SARPE Surgery

[35ksmile]

dexter, it took about 5 weeks before my surgeon told me i could chew again. it sucked but i got used to it. and totally pigged out on pizza when i could chew again.

anyway, just got banded today --- but only the lowers. no brackets or wire or anything on my uppers, besides the RPE. my orthodontist said he will not do anything with the uppers until 4.5mths post-sarpe, and i'll get my RPE out 6mths post-sarpe. i have an appointment in about 7 weeks for a wire adjustment on my lowers, and i'm guessing sometime shortly after that i'll be getting banded on my uppers.

gap is like 7.5mm, measured from the bottom of the teeth. closing slowly... but eh, can't complain. any progress is better than no progress!

[foxparadox]

So I had this surgery 4 days ago and I'm dealing pretty well with it so far. I feel a little sore in the morning, but that's about all the pain I've been experiencing.
Just out of curiosity, how long did it take before you guys were allowed to chew again? My surgeon told me to avoid chewing, but he didn't tell me for how long and I'm tired of mashed potatoes and soup. I'm sure the answer to my question has already been posted in this thread , but I'd feel more assured if the answer came from people who have had the surgery more recently.

about a week, I think? but I found it really difficult to chew things anyways... so I kind of just went at my own pace and ate fairly soft things for probably the entire first month. you should call your doc and ask for a time span! there are a lot of other soft things that you can try eating, aside from mashed potatoes and soup- scrambled eggs, oatmeal, mac & cheese, yogurt, pudding, other pastas... I ate a ton of veggie chicken SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM from Trader Joe's... LOL they are pretty soft. I'd just go with what your jaw is letting you do. You won't be able to chew really normally for a while... but chewing soft things should be okay in a week-ish.

It sounds weird... but I felt like chewing things actually was helping my jaw move to where it was supposed to be. hahahaha. I may have created this theory in my mind though.

[foxparadox]

dexter, it took about 5 weeks before my surgeon told me i could chew again. it sucked but i got used to it. and totally pigged out on pizza when i could chew again.

anyway, just got banded today --- but only the lowers. no brackets or wire or anything on my uppers, besides the RPE. my orthodontist said he will not do anything with the uppers until 4.5mths post-sarpe, and i'll get my RPE out 6mths post-sarpe. i have an appointment in about 7 weeks for a wire adjustment on my lowers, and i'm guessing sometime shortly after that i'll be getting banded on my uppers.

gap is like 7.5mm, measured from the bottom of the teeth. closing slowly... but eh, can't complain. any progress is better than no progress!

it is crazy how different our treatments are!!! my ortho and my surgeon both said no to me getting braces put on the bottoms for about 3 months- which confused me because they aren't even involved with my upper jaw. uh... right? LOL. I think??? haha! I still have the braces on my two front teeth that are being rubberbanded together- the gap is at about 2 or 3 mm right now and looks good enough for me. lol.

I got my expander out today!!! super exciting stuff... but also a freakin' weird experience. They cut it out of my mouth and I could smell burning metal... and kind of still can. Seriously... weird. I have a giant imprint on the top of my mouth where my expander was. I wonder when that will go away. lol. I got a smaller bar put in that goes across the roof of my mouth. The ortho said it would annoy me... but it doesn't. Even the expander wasn't that annoying... I feel like I got used to it being there... and I was talking pretty normal. I'm glad to have it out though, anyways Now I don't do anything until March/April- which is pretty great, I think- because I assume that I would have to give anything much thought throughout this semester in school. It is week one of the new semester... and I am already feeling like I have burnout and need a vacation. haha. Yikes.

Hopefully everything will be good and taking it out so soon won't throw off my end result. The jaw surgeon told me that everything looked really great, when I saw him last, and that I should be a SARPE posterchild. LOL. Hope things stay that way! :/

p.s. I had no idea you were a boy, surgical twin! Sorry for assuming that you were female. LOL. Looking like a hockey player sounds freakin' fierce. and like good times! I would definitely enjoy that for the time being (I live in Chicago- hahaha hockey is pretty big here. people are kind of obsessed)

[dexter7188]

A pizza binge sounds heavenly at this point. Thank you for your replies 35ksmile and foxparadox. Chewing harder foods won't mess up how the bones heal? That's the only thing keeping me from quenching my thirst for animal flesh. Haha.

