SARPE Surgery

[crazybeautiful]

As I said in a prior post, I had my SARPE on July 22nd, 2009. The RPE comes out this Tuesday, October 27th - a little more than 3 months after the surgery.

The OD will place a TPA in and then put on upper braces at that point.

From reading all the other posts, it looks like this is actually a fairly minimal time to have had this 'torture' device bonded in my mouth. However, I am anxious to be able to speak and eat normally again and it couldn't come out soon enough!

I feel comfortable eating almost anything but really dense foods at this point. There is some residual sensitivity in my teeth but it's not bad at all. I still have numbness in my upper gums and a little numbness in my lip but it seems to be getting better and better every week. This had been a very big concern of mine for quite some time since I felt very numb until recently.

From my discussions with others, I think you need to give the healing process at least 6 months before things will be "normal". However, if I don't actually recover all the sensitivity I had before it's not bad enough that I would have opted out of the surgery.

The recovery has, however, been a lot more involved than either my OD or OS led me to believe. At this point, however, it's mostly just annoying, not painful.

3 months is a lot shorter a period of time with the expander, however generally ortho's who insist on longer are just more conservative and want to make sure that there won't be any considerable relapse. I think if you have a lot of expansion, then the normal period of 6 months with the expander seems quite reasonable to me. I didn't like wearing it, but at the same time you want to make sure you don't relapse a significant amount (although in my case I still need more expansion anyway! )

In my case, once the TPA was in, it was like I wasn't wearing anything at all. Of course you can feel the wire with your tongue, but in everyday activites you shouldn't be bothered by it

Glad your recovery has gone well. I agree with you, the process brings up annoyances, rather than much pain, but overall it's worth it, and in the great scheme of things not too big a deal.
Are you having further surgery? For a lot of us, SARME is merely phase 1!

[Braceventura]

Crazybeautiful:

In response to your question regarding more surgery after my SARPE; no, I am fortunate in that I don't have to have any more surgeries.

I primarily had this done because the occlusion between my lower and upper jaws was out of alignment - due to my upper jaw being too narrow - and I began to experience bone loss.

[crazybeautiful]

Lucky for you Hope your recovery continues well

[roccosarpe]

Im scheduled to have SARPE on November 19. I have a very narrow palatte, and a large looking lower jaw/chin. The doctor says I may need to have upper and lower jaw surgery after the SARPE to correct my long chin...but he says that sometimes the SARPE causes the top jaw to move forward, if so I may only need to have a genio.

My question is what effect does SARPE alone have on your face? Does it affect your cheekbones (I have none b/c my upper jaw is too far back), does it have an effect on your nose? I know the upper and lower jaw surgery has good effects on your face, I was just wondering if SARPE does too.

[crazybeautiful]

SARME doesn't have a huge impact on your face, however you will see some slight changes. These are most likely the appearance of a wider smile (which will affect your cheek bones somewhat). Your nostrils may widen stlighty too; surgeons use a special stitch to prevent any huge widening of the nose, however you might notice it a little. In my case I had very narrow nostrils anyway, so the change was good for me.

Do you have an underbite, or is the problem just your chin?

[plasticwings]

roccosarpe -

Since getting SARPE a couple of years ago, the only big differences that I saw in my face was that my smile was wider than ever and my profile changed slightly. My cheekbones didn't change much...just a little.

Must say it was the best thing I've ever done for myself.

[sauerkraut]

I gained cheekbones, but I can't say I've noticed any other changes. I do still have another surgery to come, though (bringing forward lower jaw).

[roccosarpe]

SARME doesn't have a huge impact on your face, however you will see some slight changes. These are most likely the appearance of a wider smile (which will affect your cheek bones somewhat). Your nostrils may widen stlighty too; surgeons use a special stitch to prevent any huge widening of the nose, however you might notice it a little. In my case I had very narrow nostrils anyway, so the change was good for me.

Do you have an underbite, or is the problem just your chin?

