Alyssa Luck

palate expansion

Why I Decided to Try AGGA (plus some lingering concerns)

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You guys. I wrote this post in MAY, and somehow managed to not hit publish. So here it is, almost six months later, which means I’m six months into my AGGA treatment, which means I’m way overdue for more updates. Given my track record, I’d say you should expect another update in April, but I will do my absolute best to exceed expectations. 

Ever since I halted my last palate expansion attempt due to bone loss concerns, I’ve been exploring other options and deciding on the best course of action. Now, almost a full year later, I’ve started treatment with a new dentist (Dr. Ed Suh) doing AGGA and CAB.

It wasn’t an easy decision-making process, and it’s not a perfect solution by any means (not that a perfect solution exists), so I wanted to share all of the factors I’ve taken into consideration, and why I ultimately decided that AGGA is the best route for me.

I’ll also share the remaining concerns that I have about the treatment, and how I’m dealing with them (aside from sporadic mild panicking. Only slightly joking.).

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Everything You Need to Know about AGGA (Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance)

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Note 2/5/2021: I badly need to update this page (especially since my website transition resulted in all the pictures being lost…ugh), but much of this information should still be useful/relevant!

Update March 8, 2023: I still need to update this page more thoroughly, but wanted to share this CBS article about several lawsuits against the AGGA creators/distributors. My thoughts about the appliance remain roughly the same as what I wrote below several years ago and have said in my YouTube videos (linked on this page), key points being:

  • There are currently no good treatment options for adults with significant malocclusion, TMJ, or airway issues due to poorly developed facial bones
  • The treatment options that exist include surgery; “invasive” palate expansion such as MSE; and “noninvasive” palate expansion such as AGGA, ALF, DNA, and similar appliances; none are safe and effective and affordable enough for me to consider them a “good” treatment option
  • AGGA is one of the only appliances that specifically targets the need for forward expansion; most other appliances target primarily lateral expansion
  • AGGA is not a regulated or proven appliance, and most practitioners that use it make claims that are not supported by evidence (specifically, that it remodels the jaw through nerve stimulus and does not push teeth)
  • Many people (myself included) have gone through the AGGA process and experienced no ill effects, and notable benefits
  • Many people have gone through the AGGA process and experienced catastrophic damage to their teeth
  • There are significant financial incentives at play in the continued promulgation of AGGA within the network of teaching institutes, consulting institutes, practitioners, and labs

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Original post:

Hey folks! This is my first post in what will hopefully be a series about the various orthodontic appliances used for non-surgical palate expansion and facial growth in adults.

You should all know by now that I’m not a dentist or orthodontist, so unfortunately, I won’t have any groundbreaking contributions of knowledge. But at least I can put all the info in one place, right? I’ve linked all of my sources throughout this post, so you can go link-diving if you want to read other people’s words and learn more.

Table of Contents

What is AGGA?

Who came up with AGGA?

What is involved in AGGA treatment, and how long does it take?

How does AGGA work?

Is it legit?

Are there any dangers or downsides to AGGA?

How much does AGGA cost?

Where do practitioners learn how to use AGGA?

How can I find a practitioner who uses AGGA?

Before and Afters

Where can I learn more about AGGA?

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A Non-Update Update

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Hey friends! Quite a few of you have been asking for updates on my palate expansion journey, so I figured I’d post one even though I don’t really have anything new to share.

Current Status

Treatment is still paused, due to a CBCT scan showing that we appeared to be pushing the roots of my teeth outside of the palate bone. (Not good for long-term tooth stability.)

I have continued wearing my Meridian appliance/expander at night, for two reasons. 1) To make sure it will continue to fit, so that I can use it with my Crane (once I decide to start using that again; more on this below). 2) I grind my teeth a lot at night, and the occlusal plates of the appliance provide some protection.

Once I stopped wearing the appliance during the day, my teeth immediately started moving back (un-expanding?), to where the appliance would barely fit at night. So each night before I put it on, I would do one or two reverse quarter-turns until it didn’t feel so tight anymore. I lost quite a bit of expansion progress that way, but clearly it wasn’t true/healthy expansion, so I thought it would be best to just undo some of it.

I’ve also been trying to maintain better tongue posture during the day (à la Mike Mew), but geez – it’s HARD! My tongue doesn’t fit well in my mouth to begin with (hence the need for all this palate expansion nonsense), but between eating and talking and breathing…man, tongue posture is NOT an easy thing to re-train. So that’s a work in progress.