I had braces on prior to the SARPE, which seems to be a little uncommon. I'm 5 days into expanding (2 a day), but I've yet to see a gap between my front teeth. The left tooth has moved a bit in front of the other, however.

Doing anything fun is sort of a nuisance right now because stitches make it hard to smile :\

[foxparadox]

A pizza binge sounds heavenly at this point. Thank you for your replies 35ksmile and foxparadox. Chewing harder foods won't mess up how the bones heal? That's the only thing keeping me from quenching my thirst for animal flesh. Haha.

I had braces on prior to the SARPE, which seems to be a little uncommon. I'm 5 days into expanding (2 a day), but I've yet to see a gap between my front teeth. The left tooth has moved a bit in front of the other, however.

Doing anything fun is sort of a nuisance right now because stitches make it hard to smile :\

if you are still expanding, the bones aren't really healing. they begin to heal after you stop expanding. did you wait a week doing nothing prior to beginning the expansion process? I think everyone expands a little differently- not everyone gets a huge gap... but... most do I had a little bit of a gap right after surgery because my doc started the expansion to make sure the bones were split evenly while I was still under.

I recommend a pizza binge. haha. Yummm... As long as the crust isn't too hard- it should be okay. I could not chew meat at all for a while. but if you can... I don't see why it would hurt anything. Just don't force things... chew what you find to be comfortable and don't chew anything that might get stuck in your stitches or tear them out. You can always try cutting things in really small pieces too- so you don't need to chew quite as much.

I didn't food process anything... well... except for an apple, once. LOL. but you could always do that also- if you have a food processor handy Apples are still annoying to eat- I think I hate them now. LOL.

[Nathaniel]

[quote="35ksmile"]dexter, it took about 5 weeks before my surgeon told me i could chew again. it sucked but i got used to it. and totally pigged out on pizza when i could chew again.

anyway, just got banded today --- but only the lowers. no brackets or wire or anything on my uppers, besides the RPE. my orthodontist said he will not do anything with the uppers until 4.5mths post-sarpe, and i'll get my RPE out 6mths post-sarpe. i have an appointment in about 7 weeks for a wire adjustment on my lowers, and i'm guessing sometime shortly after that i'll be getting banded on my uppers.

gap is like 7.5mm, measured from the bottom of the teeth. closing slowly... but eh, can't complain. any progress is better than no progress![/quote]
Thanks for this update! I noticed that you mentioned previously that the LeForte I it's somewhat up in the air (now though, more leaning towards it happening), did they mention anything yet regarding that or are they basically waiting until the gap is closed in and all that good stuff.

Also, I noticed you're from Canada. Me too! The Greater Toronto specifically. Also, based on your time requirements on various things (i.e. eating/waiting for braces), size of gap (7.5mm reccomended), by any chance is your Orthodontic Surgeron from Crescent Oral Surgery, and your Orthodontist from Davis Orthodonsits?

On another note, it seems as though I have the same, literally the same situation as you. I liked my appearance before, no problems with it; have a very minor underbite but barely noticeable unless I point it out and even then it's not that evident. Do you (or I guess now, did you haha) have a narrow upper jaw? Did you have an open bite as well?

Cheers!

[Nathaniel]

35ksmile, not sure why my post didn't quote right but please see above this post! I have some questions for you. Cheers!

[dexter7188]

*sigh* So I went to my oral surgeon today after 2 weeks of expanding. Apparently, my front bone didn't split because my bone was too thick. I kinda thought something was off as I never got a gap between my front teeth. I had the surgery done in his office so I wasn't completely under anesthesia, as I was breathing on my own during the procedure. Because of that, he couldn't use a saw to do the surgery or something.

