SARPE Surgery

[lalcharlie]

Will keep trucking! On the road now, no turning back.
Looking forward to my own bed tomorrow and of course seeing my kids. There's no place like home.

Heal well everyone x

[goku]

How's the healing lalcharlie?

I am still turning my expander. I'm at 7.25mm now. I met with my ortho yesterday and he wants to expand to about 10mm. I am meeting with them again on Thursday so hopefully they will say I am done turning!

For me turning the expander initially wasn't painful, but ever since I expanded past 6 mm every turn just causes my palate to burn like hell. It's painful enough that I might take a percocet. Sadoozie did you experience any pain turning?

[Sadoozie]

I was finally told to stop expanding today reaching 8mm after two weeks of turning the expander twice a day.

I experience something similar Goku, my front gums sting a bit but i heard its normal from my ortho. What else i find weird is the palate in the back right before the throat feels really dry and uncomfortable. Glad i dont have to expand anymore, but i did get a new wire on my bottom braces that made my bottom jaw sore.

[lalcharlie]

Hello Goku and Sadoozie!
Well the op was Wednesday and I've been expanding since friday when the ortho cemented in the expander - god that was painful - so that is 6 days and I have a cute gap between my teeth which will no doubt become a gaping hole you could park your bike in !
I'm going for the full 10mm my expander allows. My husband is cranking it, he's very squeamish and nervous about it. No it hasn't started to hurt yet but I expect it might soon enough. I have rubbed my nose and loosened a stitch above my right front tooth, can see the little stitch and a bit of green around it but the doc says not to worry - it could be new tissue or a tiny infection that with care will clear up.
Above the top lip on left of face still numb and puffy.
Eating is less enjoyable obviously and I have lost 5lbs so far though it'll probably me more as my portion sizes are much smaller. I can't stand the way food gets stuck above the expander and has to be sucked out *shudder*
Putting makeup on each morning seems pointless but I do it anyway just to feel more like a girl
X

[lalcharlie]

So I have antibiotics for a wee infection above front two teeth in stitches. And now the thing is slipping off the back left tooth and I can't close my teeth properly, had really bad stabbing jaw pain today as my jaws are so tired. Annoying as it's preventable. No appointments available to recement it till sat 11th when I already have an appointment. I'm dreading it coming off completely and the suture healing up over Easter, I couldn't get through to Glasgow dental school today and I'm presuming they're closed till Tuesday. Went into work and it looks like i'll have an interview the week I go back for post I was told I already had. My speech is terrible and the gap will be at its worst by then. Not a good day

[goku]

Lalacharlie it has been a rough week for me too. Lots of expansion related discomfort. I had my checkup Thursday and I was at 9mm. Ortho said I need to keep expanding till 11mm. They are going to take a look on Monday and decide whether I'm done turning. I can't wait for expansion to be over. I found out how to get around the severe pain I was having. I reduced the number of turns from 4 times a day to 3 times and I was able to manage that discomfort with naproxen. If you have expansion pain and ibuprofen isn't helping try naproxen (aleve) it's much stronger.

Lalacharlie i thought it was weird that they cemented your expander after the surgery. Everyone I know had it cemented before and it hurt then. I can only imagine how bad it must have felt. To help keep infections at bay, rinse your mouth with 1/2 tsp of salt with 1 cup of warm water. I have been rinsing since my surgery and have had no infections, but my surgeon had me take antibiotics for the 1st week regardless. It also helps loosen gunk stuck to your mouth/expander. I hope that doesn't come off either. Seems like they could get you in sooner because if it comes off, I think that would classify as an emergency. Ya tell me about it I can't bite down and all I do is slurp with this thing. I'm sure some people wonder what's going on but I don't care too much. A man's gotta do what a mans gotta do!

Some people have stuck wax in the gap so that they can look presentable in public. It looks like a real tooth too. http://jawtastic.blogspot.com/2010/07/o ... to-my.html

Well I'm just looking forward to being done with expanding so I can get a top wire on. My teeth look so messed up right now with this giant gap!

[Sadoozie]

Hope everyone is healing well. Its been a month today since im out of surgery and i'm still a tad swollen from beside the bridge of my nose and down to corners of my mouth

Sorry to hear about your expander lalcharlie, but i guess thats the reason that they attach it at least a week before the surgery - in case it falls off. Now you must pay the piper for your extra days of freedom, you wild child.


How long have you guys been instructed to be on a no-chew diet for?? it seems like the advice people get vary a bit. I've been instructed to stay on a liquid/soft diet for 6 weeks. Two more weeks to go from today and it feels like forever.

[lalcharlie]

No - chew diet? News to me! Less than two weeks since surgery and I had toast for breakfast! Maybe that's why the expander is loose?

Have a seven hour round trip to see ortho in Glasgow tomorrow to have it recemented. Feeling very guilty as my husband has taken so much time off to look after the kids and here we go again.....

A very long time on the train. Anyone recommend a good book?

Sadoozie - in the UK they put expander in a day or so before surgery - it was the trial period I skipped (and that was to make sure I could cope with eating/swallowing etc) and was weeks ago. Wish I was a wild child!

My friends were here for Easter, one of them is a dentist and he says teachers and nurses make the worst patients!!! I don't doubt this!!

