Hey Everyone,
So I just got back from my first Post-Op appointment with the OS. During the meeting he did the first 2 turns of my expander. Its pretty amazing at how the space between my teeth immediately showed up. I am excited that I am getting started now! Cant wait! I hope everyone else is doing well...
SARPE Surgery
Moderator: bbsadmin
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WaterBoy13
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 6:02 pm
- Location: Albany, NY
- Contact:
Re: SARPE Surgery
RPE Installed: March 10th, 2011
SARPE Surgery: April 6th, 2011
RPE Removed: TBD
Incognito Braces: TBD
http://mid20smetalmouth.blogspot.com/
SARPE Surgery: April 6th, 2011
RPE Removed: TBD
Incognito Braces: TBD
http://mid20smetalmouth.blogspot.com/
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hellogoodbye
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:25 am
- Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Re: SARPE Surgery
Hi everyone!
I had my sarpe surgery on April 6, and started turning my expander yesterday and have done it twice now, but I'm not seeing much development of a gap. From what I've heard from this board, the gap is pretty immediate in most cases. Is it abnormal that I haven't seen a change 2 turns in?
I had my sarpe surgery on April 6, and started turning my expander yesterday and have done it twice now, but I'm not seeing much development of a gap. From what I've heard from this board, the gap is pretty immediate in most cases. Is it abnormal that I haven't seen a change 2 turns in?
Re: SARPE Surgery
I think it can depend on your actual expansion device. I think some device's turns are only 1/4mm and some are 1/2mm each turn. I found it took about 4 or 5 turns for me to start to notice a difference.hellogoodbye wrote:Hi everyone!
I had my sarpe surgery on April 6, and started turning my expander yesterday and have done it twice now, but I'm not seeing much development of a gap. From what I've heard from this board, the gap is pretty immediate in most cases. Is it abnormal that I haven't seen a change 2 turns in?
Re: SARPE Surgery
I had a gap right after surgery (the surgeon turned it himself immediately after surgery when I was still knocked out) and I definitely saw it gradually increasing over the 2 weeks I turned it (I was doing 3 turns/day, however). Hellogoodbye, perhaps your ortho and surgeon don't want to be as aggressive with it in terms of how much expansion you need?
32 years old, total time in braces=30 months
-Braces and palate expander on 4/15/10
-RPE Surgery 9/15/10
-Expander removed 3/11
-Braces Removed 9/7/12
-Retainers in 9/7/12
-Braces and palate expander on 4/15/10
-RPE Surgery 9/15/10
-Expander removed 3/11
-Braces Removed 9/7/12
-Retainers in 9/7/12
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WaterBoy13
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 6:02 pm
- Location: Albany, NY
- Contact:
Re: SARPE Surgery
Hey guys!
Just wanted to check in! (Glad to hear you are doing better Twinmom)
As far as my past week, it has been quite a rollercoaster. As I reported previously, the first 5 days after surgery went smoothly and were incredibly simple. Then day 6 game and it all went downhill. I woke up around 9am with a nosebleed. At first I wasn't too concerned as it was pretty common to have nosebleeds after this surgery. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my nose to stop the bleeding and come 12pm, I become concerned. I called my surgeon and he directed me to just lay back and relax, which I did and the nosebleed stopped, but from that point on it would be on and off all night long. It would stop for 30/45 minutes, and then all of a sudden I would feel the blood clot slide down my throat and it would start up again. Around 8pm I become concerned even more, called my surgeon again and he directed me to come see him at his office. Upon arrival he did his best to try to get it to stop, which included inserting an Anterior Nasal Pack. Let me tell you this is soooooooooo uncomfortable (and painful). After an hour of this, the bleeding still didn't stop so we went to the ER. Once at the ER, my surgeon inserted a Posterior Nasal Pack. The purpose of a nasal pack is to put pressure on the blood vesels, cause them to collapse and clot. This aparatus is approx 65mm long and has two balloons inside it which can be inflated from the outside to apply a desired pressure on the inside. Regardless, this is also incredibly uncomfortable and they had to be in for a minimum of 24 hours. I didnt feel any pain once they were in, but the discomfort definitely starts to take a toll on you. I felt pretty warn out and tired, but a full day later, I went back into his office and had them removed, and happily..... no more bleeding!
