Will a Palatal Expander Hurt My 8 Year Old, and Will It Change Her Face?

• Dr. Boris Pinhasov, DDS
• August 2, 2026
• 10:00 am

Medically reviewed by Dr. Boris Pinhasov, DDS, Diplomate, American Board of Orthodontics | 15+ Years Experience | Last Updated: August 2026

A palatal expander should not hurt your 8 year old. After the key is turned she feels pressure or tightness for a few minutes, closer to the ache of opening your mouth too wide than to sharp pain, and it settles quickly. It can slightly change her face, but the change stays around the upper jaw and usually makes her features look more balanced, subtle enough that friends and family tend to just see a fuller, more even smile. Because her palate has not fused yet, this is the gentlest age to do it.

Here is what each of those answers looks like day to day, why an orthodontist recommends an expander at this age, and how to tell whether your daughter actually needs one.

An expander widens the upper jaw a tiny amount at a time. At home you turn a small key that opens the appliance by a fraction of a millimeter, usually once or twice a day for a few weeks. Each turn creates a feeling of pressure across the roof of the mouth and sometimes behind the nose or between the front teeth. For most children that pressure lasts a few minutes and then fades on its own.

The reason it stays gentle at 8 is biology. A child's upper jaw is made of two halves joined by a growth seam called the midpalatal suture, and at this age the suture has not fused. The expander guides those halves apart along a seam that is still open and responsive, so the movement is gradual rather than forced. At BP Smiles Orthodontics, most children adapt to an expander within a few days.

There can be some soreness in the first day or two, and again briefly after a turn. Over the counter children's pain relief and a day of softer foods handle it for nearly all kids. If your daughter ever has sharp or lasting pain, that's worth a call rather than something to wait out, and the office will check the fit.

"Compared to past dentists I've had he's also definitely the gentlest."

Kiyari Garcia

This is the part that worries most parents, and the honest answer is that the effect is real but small. Because the upper jaw sits at the center of the face, widening it can shift the soft tissue around it very slightly. Any change is limited to the midface, the area near the base of the nose and the cheeks, and it tends toward balance rather than a look anyone would call different.

What you're far more likely to notice is a wider, more even smile once there's room for the upper teeth to sit where they belong. An expander is built to correct the bite and make space for the permanent teeth. Any small gain in facial balance simply comes along with giving the upper jaw the right width.

Once the jaw is widened, the appliance stays in place for several months while new bone fills in along the seam and the result stabilizes. That holding phase is what keeps the width from relapsing, and it is a planned part of treatment rather than an afterthought.

An expander is recommended for a specific reason, not as a default. The common ones are a crossbite, where the upper jaw is too narrow and the upper teeth bite inside the lower teeth, and crowding, where there is clearly not enough room for the permanent teeth to come in straight. Widening the jaw now can relieve both, and it can lower the chance your daughter needs teeth removed later to make space.

Age is the reason this comes up before braces rather than after. While the midpalatal suture is still open, the jaw can be widened gently and without surgery. After the suture fuses in the later teen years, the same correction is much harder and can require a surgical procedure, so the window in childhood is genuinely the easier one.

That does not mean every 8 year old needs one. A good orthodontist recommends early treatment only when a real problem will get worse without it, and monitors the rest. At BP Smiles Orthodontics, Dr. Pinhasov identifies which children genuinely need early intervention and which are better off waiting and being watched. Many children seen at 7 or 8 do not need any appliance yet. If you want the fuller picture before you decide, we cover when your child should first see an orthodontist and the full scope of early orthodontic treatment at BP Smiles Orthodontics separately.

"He really takes his time and explains treatments and problems thoroughly."

Mazal Abayev

The first few days are the adjustment. Speech is the most noticeable part, and a temporary lisp on s and sh sounds is normal while the tongue learns the new shape of the palate. It usually smooths out within a week, and reading aloud for a few minutes a day speeds it up. Extra saliva at the start is common too and settles quickly.

Eating changes for a short while rather than for good. Start with soft foods for a day or two, then most meals go back to normal. The lasting rule is to skip sticky and hard foods, like gum, caramel, ice, and hard candy, because they can bend the appliance or work it loose. Food does catch around it, so a good rinse after meals helps.

Keeping the expander clean is a shared job at this age. It is cemented in place and does not come out, so your daughter brushes around it as usual, and a water flosser is useful for rinsing under the appliance. Younger children usually need a parent's help both with cleaning and with turning the key on schedule, and the office shows you exactly how at the fitting.

Active widening takes only a few weeks of daily turns. After that the expander stays in for several months while the bone stabilizes, so plan on the appliance being in place for most of a year. Phase 1 treatment like this typically runs about 6 to 12 months, with short check visits every four to eight weeks that are easy to fit around school.

The expander is usually the first step, not the whole plan. After it comes out, there is often a resting period while the rest of the permanent teeth come in on their own. Braces or aligners, if they are needed, generally come later in the teen years to fine tune the bite, and that second phase is frequently shorter because the expander already fixed the underlying width.

Dr. Boris Pinhasov, DDS, is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics who earned his dental degree with honors at the New York University College of Dentistry and completed his orthodontic residency at Maimonides Medical Center. He treats every age, from a young child's first expander to an adult's clear aligners, and he plans and follows each case himself. He takes time to explain how the appliance works to the child directly, not just the parent, so a nervous 8 year old understands what is about to happen and why.

Consultations happen in English, Russian, and Spanish, and the first visit is complimentary. It includes an exam and digital X-rays, and Dr. Pinhasov reviews what he finds with you before recommending anything. The practice sees children from across Queens, including Flushing, Bayside, Little Neck, and Jamaica.

"He explained the whole process with great detail from metal expanders to braces. My child's teeth has made a vast improvement over the course of 10 months."

J L

To have your daughter evaluated and get a straight answer on whether she needs an expander, call the office at (718) 290-9444.