Now go and get some proper food into you!!

[goku]

Sadoozie, I am mostly still on a liquid diet soups, oatmeal, smoothies, yogurt. The most I have chewed if you want to call it chewing is a pancake, fried egg, and baked salmon. I'm also a little swollen in between my nose and upper lip and adjacent to my nose.

I met with my OS and OD yesterday and I am finally done turning at 11 mm! I am getting my upper archwire reinstalled on Thursday. It's just a soft wire though to straigthen out the turns my teeth undertook during the expansion. I am still going to have a gap for a little while. I hope it all turns out ok. I feel like the expansion is a lil uneven or lopsided.

[lalcharlie]

Hi Goku and Sadoozie

How do you know you've gained a mm or 2 advancement on your upper jaw? Did your OD tell you? I wish mine would communicate better with me. I feel that I have gained some space there too but it would be good to have it confirmed. At the moment the teeth at the front are pretty goofy - looking, I imagine they'll come back together without a wire (i wont have any braces until the RPE comes out in the summer)
So I told you about my visit to the Ortho on Wednesday, the making of a new expander, the shock relapse of my teeth during the 3 hrs it was out, the pain when he tried to put the new one onto teeth that had moved!
He said it was a 'terrible fit' and asked me 'when's the next train home?' knowing I was 4 hours away. He decided that although there's a 50% chance it'll fall out we're going to risk it. In 4 weeks he has booked me in to have a TPA fitted if I need it. I got very excited at this, visualising a thin piece of wire I've seen on other people's blogs, but sadly no, it's just the same as the expander but without the screw so a bit more comfortable.
I probably won't go if it means another whole day off work and 7 hours on the train.
2 things - new expander has what I call 'machine guns' on the back bands, chunks of metal with holes probably for wires I'm not having, they hurt like HE'LL!
Secondly although he says my healing is normal under my gum line, I can still see every stitch! 16 days after surgery - eek
Fish pie in the oven smells good. I was reassured about eating - he told me so it foods only required for double jaw. Funny how advice is so different .
You all keeping well?
I have a job interview in 2 weeks for the job I'm already doing - what bad timing! Confidence a bit low, I hope they see past the gap/poor speech. Have you noticed a few people treat you differently when struggle to speak?

[goku]

Well after the surgery I looked in the mirror and my underbite was gone. Both my OD and OS mentioned it. Sorry that sounds terrifying and painful. I hope the expander stays in there. My expander has metal bands that fit over my back molars and was cemented onto my teeth so it wouldn't come off. I bet it will hurt when they take it off. My OD said I can't have a TPA till the summer.

Ya my teeth look goofy too but I'm having fun with it. I will grin at people and show em my giant gap then laugh at their shock!! If I'm not in the mood to play games, I just talk sorta muffled so that the gap isn't visible. Good luck with your interview.

I got my upper archwire back in Thursday and it didn't hurt at all! I'm just healing now and will see the docs again in 4 weeks.

[lalcharlie]

Yup my expander has 4 medal bands around teeth and it was cemented on. It wasn't as painful as the moulds they took. My teeth felt like they might be pulled off my face It's been recemented back on with much more blue cement than the last time as the ortho is worried about it coming off.
Talking it off wasn't horrendous - deep breaths, focus on something else and it's over! Bit of wiggling was required...
As long as it says in and doesn't need replaced I will be rid of it for good 90 days after the last day expanding, which is tomorrow, so hopefully expander will come out mid - July just in time for a few barbecues.
I will try and put a pic on later today (pics need resized which i cant seem to do on my phone.)
I don't think we went the full 10mm but yes you can see a difference.

[Sadoozie]

Now that everyone is done expanding, let the healing begin! Sorry about your ordeal with the RPE lalcharlie. Hopefully, by now your speech should be improved and easier. Its funny how the body adapts to all this extra material in the mouth, thinking back on the first day i had the expander on to today - i hardly notice it in there except when eating of course. Speech is easier for me now but its hard to speak fast, everything has to be at a snails pace.

The space between my two front teeth is ridiculous. Some people think that im missing a tooth at first until i explain it to them. I too like to show a big smile to people who havent seen me yet Goku. One of my younger relatives laughed for an awkwardly long amount of time which was kind of annoying but other than that people are usually kind or dont care.

[goku]

I want give you guys an update. I'm doing much better. I can eat a much larger variety of food as long as it is in bite size form. I'm still having trouble tearing foods, but I can chew a taco, pizza, etc. I still can't feel my teeth but I do feel more sensation in my upper jaw so I know that the nerves are still healing. My upper jaw also feels much more solid now.

I just saw my OD and OS this week and they said everything is looking great. My OD installed a thicker top wire today as well as power chain to close the gap. I'm pretty excited about having the gap gone. It's already smaller. The gap wasn't a huge deal but people stared at it when I talked which I found annoying. My OD said in 4 weeks he will put rubber bands on to move all of my teeth into alignment. And my OS says in 6 weeks I get my expander out just in time for my summer vacation!!

How are you guys doing? Lalacharlie you healing up? Sadoozie do your teeth have feeling?

[Periskir]

Is this type of surgery considered difficult?