SARPE Surgery

[fajitaman51]

Luey, thanks a lot, that helped a little. So far im adjusting to the elevated sleeping and the liquid diet. (Ensure is a godsend, im so lazy and wouldnt survive without it). Whats this i keep hearing about a second surgery for post SARPE/Expander Removal patients? sounds scary.

[crazybeautiful]

Just to say again (lol, I'm annoying myself, even! )- I don't think SARPE requires a liqud diet at all. I can't believe I'm the only person on here who didn't have unbearable pain so much so that chewing is too painful...

I'm not saying go eat some toffee, but can you really not eat things? I'm just concerned- we should save the liquid diet for when we really need it; surgery 2, for a lot of us.

[fajitaman51]

Well, im not sure if its the pain killer wearing off since last night or if i was clenching while i was sleeping, but i woke up this morning feeling like id been punched directly in the face. That being said, i don't wanna risk increasing my pain level by diverting from the prescribed diet, like someone else said, im sure its different for everyone. Did anyone else experience back of throat/nasal irritation after the surgery? Because i have to say, its making eating/drinking a LOT more annoying than it should be.

[sauerkraut]

fajitaman I think a clogged up nose and sore throat are quite common after SARPE. Is that what you mean by "irritation"? I was prescribed a nose spray to help clear my nose (but I think it has to be used sparingly) and I found ice cream very helpful for a sore throat!

Unless you've been instructed otherwise, I think you should be progressing from ice packs to warm compresses by now. And sleeping upright helps keep swelling down as well as making it easier to breathe.

As for food, have you seen the sticky with recipe ideas? It's very helpful. The easiest thing to do if you have a blender is simply take your portion of a normal meal and put it through the blender with a bit of extra liquid if necessary. Looks disgusting but tastes OK. You might well be able to manage soft chew stuff by now. I started off with scrambled eggs, if I remember rightly, and when I had a craving for cheese on toast I dug out my old cheese pie recipe (which is in the sticky). Or you could try something like mashed potatoes with cheese grated in...

Don't worry about the talk about other operations. They don't necessarily have anything to do with SARPE: it's just that lots of us have got other things that need sorting out as well. Like in my case my lower jaw needs moving forward.

Incidentally, although my expander needed cutting, it didn't take a second operation to remove it. They just used some normal dental tool in the dentist's chair to cut through the molar bands because they were too firmly stuck to be yanked off my teeth . What they normally do when the time comes is just loosen up the glue and pull!

[badbite]

I never felt any pain from SARPE (I had other teeth issues though). I do remember, trying to chew mashed potatoes and my mouth so so EXTREMELY stiff that it was very difficult. I never stopped on solids dispite the difficulty. I did lose weight.

[fajitaman51]

sauerkraut,
thanks a lot!
Im running low on ice cream, and i think ill make my dad go out and get some, rather than venture out into the world with my squirrel face. I guess im just overreacting to the numbness, because im worried about what people will say when school starts next week. I REALLY want the swelling to go down, but, by the looks of it, ill still look crazy swollen by school. Maybe they'll let me wear a bandana? haha. But as for the food, i tried blending mashed potatoes, some chicken, and some chicken broth, with some chipotle pepper sauce for flavor. It was good, but i think the spices didnt really help with the state of my mouth, so i think ill avoid spicy food for awhile. But i had NO idea i was supposed to be doing warm compresses...i should probably start that, haha. But as for the reason im wary of the second surgery is because ive heard the word 'genioplasty" thrown around in talks between my surgeon and my dad. What is that and what should i anticipate, should i need to get it?

[lueyfufu]

I'm starting to get some feeling back in my furthest-back left molar. It feels all weird and loose. I'm still hesitant to chew on that side for some reason, even though I'm chewing fine on the right side. Hopefully that won't affect the bone expansion or healing with the uneven pressure of only biting on one side.

Over the past couple weeks, the furthest-back top left molar has started to hurt like crazy whenever I bite down with it or accidentally bump it with the back of my toothbrush when I'm brushing my lowers. Did any of you experience something like this while you were healing from SARPE? Is the pain just part of the healing process as the bones heal and the nerves regenerate?

[kimblebee]

Hi folks!

Long time no post! I had my SARPE LeFort surgery back on June 4th and am doing quite well! My expansion was done slowly so my appliance was only cemented to heal about 5 weeks ago. I'm anxiously awaiting the green light to start chewing and lifting weights at my gym again. My oral surgeon told me it will take 12 weeks from cementing the appliance closed. That seems awfully long? I have read others say 6 weeks and even my orthodontist thought that was long. Anyone else have an opinion? I'm of course going to follow the oral surgeon's instructions but I'm a little surprised. I'm so bored of mushed and liquid food lol.

I had my upper braces put in last week as well and a smaller appliance put in. I'm so happy! I will post my pictures later.

Hope everyone is doing well. Best of luck to anyone with an upcoming surgery - the results are well worth it!

[fajitaman51]

Hello everyone!

