I AM HAVING RPE SURGERY

[NAJ78]

So I am having an upper pallete expansion done on Tues Jan 29th@7:00am. After looking through this website I figured it would be good to share my experience with everyone in the hopes that maybe when I am all done it well help someone else going through the same thing. This is the most nerve racking thing I have ever done. The funny part is that I don't even need the surgery, I am choosing to have it done. I have never been quit satisfied with my smile or my teeth for that matter, I have had braces before when I was 12. The braces were taken off too soon, or rather I can't remember why they were removed so early on. Point of the matter is my upper Jaw bone grew in very narrow causing an almost caving in structure to my upper teeth. After alot of consideration I felt it was time to go for an orthodontic consultation. I was very excited I figured it's now or never. I am going to be turning 30 this summer I figured it won't be so bad I will get ceramic braces and in two years it will all be over NOT! The orthodontist said that the only way I could even get braces was to have the surgery for upper pallet expansion done. I was devasted. So after much consideration again and after having the consultation from the surgeon I figured hey what do I really have to lose. So Tuesday Jan 29th it is I have already stocked up on liquid food and got all my prescriptions. I know I will be very swollen for a while. The stories that I have read here have helped me ask the surgeon questions that I would of never normally asked, so I thank you all for that. If anyone has any advice for me please feel free to let me know I am soo scared I have never ever had any type of surgery done before. Oh another little thing I forgot to mention they are taking out all four of my wisdom teeth during surgery Oh I can imagine the discomfort. I will keep you all posted with the outcome or rather how I am feeling after the surgery. This Sat I get my pallet put in so I will probably be writing back about that before the surgery.
Thanks so much
Nayila

[science teacher]

I know everyone is different, but I'll tell you it's not that big. I had surgery on a Wednesday, went back to work on Monday full time teaching and was chewing food a week after surgery.

Make sure you ice about 24/7 for the first 3 to 4 days. It helps with both pain and swelling.

After 3 weeks my OS told me to use heat 3 times aday and take advil around the clock to finish getting rid of the swelling. It took about 3 days.

Kim

[Brandyleigh35]

Yep, I'm with Kim. I took three weeks off (combined it with spring break) but I could've gone back to work after a week with no problem. You will be fine,and honestly I ate soft crock pot chicken the night of my surgery. Didn't have to do a lot of liquids, just soft foods. Chewing just felt a bit weird but was not painful.

You will be fine, and trust me it will all be worth it in the long run. Feel free to check out my blog if you haven' t already. I had SARPE, followed by braces, then Upper, lower, and genio about 8 months ago. I'm thrilled with my results, and I blogged the whole journey from beginning til now. For SARPE info start in March 2006.

Good luck!

Brandy

[badbite]

Hello, I had SARPE on Jan 11, 2008. I am very happy with the results so far. You'll be glad you did it. My ortho told me the same thing (no sugery -no braces) and I was scared too, but this board has helped me out so much. I encourage you to read the SARPE thread on this board. It is full of information.

[NAJ78]

Thanks, for all the great support I really appreciate it and you have all helped me. They inserted the pallete this past Saturday. I was thinking wow not so painful until he turned it twice and I felt like my eyeballs were in the back of my brain.LOL After an hour I was ok but I felt awkward talking and felt a little depressed because I enjoy eating so much and had to throw away half of my the stuff in my refrigerator. I attempted to eat Baked Ziti yesturday, that went well except it took me an hour to eat it and the cheese kept getting stuck in my pallete. Surgery is tomorrow and yes I am scared. I am trying to keep a postive outlook. There is nothing I want more than to have a gorgeous mouth. I have spent my whole life with people telling me what a great smile I have but they have never said anything about my teeth(probably not wanting to offend me). So next time I write will be after the surgery wish me luck and thanks again for all the support.
God Bless
Nayila

[PastorHeather]

Hey there - I am new to the group. I am getting prepped for upper and lower braces and the palatial expander. My surgery is scheduled for mid february and I am quite nervous. I had a gum graft in preparation of moving my teeth a few weeks ago and it took at least a week to recover. I am afraid of how long the recovery may be and of how brusied and swollen I may get. Plus I am afraid of the expander. Will it hurt? Can I eat? Right now I have upper and lower spacers in and they are driving me crazy. Anyway, I am happy to have found the site. This treatment is highly recommended for my bad bite but each day I feel like bagging the whole thing. Too expensive, too much pain.