He told me that I should ask my orthodontist if whatever expansion I DID get done would be enough for an eventual double jaw. If it turns out I don't have enough room, it looks like I'll have to go through this again during spring break.

I'm starting to doubt whether this whole ordeal is worth it.

[35ksmile]

nathaniel - no, not at either location. and no i didn't have an open bite.

dexter - that sucks man! but it is TOTALLY worth it in my opinion. i still have a giant gap in my teeth and i definitely don't regret it in the slightest. i would talk to your surgeon about compensation though, that seems HIGHLY irregular... and i don't even know if i'd trust the guy after that.

[35ksmile]

hey for the record guys and gals -

even with the gap in my teeth still landed a couple dates with a beautiful girl.
doesnt really seem like things will go much further at this point, but the point is - don't even worry about the gap. fact is, beauty comes and goes, what matters is who you are. i was definitely pretty anxious about how i'd feel with my teeth being all messed but i feel pretty much the same, if not more confident because i know i'm on the way to a gorgeous smile.

so if you're worried about the recovery / aesthetics / big honkin appliance in your mouth... don't sweat it. it's not like life stops and leaves you behind. def wish i could tell this to myself beforehand, i was super apprehensive before this started and now im just... relieved.

[Nathaniel]

hey for the record guys and gals -

even with the gap in my teeth still landed a couple dates with a beautiful girl.
doesnt really seem like things will go much further at this point, but the point is - don't even worry about the gap. fact is, beauty comes and goes, what matters is who you are. i was definitely pretty anxious about how i'd feel with my teeth being all messed but i feel pretty much the same, if not more confident because i know i'm on the way to a gorgeous smile.

so if you're worried about the recovery / aesthetics / big honkin appliance in your mouth... don't sweat it. it's not like life stops and leaves you behind. def wish i could tell this to myself beforehand, i was super apprehensive before this started and now im just... relieved.

Thanks for these positive posts 35ksmile, I have a wonderful girl so I'm not out to find someone, but I love your attitude and the confidence you have in everything about the whole process. I'm going to follow your footsteps!

[Nathaniel]

hey for the record guys and gals -

even with the gap in my teeth still landed a couple dates with a beautiful girl.
doesnt really seem like things will go much further at this point, but the point is - don't even worry about the gap. fact is, beauty comes and goes, what matters is who you are. i was definitely pretty anxious about how i'd feel with my teeth being all messed but i feel pretty much the same, if not more confident because i know i'm on the way to a gorgeous smile.

so if you're worried about the recovery / aesthetics / big honkin appliance in your mouth... don't sweat it. it's not like life stops and leaves you behind. def wish i could tell this to myself beforehand, i was super apprehensive before this started and now im just... relieved.

Thanks for these positive posts 35ksmile, I have a wonderful girl so I'm not out to find someone, but I love your attitude and the confidence you have in everything about the whole process. I'm going to follow your footsteps!

[35ksmile]

small update.

gaps at about 5mm now. over halfway closed, woo. next appointment i get a wire adjustment (extended to my back molars, theyre currently not wired) on my bottom... thats in a month. ill probably update then. mid-march i think i get braced on the top. and then start of may i get the expander out. cant come soon enough.

[peckabel]

Hi Everyone
I am having SARPE surgery in 4 weeks time. I have read alot about this procedure but the one question I would like answered is how much weight everyone lost?? I actually don't want to lose any weight so Im wondering if its a lot and do you put it back on once you start eating properly again.

[jake95]

What's up peck, goodluck with ur sarpe. I lost 13 pounds so far, it's been almost 3 weeks since my surgery. I had a 2 peice lefort sarpe surgery so I'm not allowed to chew anything. That hasn't helped in the keeping the weight problem. I also had lower sarpe so I have and extra road block when it comes to eating. Anyway I would stock up on some high cal protien shakes, prob start drinking them now for a few extra pounds before your surgery. I lost all muscle weight. I don't have a lot of fat and I lose weight fairly easy, so I just have to deal with getting skinny until I can chew and hit the weights again. Goodluck, keep us informed