lily tells us? Okay. What's the funniest thing or, like, weirdest thing that's happened.

With Invisalign? I've. I'm kind of clumsy, and I've dropped it twice on the lunchroom floor at school. Ew.

And so you didn't put it back in, right? No. Okay. Thank goodness.

That would be gross.

Gross. The top thingy, I would say it just has to be, like, one, but you can say two.

Okay.

Do you have a funny or weird thing about the top one?

I don't know.

No. Yeah, just one's good. What's the funniest or weirdest thing? Just, like, one thing that's happened with your appliances? Not sure. Maybe nothing funny has happened.

Yeah.

Do you. Oh, go ahead.

It's not funny, but, like, it feels like it's taking up half of your mouth.

Well, let's talk a little bit about that, too. Right? Like, let's talk about that in a minute. So. And maybe that's, like, the hardest thing is it's taking up so much space in your mouth right now. Yeah.

Sometimes I swallow. This is a funny thing. Sometimes I swallow food whole. And once we were at Maya's house, and we were eating ice, and I accidentally swallowed a small piece of ice.

Cold.

Ooh.

Was that really cold? Like, did it feel really.

Also, it, like, hurt a little, but then I was fine. Yeah.

While it melted, like, as it went down your chest out. That kind of how. Yeah.

Ouch.

Just ouch.

Small. Mine were, like, this big.

Did you swallow her? No. No.

It was like.

Okay, I have another question. Let's talk about what it's like, like, day to day a little bit more. Okay. Because I bet you there's other people who are wondering, like, certain things about the appliances. So, like, how do you eat with the appliance in? Like, do you. Because you can't take the top one out. Do you take the bottom one out? Like, you talked a little bit about how food gets stuck.

Stuck.

Like, Lily, what is eating like for you?

I like to take out the Invisalign when I eat because it just feels like you're eating with plastic teeth, and I Just I feel like I can eat quicker and easier without the Invisalign in. And also, let's say, like, I was chewing on only this side, then food would basically only get stuck on this side of the appliance.

And it's like, on the side you chew on.

Yeah. And on the side parts, I can, like, put my tongue in it and feel if there's food there or not.

Yeah. And so that's when we get used, like, the pick sometimes to help, like, clear out the food from that particular area. But what's interesting, too, is that sometimes it gets stuck between the appliance and your palate. Right in the top of your mouth, Roof of your mouth. And that that can be the hardest to clean up because the appliance is kind of now, like, up against the roof of your mouth, since it's coming down a little bit. Yes. One more thing.

I forgot what I was going to say.

It's okay. Think about it, Mia. So how do you eat with the appliance in?

Before I say that, I had nowhere to put this, so I put it on my head.

Okay. But it falls. It might break. So as long as you're okay with that. All right. So how do you eat with the appliance in?

I only take my. I don't take my Invisalign out if I'm at school, but I do if I'm at home or, like. Yeah.

So you can eat with it in. Does it feel funny?

Not really.

You're used to it now.

Yeah, but when I'm chewing, like, the baby, it, like, feels weird because they're really soft.

Yeah. So she's, like, chewing, like, a soft cheese or something. It might feel weird. And sometimes the food. Does it gets. Does it get stuck in the Invisalign when you're chewing with it in your mouth or only if you, like, eat and then put it back in. Does food get stuck?

Usually. Only if I'm eating with it in.

Got it. Okay. Yes. Lily, you want to tell something?

Yeah, I remembered what I was gonna say. Like, usually when you turn our appliances, like, the next morning, there's, like, one side with a few teeth that hurt, and then the other side is completely fine. So, like, I had to get. I usually just chew on this side, and I had to get used to chewing on this side. And now, like, I only two on this side.

Well, you know you're supposed to be chewing on both sides.

I do.

But, like, when you're sore. I understand my normal.

This, like, changed to my normal side.

And it used to be this.

Yeah.

Interesting. You didn't tell me that. Yes.

Mia, the only reason we're doing this podcast is because today it's take your child to work day.

Well, that and, yeah, I was like, we should do an update because you guys are three weeks into your appliance, Right. We have two more. You've got two more weeks of turning the appliance, and then we get to stop, and it just kind of hangs in your mouth until August. So we will stop turning the appliance probably the second week of May. Or, like, actually it'll be the first week of May. I think May 5th might be the last day we turn the appliance. We're recording this on April 24th, but you guys won't hear this for maybe, I don't know, four weeks from us recording this by the time it goes out. So then, like we said, you're going to get Invisalign on top to close the gaps in your teeth. And so you'll have Invisalign in August, upper and lower, going forward until you're done with that. So, yeah, I want to know before we wrap up, we talked about the foods that we avoid, like, sticky foods and really super chewy things. But there's something else. There's a tip that you can give people that have this appliance. You talked about cleaning out your appliance by using the little picks. But what else do you really, really like that helps you clean out your appliance? Lily.

So the water pick, it gets a lot of food out. But Papa says that Mia's. When Mia does it, she doesn't get a lot of food out. But when I do it, like, it gets a lot of food out, it really helps. I really have. Me, too.

Yeah, she. So hold on really quick before we move on. I think it's interesting because I think, Lily, you get a lot more food stuck in yours than Mia does. I think hers might be closer to the roof of her mouth, and she's not getting as much stuck. So I think you're getting more stuck because of just the shape of your palette and how things are expanding. And so that might be why. But, yes, they make water picks for children, and so we got each of them their own, and they're phenomenal and so great to have because sometimes you can't really get up there. You don't want to scratch the palate or anything or hurt the top of your mouth. So the water pick makes it really nice to, like, clear that area out.

