SARPE Surgery

[Delag]

Brandy, I am so excited for you! I found your blog when you were just a few days into your journey and I think I am as happy for you to get your expander out as you are. I can't wait for your post TPA post tomorrow.

Totaly off topíc---how weird is this? DH was practicing his favorite male sport this morning (flipping through TV chanels) and found our local Extreme Makeover show. It was about a former coworker of his that I know as well. He had his upper advanced and his lower brought back - as well as all the other junk they do like dye your hair and fill you with botox. He looks great - thik I'll give him a call and ask how he liked his doctors

[Brandyleigh35]

OMG Delag,
I can't wait to get it out either, and I will for sure be posting tomorrow once its in with my comments!

That is pretty wild to know someone who had an extreme makeover. I would be curious to know if he was pleased with his results and if he has had any negative side effects.

Brandy

[mia22]

Hey everyone!

K,

I am not sure when I get the RPE out... hopefully sometime soon! I go back to the ortho on Friday and I'm going to ask a million questions!!

I'm going to post a new picture on my blog soon, my space is getting a lot smaller (THANK GOD)! But that is because of the spring...

When did you have your surgery? I feel like yours wasn't that long ago, and I thought you had to keep the RPE for 6months... but i guess each of us have had slightly different schedules for everything. I honestly haven't noticed big spaces between my teeth b/c they are using the gap space to make room for a tooth that i am missing... so maybe that is why mine might look a little different.

I feel you about the pain tho!! UHHH i feel like my bite is never going to be regular... do u have any pictures of yours?

Brandy,

Congrats!! You are going to be soooo happy and i can't wait to read exactly what they did! Good luck tomorrow!



Hey Kyle,

how are you doing??

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend... now back to the work week (uugh)

Ciao
Mia

[Kyle]

Hey Everyone!
Well I went to my Ortho today and it was pretty funny stuff... Aparently I was supposed to be turning this thing right after the surgery and it'd been one full week without me doing it.... I guess we had miscommunication... Anyway, my Ortho couldn't tell the difference... He said alright man, looking good in here you just keep turnin that key... I was like.... "Opps" I didn't tell him different cuz I didn't want the guy who controls the future of my smile to get angry at me, but I started turning it today.... No pain only pressure when you turn it... Another erie feeling that I have been introduced too.... Now that the swelling has gone down a lot, I am feeling a little sore, but otherwise fine... I am surprised at how fast the body heals and will go back to serving tables on Thursday.... I'm have to turn the device 2 times for the next 4 days and then once a day for 10 days after that.... He said I may not be totally done expanding at that time so not to be dissapointed if that happens.... Well here's to stretching! Thanks for the support ~Kyle
P.S. Glad to here about everyone elses progress... Everybody getting the device out eat some food with no mouth clog in my memory.... Lol

[Kyle]

Sorry for all the Type O's last post but I was in a hurry to watch the final episode of Charmed with my Mom... I was her support to let the show go forever.... Anyway, I'm not drunk and I'll be back soon... ~Kyle

[Delag]

Glad to hear your are feeling so well Kyle! I would keep track of the turns and tell your Dr. about missing a few - it would be a shame to go through all of this and find you didn't expand enough.

Brandy - I saw your blog. Congrats on having an RPE free mouth. I think you should treat it to some nice cold margaritas!

[Brandyleigh35]

Thanks Delag,
Yeah its nice to have the RPE gone, but hey the truth is that no appliance at all would be so much better. At the moment I'm just sick of having stuff in my mouth!

I posted a pic of the RPE, and my new silver powerchain if you want to see what it looks like.


Kyle I agree, tell your doctor. Expansion is a precise science, he needs to know exactly how many turns have been made to get the correct results. I expanded about 33 turns which was about 9mm with the cranks they gave it right after surgery. Trust me when I say you are not the first to do this. Many people turn it the wrong direction and actually pull the appliance inward instead of pushing outward, or do it incorrectly or not at all. Just tell him.....would suck to go through all of this and mess things up because you didn't tell you ortho the truth.

Brandy

[Selims]

Hi All,

I had SARPE in mid-december and I have just found this message board. I wish I had found it sooner!!!

Most of the messages here suggest that the gap caused by SARPE closes over quite quickly. After 5 months, my gap hasn't budged a mm! Also, there has been no removal date suggested for my expander (even though I was told that the gap would be filled and the expander removed within 6 months).