Since then my nose has been clogged with the goop from the nasal pack, and some blood clots in the back of my throat, but my surgeon said that is all normal.
Aside from that... I have been continuing with my expander and currently up to 4mm. My surgeon told me I should expect to go to 7 or 8mm in total at least. Im not excited about that as its going to look absurd, but I know that it won't last forever, so I will get by. Also, I have been using wax to fill the gap when I go out in public, it works pretty great!
Just wanted to check in! (Glad to hear you are doing better Twinmom)
As far as my past week, it has been quite a rollercoaster. As I reported previously, the first 5 days after surgery went smoothly and were incredibly simple. Then day 6 game and it all went downhill. I woke up around 9am with a nosebleed. At first I wasn't too concerned as it was pretty common to have nosebleeds after this surgery. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my nose to stop the bleeding and come 12pm, I become concerned. I called my surgeon and he directed me to just lay back and relax, which I did and the nosebleed stopped, but from that point on it would be on and off all night long. It would stop for 30/45 minutes, and then all of a sudden I would feel the blood clot slide down my throat and it would start up again. Around 8pm I become concerned even more, called my surgeon again and he directed me to come see him at his office. Upon arrival he did his best to try to get it to stop, which included inserting an Anterior Nasal Pack. Let me tell you this is soooooooooo uncomfortable (and painful). After an hour of this, the bleeding still didn't stop so we went to the ER. Once at the ER, my surgeon inserted a Posterior Nasal Pack. The purpose of a nasal pack is to put pressure on the blood vesels, cause them to collapse and clot. This aparatus is approx 65mm long and has two balloons inside it which can be inflated from the outside to apply a desired pressure on the inside. Regardless, this is also incredibly uncomfortable and they had to be in for a minimum of 24 hours. I didnt feel any pain once they were in, but the discomfort definitely starts to take a toll on you. I felt pretty warn out and tired, but a full day later, I went back into his office and had them removed, and happily..... no more bleeding!
Since then my nose has been clogged with the goop from the nasal pack, and some blood clots in the back of my throat, but my surgeon said that is all normal.
Aside from that... I have been continuing with my expander and currently up to 4mm. My surgeon told me I should expect to go to 7 or 8mm in total at least. Im not excited about that as its going to look absurd, but I know that it won't last forever, so I will get by. Also, I have been using wax to fill the gap when I go out in public, it works pretty great!
RPE Installed: March 10th, 2011
SARPE Surgery: April 6th, 2011
RPE Removed: TBD
Incognito Braces: TBD
http://mid20smetalmouth.blogspot.com/
SARPE Surgery: April 6th, 2011
RPE Removed: TBD
Incognito Braces: TBD
http://mid20smetalmouth.blogspot.com/
Re: SARPE Surgery
A questions for fellow SARPE buddies..
It may be a bit premature to be worried but i have been turning once a day for nearly 4 weeks and when I measure my gap its only at 5mm, my calculations say it should be about 6.5mm. The bit I am worried about is that i don't think the gap has gotten any wider this week at all. I am sure when I measured it a week ago that it was only 5mm. I was under the impression it will just keep getting wider until I stop turning.
Should I be worried about this? Could my palate be getting wider but just not the gap? I have an ortho appointment in 8 days so i'm sure if there is a problem he will tell me then, but I am curious now as to what everyone thinks.
It may be a bit premature to be worried but i have been turning once a day for nearly 4 weeks and when I measure my gap its only at 5mm, my calculations say it should be about 6.5mm. The bit I am worried about is that i don't think the gap has gotten any wider this week at all. I am sure when I measured it a week ago that it was only 5mm. I was under the impression it will just keep getting wider until I stop turning.
Should I be worried about this? Could my palate be getting wider but just not the gap? I have an ortho appointment in 8 days so i'm sure if there is a problem he will tell me then, but I am curious now as to what everyone thinks.
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sauerkraut
- Posts: 573
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:57 pm
- Location: Germany
Re: SARPE Surgery
peckabel, don't worry. I assume you're sure you're turning the key correctly? The gap between your teeth is no indication at all of how much your palate has expanded. You could even find your teeth moving back together again. They wander all over the place at this stage 
.
WaterBoy that nosebleed sounds awful! Hope you're better now.
.WaterBoy that nosebleed sounds awful! Hope you're better now.