I don't have a noticeable underbite...the doctor says that my upper jaw is slightly too far back...they think that just the sarpe might move it forward enough that I can avoid upper jaw surgery. My face is basically narrow and longish, my lower jaw line kinda jets downward as opposed to the more 'normal' looking horizontal jawlines. I still dont understand how the sarpe and genio will fix that.

[crazybeautiful]

Hey sauerkraut- any news on your progress? I'm still waiting to see my surgeon (next Thursday), so hopefully I will have something to report back with. Most likely to moan about!
My mum told me off yesterday for moaning, actually, because she was talking about a holiday in May or June time, and I said you'd better wait because it's not like I'm going be having the surgery in December now, so it will be around that time. She told me not to be so defeatist, and that I always think of the worst. So I said, erm hello, my ortho said I was '6 months away' in January so I don't hang onto her every word, my surgery date is 80% likely to be cancelled anyway, and it's already November. All in all, I said I was being a realist!

I still wish I could have a December surgery though

PS- wow, writing this has [embarrassingly] made me become on the verge of tears. I'm not pessimistic because I want to be, but because I don't want to be disappointed, and pin my hopes on a 2009 surgery that won't happen. I don't think my mum realised my jaw is literally the bane of my life.....but anyway. Postitive, CB, postitive!

[sauerkraut]

Hang on in there, CB! I'm rooting for you

I'll reply properly in your other surgery thread, if that's OK, so I don't completely derail the SARPE one... (just gotta go find it now...)

[biggitybones]

I've been lurking through here and reading all of the posts (probably half of the 90 pages in all), and I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to everyone who shared their experiences with this surgery. It's amazing how calming it is to read the experiences of others.

I just had my SARPE surgery this morning, and got home a few hours ago. After a minor mishap about what time I was supposed to be at the hospital (they switched the surgery times of me and another person, causing me to be 90 min late). I'm feeling pretty good, all things considered, with little pain other than headaches and a bit of pressure around my front lip, all of which are normal.

The nosebleeds are little more than just irritating, and the swelling is under control at this point but will probably get much worse tomorrow. The Dr. did a phenomenal job.

If anyone is in the Northeast and is looking for a surgeon, this guy is amazing. PM me if you want the name, he's apparently one of the best in the country.

To those getting the surgery: while I won't see the results for a while, and haven't gotten the infamous gap yet, it's manageable and worth it. Follow the advice of the hundreds of people in this 90+ page post and you'll be fine.

[crazybeautiful]

Glad the thread has been useful to you; I agree it helps when you can read about other people's experiences beforehand.

I think the swelling will increase a little over the next few days, but whether it gets really bad is varient. In my case, the swelling was really bad (had lower wisdom teeth removed too, which I think added to the swelling)

You know, the only times my nose bled (and really the only time in my life) were when I was on my way to see my ortho post-surgery. Being out in British weather in November triggered it, I think!

Hope your recovery continues well. Keep us posted (and enjoy the gap )

[sauerkraut]

Wow, biggitybones, you've read half the SARPE thread AND you're posting within hours of your operation. I am seriously impressed

Glad to hear you're happy with your treatment, and I wish you a smooth and uneventful recovery. Will you need any more surgery after this?

[biggitybones]

Wow, biggitybones, you've read half the SARPE thread AND you're posting within hours of your operation. I am seriously impressed

Glad to hear you're happy with your treatment, and I wish you a smooth and uneventful recovery. Will you need any more surgery after this?

Thanks sauerkraut.. unfortunately I'll need more surgery in another 11-12 months to correct a severe open bite. This is the very beginning of a long road but it'll be worth it in the end - I foresee some definite ups and downs throughout the way, as I'm still 22 months from the finish line, but I'm staying positive and looking forward to the results.

[sauerkraut]

Well it sounds like you've got a great attitude, anyway. And you've come to the right place for support and advice. There are still a few of us "older" Sarpies with more surgery still to come (including CrazyBeautiful and myself ) so you're not alone . Hope your recovery continues well, and that you're one of the lucky ones who gets away without too much swelling