[crazybeautiful]

Sorry it's a bit late, but good luck NAJ78!

PastorHeather- the spacers are the worst part, trust me! I think most people would agree.
The expander won't hurt, but it will feel odd to your mouth to have this big bulk of a thing in there. Eating will be annoying the first few days until you get used to it, but you can eat (so long a it's not toffee ). When I first got mine in I got home and tried to eat a sandwich but felt I couldn't physically chew it- of course I could, but you need to get used to it, that's all. As for food getting stuck, persevere and you'll soon find a way to unclog it.

Try interdental brushes to poke things out if a lot gets stuck, swill with water, tilt your head back and the clog will dislodge and slide down to the back of your mouth (gross, but necessary )

As for the bruising and swelling- I had minimal bruising and maximum swelling, whereas the likes of Brandy had the opposite I believe, so it relly just depends. But it goes- and this is really the only downer, as I was never in any great pain at all. Once you've gotten used to the expander and turning of the expander, it's a doddle (though I still can't wait to have the expander removed, it doesn't irritate me as it did when I wasn't used to it being in my mouth.)

Remember any discomfort or pain is temporary- a healthy, functioning bite (and a gorgeous smile) are not. It's well worth it!

[PastorHeather]

Crazy beautiful - Thanks so much for the info. Nothing is scarier than the unknown. My ortho is telling me I will need the expander for at least 6 months. Does that seem like a super long time? I guess I will find out more when I get the dang thing on . . . which is valentines day!

[sauerkraut]

Hope it all went well, NAJ78 !

Crazybeautiful's absolutely right, the expander isn't the most fun thing to have in your mouth but you really do get used to it. I've even started using mine as an extra biting edge when my teeth are a bit tender. I could even imagine I might miss it when it's gone !

PastorHeather, 6 months sounds about right to me. My ortho started off saying at least 3 to 4 months, an estimate which has been extended on every subsequent visit!! My surgery was at the end of September and I don't look like being rid of the RPE any time soon.

Along with badbite I would recommend the SARPE surgery thread. Stacks of information and experiences on there!!

[badbite]

My ortho told me at least 3 months after the surgery. I am planning on 6 so I don't get disappointed. The surgery is not painful, but it does make your face feal really tight and uncomfortable. I felt fine after about 3-4 days.

[NAJ78]

Hello everyone I am back on my feet it has been 6 days since my surgery. I expected the worse which I guess was good because it wasn't as bad as I thought. The swelling was only bad for two days after surgery. For the most part I just had some discomfort and my nose only bled for the first day and only when I leaned forward or tried to bend down. Try to sit upward on a slant while recovering to avoid the nosebleeds and good pillows work. I was cranky and miserable but not really in pain. I only took the Percaset for 2 days and only about 4 pills all together. Word to the Wise they will make you constipated a feeling you will not enjoy so I just took 3 Motrin every 6 hours and that did the trick I was never ever in pain anyway just discomfort and cranky.

For PastorHeather the question on the pallete. I was lucky to have mine placed 2 days before my surgery. I figured I did not want to be uncomfortable weeks before my surgery which worked out great. When they put it in I was like great this ain't so bad, until he turned it twice and I felt like my eyeballs were in the back of my head. That was the extent of the pain from the expander and the discomfort or little pain only lasted about 20 minutes. Again you will probably feel miserable and want to throw out everything in your refrigerator(Thats what I did). Make sure to fill your fridge with yummy soft food. Applesauce, Jello, Ice cream, Pudding, smoothies. It will make you feel better when you open up the fridge and know you have options. Just one thing to stay away from with the pallete is anything gooey or cheesy like anything with mozzarella cheese it can get a little messy. I bought those tooth picks/floss they kinda looks a tooth pick with a handle those work great for taking out sticky stuff and also you want to stock up on wax so the sides of your mouth don't hurt from the expander.