SARPE: Sept 2007
Braced: May 2008
BSSO: Nov 2010
Debraced: March 2011
Braced: May 2008
BSSO: Nov 2010
Debraced: March 2011
Re: SARPE Surgery
Thanks, that makes me feel better. I did try to measure how far the expander has gone and its about 6 mm, its definitely wider than my gap. Fingers crossed my gap doesnt get too much bigger then - could be wishful thinking I knowsauerkraut wrote:peckabel, don't worry. I assume you're sure you're turning the key correctly? The gap between your teeth is no indication at all of how much your palate has expanded. You could even find your teeth moving back together again. They wander all over the place at this stage
WaterBoy that nosebleed sounds awful! Hope you're better now.
Re: SARPE Surgery
Well, it's now been almost 6 full months since my surgery (Nov. 4th)...
Aaand... my gap is closed! Well, kind of. My front teeth are touching at the bottom but there's a small gap (~2mm) at the very top and that is closing quickly as well.
They have come together and straightened out SO quickly since the braces have come on - keep in mind I don't even have a powerchain!
As far as I'm concerned, my teeth now officially look better than they did before the surgery. My front teeth aren't completely nice and beside each other, but the crowding issues I had before have been completely resolved - my upper arch is wider, with the teeth all falling perfectly along it. There is still some work to be done to close up some small gaps and make everything nice and straight but I like my smile now - at least as much as before, if not more.
19 more days until I get my expander out and then my SARPE journey is complete! Thank goodness. The time has flown by. I am excited beyond belief to see the final product, another 18 months or so and I will hopefully have perfect teeth. Still have a Lefort surgery to do when my arches are all set up but, hell, the surgery and recovery time are so damn brief (I was only swollen for two to three weeks) that I'm not really worried about it at all.
I'll update after I get my expander out, but don't know how much more after that! Good luck to everyone who's still truckin' through it.
Aaand... my gap is closed! Well, kind of. My front teeth are touching at the bottom but there's a small gap (~2mm) at the very top and that is closing quickly as well.
They have come together and straightened out SO quickly since the braces have come on - keep in mind I don't even have a powerchain!
As far as I'm concerned, my teeth now officially look better than they did before the surgery. My front teeth aren't completely nice and beside each other, but the crowding issues I had before have been completely resolved - my upper arch is wider, with the teeth all falling perfectly along it. There is still some work to be done to close up some small gaps and make everything nice and straight but I like my smile now - at least as much as before, if not more.
19 more days until I get my expander out and then my SARPE journey is complete! Thank goodness. The time has flown by. I am excited beyond belief to see the final product, another 18 months or so and I will hopefully have perfect teeth. Still have a Lefort surgery to do when my arches are all set up but, hell, the surgery and recovery time are so damn brief (I was only swollen for two to three weeks) that I'm not really worried about it at all.
I'll update after I get my expander out, but don't know how much more after that! Good luck to everyone who's still truckin' through it.
Re: SARPE Surgery
That's great! Sounds like we're right around the same stage...I had the SARPE in Sept and am getting my expander out next week. It's a nice feeling, isn't it? 
32 years old, total time in braces=30 months
-Braces and palate expander on 4/15/10
-RPE Surgery 9/15/10
-Expander removed 3/11
-Braces Removed 9/7/12
-Retainers in 9/7/12
-Braces and palate expander on 4/15/10
-RPE Surgery 9/15/10
-Expander removed 3/11
-Braces Removed 9/7/12
-Retainers in 9/7/12
Re: SARPE Surgery
Hi
Was just wondering if I might need SARPE surgery. How narrow does your palate have to be to need this surgery? I cant lay my tongue comfortably on the roof of my mouth if you know what I mean? I have braces on at the minute for double jaw surgery will they improve it?
Would really appreciate if anyone could shed some light on this
Thanks
Was just wondering if I might need SARPE surgery. How narrow does your palate have to be to need this surgery? I cant lay my tongue comfortably on the roof of my mouth if you know what I mean? I have braces on at the minute for double jaw surgery will they improve it?