Have any of you guys had a similar experience? (I had no overlap, but apart from that, there is nothing unusual about my mouth - I needed it for my back teeth to line up properly).

I look forward to your replies!

[Brandyleigh35]

Selims!
OMG! you poor thing! I totally feel your pain! I can't imagine wearing that torture device for 5 months. I just got mine taken out Monday after 3 months and replaced with a TPA that I will wear for another 2 months.
As for your gap, have you asked your ortho about closing it? Mine put a powerchain on mine which I took off because I found it uncomfortable, however, after five months you should be very close if not fully healed and a powerchain might just do the trick. Oh...wait, I just realized that you might not have braces yet?

If not, are they planning on putting them on soon? I think if your gap is not closing especially by this point, that it is probably not going to without some assistance. I would speak to my ortho about that.

You can see the TPA I'm talking about on my blog below. I posted a pic of what it looks like.. Hope this helps!

Brandy

[Selims]

Brandy,

I have had braces since the operation, the only issue is that the orthodondist doesn't want to "rush" the procedure (so I have been walking around looking like a boxer who has had a very, very, very bad day for almost 6 months now).

Selims

Take a look:

http://mysite.verizon.net/restjzsp/

[Brandyleigh35]

Selims,
I would tell him that he needs to "rush" the procedure! My orth says it takes about 5-6 months to fully heal but you can close the gap way before that. In fact my doctor put a powerchain on mine the day after surgery. There has been research done that shows that closing the gap does not seem to interfer with the healing process or increase the likelihood of root absorbtion. My ortho has been totally sensitive about my gap. He says that it is typically the worst part of the whole procedure/ordeal. That the gap bothers people more than the surgery itself. By now, your bones should be healed plenty enough to begin closing that space! I will be at only 5 months post op when I get my TPA out and we start moving my uppers around.....and I'm 42 years old, so I heal a heck of a lot slower than a young person like you!

I would press the issue. Tell him you have been talking with many others who have had this surgery and they have all had their gaps closed either naturally or with help well before 6 months! I would be totally mad if I'd of had to walk around with my gap for that long!

Brandy

[Selims]

Brandy,

Thank you for your reply!

I did think that my ortho was being overly cautious (and to be honest, a little inconsiderate). I am meeting her in 3 weeks and I will put it to her that it may be time for me to stop looking like a boxer who has gone one round too many. Do you, or anyone else reading this, know of any sites/info that I could refer to when I go?

As I said in my first post, I wish that I had found this site a long time ago. After reading the posts here, I seem to be an outlier - everyone else appears to have had a very good experience and a relatively speedy recovery. (I am writing this in part because I don't want people new to this site thinking that you will be walking around with a huge gap in their mouths for 6 months, my case appears to be very unusual (if you read other posts)).

As I say, any info would be a great help!!

Selims

http://mysite.verizon.net/restjzsp/

[Brandyleigh35]

I'm not sure about actual research you could print and bring to the ortho. I haven't found anything that I could use. I do know the actual name of the gap is a "diastema" and the SARPE procedure is medically referred to as "distraction osteogenis" Maybe looking up those words might reap some results.

Hope this helps you!

[Kyle]

My Doctor said that I'm not aloud to chew for like 2 1/2 to 3 months after my surgery.... It's only been like 2 1/2 weeks and I'm going crazy.... When did you vets start chewing again? I know my mouth is still healing but I feel like I could handle a sandwhich only I'm too aprehensive to go against my doctors orders..... Advice? ~Kyle

[Brandyleigh35]

Kyle,
My doctor told me I could have soft foods right after surgery and that I should wait about a week to start eating more chewy stuff. Certain foods are harder to tolerate as they will make your mouth sore, and you will know when you have over done it as your mouth will tell you. I was seriously eating pizza within 3 weeks. If its been 2.5 weeks you should be fine, just don't eat stuff that is super hard like steak, or make sure you cut it into very small bites. That is ridiculous to go that long, even people who have jaw surgery are eating soft foods within about two weeks. Its not going to re-break your bones or anything, it will just make you a bit sore if you overdo it. Eat whatever you want if you feel up to it, as soon as you take one bite you will know if its too hard or not. I'm only 3 months post op myself and I have been eating regular food since day one. In fact the night of my surgery I had chicken for dinner, with no real problems I might add. Listen to your mouth......it will tell you what you need to know, and eat for goodness sakes!

Brandy