I am 2 weeks post sarpe now, and i have to say things are going much better than expected. I have started chewing a little by little each day, and have now graduated to really tender meat without much pain or discomfort, although there is a constant clicking in my upper jaw, probably due to the fact that bones are still moving around up there. I've been turning for about a week and some days, and the gap in my teeth now is about 6.5 mm, and there was already 1.5 mm of space between them to start off with. I hope to stop turning and start healing this Friday, the gap's making me look like a knock out victim and school starts tomorrow! BUt yeah, I'm finally off the meds, and save for some stinging/soreness in the incisions and my jaw, my life is slowly returning to normal. hopefully soon i'll be able to eat some crispy chicken!

And as for kimblebee, it really is different for everyone pertaining to recovery, but you should try a fork smash diet now, if you haven't already, not trying to sound like an OS, but i'm just going by my experience. Moving your jaw around more and trying to increase your range of motion is good too. As for working out, i've been told by my OS not to lift until he says so, but i've been lifting anyway, trying to gain some of my lost weight back. And my incisions haven't ruptured. As long as you know your limits, and that it's at your own risk and that you should take it slow, you should be fine.

[Esoteric]

Whelp, I go in for mine tomorrow (crosses fingers). I really hope that I heal fast because I'm taking a trip 9 days after my surgery. My OS said that I should be fine to go and he didn't see any problem with it. I hope he's right though.

[badbite]

quote]

Over the past couple weeks, the furthest-back top left molar has started to hurt like crazy whenever I bite down with it or accidentally bump it with the back of my toothbrush when I'm brushing my lowers.

This does not sound normal. I think you should call your dentist. I had pain and ended up with an abcesses tooth (unrelated to the SARPE). It was in my lower left back molar. Eveyone kept telling me it was "reffered pain." I waited until I could not take anymore before going to the dentist, and almost lost the tooth because of it.

[badbite]

Hi folks!

. I'm anxiously awaiting the green light to start chewing and lifting weights at my gym again. My oral surgeon told me it will take 12 weeks from cementing the appliance closed. That seems awfully long? I have read others say 6 weeks and even my orthodontist thought that was long.

WOW! I was told to chew whenever I was able. I ate mashed patoes as my first meal-but that ws very hard. I was chewing within a week. I went back to the gym after five days after the surgery. I didn't even take off work (I had a lonf weekend of three days). And I have a very physically demanding job. I can't imagine 12 weeks after cementing. That would be like taking 6 months. I was/am told the surgery is no wose than getting out your wisdom teeth. Can you imagine the surgeon telling you to not chew or workout for 6 mounths after that. I did restrain from Volleyball though. Didn't want a chance of getting hit in the face.

It does seem excessive to me. Maybe you misunderstood him.

[kimblebee]

Trust me I was totally hoping I misunderstood him LOL. I asked a few times and he told me due to the nature of my LeForte and SARPE that I need to give my bones time to heal and that it's going to be slow. He said if I chew too soon or workout I could end up breaking whatever new bone has started to form and all the hard work will be down the drain.

I do feel slight pressure when I bend over and have attempted a light chew which felt VERY weird. I didn't want to risk anything so I backed off. I'm going to give it until mid October like the doctor said and see what happens.

I AM back at the gym though and working out. Taking it light. I know my limits there so I'm confident that is fine.

Getting really bored of the soft food diet though.

[Danna27]

Good Evening everyone,
Im new here and although ive been researching about SARPE for the last month or so i think im getting worried about the whole thing since today i got my actual surgery date...
So far, i only have one question and its been bothering me all day since my appt. with the oral surgeon. He told me that instead of using a regular palatal expander (banded/or bonded), that he would use a different kind and silly me... I didnt write it down before i left his office so i forgot the name of it by the time i got home.
Heres what i dont understand. He said that the expander he's going to use is a lot different and its a lot quicker (i guess). He said that it has 'Spikes' and will be inserted into bone on the palate and there wont be any bands/bonding/or cement to the teeth. When i search the web for Palatal Expanders though, all i find are these kinds with bands/bonding... Has anyone ever heard of an expander thats inserted directly into the palate? Im starting to wonder what im getting myself into.

I will have my History/Physical Appt on 7 OCT 2008
He said that im getting my SARPE on 22 OCT 2008

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

~Danna

[Danna27]

Meryaten, thanks so much for your reply. I google-ed a lot tonight and i think i finally found something called Palatal Distraction Osteogenesis. There were a couple of websites, but not too many pics of the actual appliance. Also, it seems that not too many OS choose to use that type of expander and instead the market is more for the bands/bonding expanders, especially when having SARPE done. The only benefit i saw for it was that it didnt put stress on the teeth as there is with the palatal expanders. Then that also brought my next question. Maybe was it bcuz the military is doing it the cheap way and that was the easiest for them... I guess i was wrong though...
At least you helped and explained it to me. Also when i went for my appt earlier today, the doc didnt mention anything about putting the palatal distraction appliance/ or positioning braces for before the SARPE (a lot of the posts on here for SARPE say they had those put on a while before surgery). The orthodontist was there also and he said the next time he would see me would be after the surgery.

HAS ANYONE HERE EVER HAD TO HAVE THE "BONE-ANCHORED PALATAL DISTRACTION APPLIANCE" INSTEAD OF THE "BANDS/ BONDED EXPANDERS" IN CONJUNCTION WITH SARPE?
- If so, what has your experience been with that specific appliance following surgery?

Thanks again

~Danna