Would really appreciate if anyone could shed some light on this
Thanks
Re: SARPE Surgery
Has the ortho ever mentioned it? Because your tongue not touching is usually a sign. But im sure if you are already going through braces and impending jaw surgery they would have diagnosed whether you need to have sarpe, as its usually done at the start of the whole process. So I wouldnt worry, you probably dont need it.TheDude wrote:Hi
Was just wondering if I might need SARPE surgery. How narrow does your palate have to be to need this surgery? I cant lay my tongue comfortably on the roof of my mouth if you know what I mean? I have braces on at the minute for double jaw surgery will they improve it?
Would really appreciate if anyone could shed some light on this
Thanks
Re: SARPE Surgery
Well, fellow SARPE survivors...
My SARPE journey is now complete. And I couldn't be happier. Had my RPE taken out today, a thicker wire placed on my top braces, and some ties put around the front brackets to pull the tops of my front teeth together.
So... my mouth is free at last! I've been enjoying food, beer, cigars, and most importantly being able to talk properly - my mouth feels awesome.
Two months until my next visit, but no more landmarks or excitement for me until my next surgery, probably not for another year.
Good luck on your journeys, everyone! Remember, it can REALLY suck at times but it's all worth it in the end.
[I'm going to enjoy actually being able to chug beer tonight, party time!]
My SARPE journey is now complete. And I couldn't be happier. Had my RPE taken out today, a thicker wire placed on my top braces, and some ties put around the front brackets to pull the tops of my front teeth together.
So... my mouth is free at last! I've been enjoying food, beer, cigars, and most importantly being able to talk properly - my mouth feels awesome.
Two months until my next visit, but no more landmarks or excitement for me until my next surgery, probably not for another year.
Good luck on your journeys, everyone! Remember, it can REALLY suck at times but it's all worth it in the end.
[I'm going to enjoy actually being able to chug beer tonight, party time!]
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class3underbiteboy
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2011 2:32 pm
Re: SARPE Surgery
[quote="35ksmile"]Well, fellow SARPE survivors...
My SARPE journey is now complete. And I couldn't be happier. Had my RPE taken out today, a thicker wire placed on my top braces, and some ties put around the front brackets to pull the tops of my front teeth together.
So... my mouth is free at last! I've been enjoying food, beer, cigars, and most importantly being able to talk properly - my mouth feels awesome.
Two months until my next visit, but no more landmarks or excitement for me until my next surgery, probably not for another year.
Good luck on your journeys, everyone! Remember, it can REALLY suck at times but it's all worth it in the end.
[I'm going to enjoy actually being able to chug beer tonight, party time!][/quote]
Haha funny how exactly similar my thoughts on the situation are, and how it's my last landmark before the big surgery. Well, I guess putting on the power-chain is also somewhat of a landmark for me. 3 weeks to go before my RPE comes out, funny how time goes so much slower now, can already envision how good it will feel.
My SARPE journey is now complete. And I couldn't be happier. Had my RPE taken out today, a thicker wire placed on my top braces, and some ties put around the front brackets to pull the tops of my front teeth together.
So... my mouth is free at last! I've been enjoying food, beer, cigars, and most importantly being able to talk properly - my mouth feels awesome.
Two months until my next visit, but no more landmarks or excitement for me until my next surgery, probably not for another year.
Good luck on your journeys, everyone! Remember, it can REALLY suck at times but it's all worth it in the end.
[I'm going to enjoy actually being able to chug beer tonight, party time!][/quote]
Haha funny how exactly similar my thoughts on the situation are, and how it's my last landmark before the big surgery. Well, I guess putting on the power-chain is also somewhat of a landmark for me. 3 weeks to go before my RPE comes out, funny how time goes so much slower now, can already envision how good it will feel.
Re: SARPE Surgery
Hi Guys
Just a quick update, I am 8 weeks post op now and my implants seem to be working. For those who don't know my ortho is using implants to correct my open bite instead of surgery.
I still having some swelling in my cheeks but I am pretty much back to normal now.
I am jealous of those people who have their expander out, that is the only thing I really don't like. even though I am use to it, it gets really annoying trying to talk.
Anyway i have update my blog, check it out if you are interested
Just a quick update, I am 8 weeks post op now and my implants seem to be working. For those who don't know my ortho is using implants to correct my open bite instead of surgery.
I still having some swelling in my cheeks but I am pretty much back to normal now.
I am jealous of those people who have their expander out, that is the only thing I really don't like. even though I am use to it, it gets really annoying trying to talk.
Anyway i have update my blog, check it out if you are interested