After the surgery you also want to make sure you have lots of the same soft food. I had Farina(Cream of Wheat) for breakfast, they sell instant flavor ones which are great and easy to make, so you do have options on the third day I was able to eat eggs.

Today I went to the Ortho and I turned the pallete for the first time. I was soo scared it was going to hurt like the first time especially since I still have stitches that haven't dissolved yet. To my surprise no pain at first just some minor discomfort and also a little bit of feeling like my brain is swelling.LOL Take 2 motrins before or after you are going to turn your expander. After only a few hours I have already seen a Gap (YUCK) in my two front teeth(Dam this thing works fast) but I will be having the expander in for about 4-6 months.

So soo far so good I really just can't wait to at least just get the expander out of my mouth. The part with the braces I can handle no problem. I guess no pain no gain. Thanks again for everyone's kind gestures and support.

For anyone having the surgery, it is important to have a good support system. My family and friends have been awesome. If anything you get lots of treats and presents from everyone.LOL. My mom was great. She was at my side through the whole ordeal,breakfast, lunch and dinner was brought to my bed every day after surgery I was lucky. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. We are all in this together.

[phil]

NAJ78,

Glad you made it through your SARPE surgery just fine.

The feelings you have when you expand are completely normal. I always said that every time I expanded, it felt like someone was trying to rip my nose out from behind! I developed a technique--like you, I took motrin beforehand (about half an hour to let it kick in), and then immediately after turning I would put moist heat on my face for about 20 minutes. That worked pretty well.

I never did have a turn without discomfort to some extent, but it was temporary. When the orthodontist said I was done at 24 turns (like they predicted), I told him that if I could turn a cartwheel, I would! It ends up that they actually OVERcorrected me, anticipating some relapse (which never happened--go figure!). But, they can compensate for the little bit of extra wideness with the orthodontics.

Hang in there!

[NAJ78]

Phil,
Thanks for the tip, half the time I don't think I am turning the dam expander correctly. The ugly gap is forming and I hate looking at myself in the mirror. My social life is pretty much at a holt until this thing is out of my mouth, which probably won't be until July. I am dreaming of a rack of ribs from Houstons Restaurant when this expander comes out.

Thanks for the support.
Naj

[crazybeautiful]

You know, after always covering my mouth to smile/laugh, after the SARME and with an obvious gap, I think I smiled more sans hand! I just felt like finally, I'm on my way to a nicer smile (better bite, better function..straight teeth ) and this gap is making the difference so I'm going to show it off (really detest my mouth. And whatever people say, this will make a difference to my self-esteem and I'm just so happy to have it all done. Seriously, when my underbite is gone, and I'm laid in the hospital bed looking like crap, I'll probably end up smiling like an idiot all day- if that is possible with all the swelling ).

If people look at it or ask, just tell them why you have a gap- it's more to be pleased about than worried about- and people probably don't even take much notice anyway. As for dining out- just get something managable.

How's your relationship with the expander? I got so annoyed with it, but now it doesn't bother me half as much.


Sorry for all the happy-happy nonsense- but seriously, when I smile I look 1) ugly, 2) annoyed, so I'll be so glad to smile and actually look happy

[NAJ78]

CRAZYBEAUTIFUL

Your posts were one of the first ones I read before my surgery that really helped me through this ordeal. Although I don't have an underbite, just a narrow upper jaw its all the same in the scheme of things. Same pain,, same ugly feeling. I am finding that people stare for a second and just keep on going. I feel comfortable smiling around friends and family because I know they won't judge me. But your advise is definitly great.

As for the expander, I hate it and I want it out of my mouth ASAP. Everytime I go home on the train I ponder, why the hell did I do this I was beautiful before why do I need more. I guess society played a little bit of a role which sucks. I will hope in the end (2Yrs) that I will have no regret. For right now everyday I live with regret and I am somewhat miserable, but I am trying to not let that show. I am normally a positive person full of cheer. I think God is testing my will here.

I am sure you are counting the days until yours is out which will be sooner than mine. Keep me updated and thanks again for the support.