 

The Crane

I still have the Crane, which is the horrifying-looking neck brace that I attach to my appliance with rubber bands to get a pulling force on the maxilla. I haven’t been wearing it because it disrupts my sleep, and I’ve had too much else going on in my life recently that was already disrupting my sleep, so I didn’t want to add to it.

HOWEVER, things are finally beginning to calm down, so I’ll probably start experimenting with it again in the next few months. Because the Crane puts forward force on the entire upper arch, I’m hoping that it will prompt some forward movement/growth of the maxilla without shifting the roots of my teeth too much (which I want to avoid for now, due to the aforementioned CBCT scan-related reasons).

There’s also a segment of the adult palate-expansion community (that’s a thing, right?) that advocates for using stronger “face-pulling” forces, but for shorter periods of time. This info used to be on facepulling.com, but it appears that domain has been recently overhauled, and I don’t see it there anymore. I don’t remember the exact guidelines, but I’m thinking it was something like 10-20 min of constant pressure, usually by wearing some kind of appliance (or braces) and just pulling on a string or rubber band that you’ve attached to it.

Do any of you remember seeing that info? The short-duration approach would be much easier to incorporate than wearing the Crane all night every night, so I might experiment with that over the next few weeks. Can’t hurt, right?

 

Anyway, that’s where I’m at. Stay tuned. I’ve loved hearing from all of you who are experimenting with this stuff, so please feel free to plug your own blog below (if you have one), or just post your own updates in the comments so others can follow along with you too!

 

For reference, here are all the other posts I’ve shared so far on the subject of orthodontics/orthotropics:

Palate Expansion Update: Concerning CBCT Scan Results

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Update 2/5/2021: After much soul-searching, I ultimately decided to continue my expansion journey with AGGA. You can find all my updates regarding that process linked from this page!

I am long overdue for a progress update! Last time I posted, I shared some progress pics, and was about to get a CBCT scan to reassure myself and my orthodontist that we weren’t pushing my teeth out of the bone.

Well…unfortunately, the CBCT scan was not reassuring. In fact, it was pretty concerning. At some point I’ll get around to posting screenshots from the scan, but for now, I’ll just share a snippet from the radiology report:

In layman’s terms? Although the CBCT scan isn’t precise enough to tell us whether the roots of my teeth are fully poking through the bone, it can tell us that the bone outside of the roots on my upper teeth is extremely thin. And that’s not good.

Side note: Did you see what they said about my airway? Reduced airway space is one of the main risks of retractive orthodontics, and another reason why I need my maxilla expanded and pulled forward!

Anyway. Needless, to say, the CBCT results were pretty soul-crushing. I mean, I had spent a lot of time and money covering my bases and making sure I was doing this the right way, and I felt so confident that I was on the right track. Not only did this scan derail me completely, it also showed me that once again, all of the “experts” I had put my trust in might have been wrong.

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5-Month Palate Expansion Progress Photos

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Hey friends! It’s been five months since I began my journey with my first palate expander, and two months since I started with the DNA/Meridian appliance. I had them take some progress photos at my appointment this week, so I figured I’d share with the internet!

Full disclosure: I think the fact that my hair was wet and my eyes were kinda starting to close in the “before” photos makes the progress photos of my face look a bit more dramatic than they otherwise would. But you can definitely still see that there’s been progress! Also, these are definitely the most hideous photos of me to grace the internet thus far. Hooray. [Read more…] about 5-Month Palate Expansion Progress Photos

The DNA Appliance Has Arrived! (APE Diary #6)

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My DNA appliance has arrived! It’s technically a “meridian” appliance, but it’s essentially the same as a DNA – I think only certified practitioners are allowed to use the name-brand DNA appliance, so we’re using a knock-off. (Edit 10/18/18: To be clear, I was taking Dr. Lockhart’s word that the meridian is functionally the same as a DNA. There could certainly be differences that I am not aware of!)

It’s definitely far bulkier than my old expander, and required a lot more adjustment to fit to my mouth. The acrylic plates that cover the biting surface of my molars (occlusal plates) had to be shaved down to balance my bite (similar to a nightguard adjustment), which is always difficult in my case since my bite is so uneven (when my right molars are touching, I still have several millimeters of space between my left molars).

But it’s all adjusted now, and I’ve been wearing it for about two weeks. The verdict so far: [Read more…] about The DNA Appliance Has Arrived! (APE Diary #6)