Yes, Mia, speaking of wrapping things up, maybe we should wrap Gary up and give him as a present to who's coming later.

Oh, we have friends coming later. We're not doing that. Relax. You are so silly. Okay, wait, but I have another question. Do you think that the way that you talk changed after you got your appliance? Like, your speech sounds, like, right after.

They put it in?

Yes.

Like the second after.

Yes. Like for a couple days.

Yes.

Yeah.

We sound like someone from Salmon Cat.

From Salmon Cat.

Yeah. Because my friends were like, lily, you sound different. And I was like, I know.

Yeah. Even some of your, like, S's and some sounds sound like they're still a little hard to make. And that's what happens sometimes when you have a big thing blocking part of your mouth. I'm not worried about it. You guys will be fine. But it definitely can change your speech a little bit. So in the beginning. Mia. Yes.

Since this thing is there, I can't, like, stick my tongue up to do the thing like.

Oh, to suck in your tongue?

Yeah. You can't touch in your tongue.

Yeah. Because there's something blocking it. So do you think it would be easy or hard to do mayo while you have your appliances in?

Hard.

Hard. Yes. Eli, you want to tell us something?

I want to show them the gap between my teeth.

Okay. Well, they can see it. Smile. Yeah, smile. So they can see it on the screen if they're watching on YouTube. Yes. Guys, I highly recommend you go and see. See this on YouTube. They're showing you. Nice. Do you guys want to take the Invisalign out and show them that, too? Oh, yeah.

Still a little green for me, because I hate with it.

It's okay. You don't have to take yours out. So they ended up. They end up changing theirs every. Yeah, Mia's. Oh, it's not in the camera. There you go. So Mia's gets discolored even though we're brushing it, because she eats with it in. But we do change it out every. It was every Monday, so we need to clean it. You ate breakfast with it in. I can't understand what you're saying. And she cleaned it already this morning. It's okay. Take it out if it's not working right now. So we clean it every morning and every night. Mia eats with hers in. So it does discolor the plastic, but we change it out once a week. So it basically gets. We don't toss it. They basically said keep last week, so at least. So that if you lose the current weeks, you can at least go back to last week's and not lose, you know, more expansion until you get the next appliance. But. Or the. Like, the next level. But yeah, we switch it out every single week. And we have to go back to the orthodontist in two weeks to get our next ones, right? You'll have one. Yes. You can throw out everything except for four onward. They're on week five right now of that.

I thought we were on four.

Oh, you're on four. Okay. Just kidding. Then keep three. And unless they took it at the ortho.

And then they took it.

It's fine. It's fine. Anyways, so how are you guys feeling now? I know, Lily, you're super excited when this all started, and then you were not happy after you came home. How do you feel now?

Well, at first I was excited because I thought it would be cool. Plus, we would get to pick our colors. And when we got other appliances, we didn't get to pick colors. And then once. And then once I got it, I was miserable. Miserable. And I wanted to, like, rip it out of my mouth. And now, like, it takes, like, a few weeks to get used to it, but, like, once you, like, get used to it, it's like you don't even notice it there when you're, like, chewing or, like, talking.

Got it. Mia, how about you?

Since it's been a long time when I'm eating lunch at school and it. I don't really notice it there because I'm talking to my friends.

Yeah. Would you. Do you have any, like, anything you'd want to tell somebody who might be getting an expander?

Beware it hurts. And don't get too excited.

But aren't you excited to breathe better and sleep better and not get sick as often and have a. Have a nice smile? Right, because it's going to expand you. Lily, is there anything that you would tell anybody that was getting an expander? A kid?

I would tell them that just beware. Your teeth are gonna split and it's gonna make you look really ugly, and then you'll be fine after it makes me look ugly.

You do not look ugly.

I do. Oh. Aw.

Listen to your sister. She said you look beautiful and I'm beautiful. You are both beautiful. So they have a gap in their teeth, which is also not what happens with all expanders. That's why it's really important to go to an airway centric orthodontist or dentist who knows what they're doing so that you actually get the expansion we want to grow the palate, the bone, like at the suture line, not just push and flare the teeth. So anyways, that's all we've got. Let's thank everybody for joining us today. You guys are going to have beautiful smiles when we end up getting the appliances, the fixed appliance out in like, middle of August or so. And you go into the clear aligners on top, the Invisalign, then it's going to close all the gaps without closing the bone. You're still going to have a nice wide jaw, upper jaw, but we're going to leave that upper appliance in so that the lower appliance can help bring the lower jaw forward. That's why we keep it in after we're done expanding. All right, guys, we only have 30 seconds, so one last thing to say. Lily.

Okay, My last thing is goodbye.

That was Gary saying goodbye. Yes, Mia.

So you know how in the beginning you asked if we have any fun facts? Yes, I. No one. Yesterday after dinner, my friend Reese picked me for the USC Speak youk Mind challenge. I did five people I picked for to do it, and I since Reese picked me, I had 24 hours to do it and Lily had to dump ice water on me.

That was fun.

Bye. Bye. Wait. And then I did it because she nominated me.

Yes. And you got to dump ice water on her head. All right, everybody, this was fun. We'll do more updates on future podcasts. This is Halle, Lily, and Mia signing off. Say bye, girls.

Bye.

Thanks for listening to this podcast. If you found value in this episode and want to hear more of these Myotots, Airway and Feeding related episodes, be sure to leave a review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode on your social media platforms. You can access free resources and all I offer@halibalkin.com or pop over to Hollybulcan on Instagram to get all the latest updates.