Techniques To Fix Arched Or High Palate In Adults

Before we discuss high palate in adults, let’s see what a high palate actually means. For those who might not know, a person’s palate is the official medical term for a roof of the mouth. It’s the part that separates the mouth from the nose cavities. The palate starts to develop in the early stages of pregnancy and continues to develop through early childhood.

Now, when it comes to a high arched palate or a narrow palate, patients should know that this palate is two standard deviations narrower than average. In other words, two standard deviations below average means that people who suffer from this condition have a narrow palate than the palates of 98 percent of people. To put it plainly, this is a pretty rare condition.

Those structural mouth abnormalities can be seen at birth, and nasty habits like aggressive sucking of a thumb can cause a palate to develop improperly. This condition can be treated with braces and surgery, but it’s important to state that a narrow palate can be quite difficult to treat later in life if left untreated in childhood.

This dental condition can cause other health problems if left untreated. This is exactly why it’s essential to talk about symptoms of a narrow palate, potential causes, and treatment options.

Narrow Palate Symptoms

Having a narrow palate mouth is a pretty obvious condition. In other words, it’s easy to detect. However, considering this dental condition can lead to breathing and teeth issues, it’s essential to see it in time. The best way to do this is to look out for the symptoms. Here are the narrow palate symptoms people should be aware of. 

Babies

When it comes to a high palate in babies, it’s important to state that those infants with a narrow palate may have difficulty nursing or feeding from a bottle. The main issues can be improper suction due to a narrow palate, and this can potentially cause air bubbles when nursing. In addition, this can cause babies to experience excessive gas. Here are the other symptoms parents should look out for:

• difficult nose breathing
• inability to latch when nursing
• sleeping issues
• issues when breathing at night
• complications when it comes to clearing nasal fluids

Babies with a high arch to their palate tend to flick the nipple up into the ‘cavity’ very easily. There really
needs to be so much breast tissue in the baby’s mouth that the nipple is forced further back. Here are some techniques that really help.

Children

Experts claim that a narrow palate can cause breathing issues in children that can lead to a habit of mouth breathing. In some cases, this can lead to obstructive sleep apnea. Other symptoms include:

• crowded teeth
• crossbites
• impacted teeth
• speech variances, especially when it comes to sounds that involve contact of the tongue against the palate
• poor oral hygiene

Adults

In most cases, adults have the same symptoms as kids. However, treatment becomes more complex and complicated once the mouth is fully developed. Adults who want to treat their narrow palate usually have to undergo surgery.

High Palate Causes

When it comes to narrow palate causes, plenty of different things can contribute to this condition. Here are the most common causes.

Injury

It’s safe to say that a facial injury, while the palate is still developing, is one of the leading causes of bone growth disruption. Plenty of experts claim that injuries to the palate in children are a common occurrence. In most cases, injuries heal without needing specific medical treatment, but sometimes they can cause a narrow palate.

Genetics

Back in 2016, a study with mice showed that abnormalities affecting the head account for 1 in 3 developmental issues for a fetus. The majority of those issues regard the palate. Experts claim that any condition that disrupts the development of the palate in utero can cause a narrow palate.

There are also a lot of genetic conditions that can cause this condition, like Ramon syndrome, pyknodysostosis, and Marfan syndrome.

Thumb Sucking

A kid can still suffer from a narrow palate, even with no injuries or genetic issues. In addition, aggressive thumb sucking causes pressure in the mouth, disrupting palate development and teeth alignment, especially in the early years.

In most cases, kids stop sucking their thumbs between the ages of 2 to 4. However, children who don’t quit this nasty habit are at risk of improper mouth development that may result in a narrow palate.

How to Fix Narrow Palate

As stated before, a narrow palate can be treated, but if it’s not done early in childhood, it will be challenging to do it later in life. So here are some of the treatment options a patient has.

Frenotomy

A frenotomy is a procedure in which a dentist snippets the frenulum with surgical scissors. This is used to treat tongue-ties in infants to prevent future concerns with mouth development.

Palate expanders

Palate expanders are devices that apply pressure on a patient’s mouth to widen their palate. In most cases, they are used in children and teenagers under 15 years old. These devices can also be used to correct the improper alignment of a patient’s teeth.

Jaw widening surgery

If the braces, Invisalign, frenotomy, and palate expanders don’t fix the issue, jaw widening surgery is the last resort. It’s the best treatment option for teenagers and adults because their jaw development and other ineffective treatment methods have stopped.

Surgery usually looks like this – a surgeon makes a cut in the bone of the patient’s upper jaw and repositions it with an expansion device. The bone will take a few weeks to heal. After the surgery, the patient will have a gap in the front of their teeth. This gap can be corrected with orthodontics.