SARPE Surgery

[Boriqua_306]

I had my SARPE procedure done on June 29, and I looked like a chipmunk for about five days.

today marks the ninth day, and I still have alot of numbness in my lip and nose. It is very annoying.

I went to visit the oral surgeon on Thursday and he showed me how to use my Hyrax key and I have to start turning it twice daily.

He turned it about three times and it is an eerie feeling.

I turned it for the first time today and

my face feels out of place and feels really tight...

Anyone have this surgery done and can tell me about their ordeal???

What did you do to deal with this funny feeling in your face and around your nose??

One last questions, what did you do about the tingling in your face? I guess coming from the numbness??

Any info would truly help...

Thanks...

[decisionmade]

Hi Boriqua_306

I was so glad to read your post for I am having the same surgery this thursday the 14th and I have been ok with it til now.. but am now having lots of anxiety and have been really emotional..I'm excited to get the whole process underway but am also just plain scared.I'm interested in hearing how the actual surgery went for you and how much pain and discomfort you have been in since. I've never had any kind of surgery before or any extractions..just wondering what to expect.

Thanks for any info you can share with me.
-D.M

[Sirgey]

Hello,
I had this surgery on June 3rd, I turned for 17 days and ended up with about an 11mm space between my front teeth. After the initial discomfort right after the surgery I thought that the surgery was much easier than I could have ever expected from hearing about it before hand. I think the most difficult thing about the surgery for me, is dealing with this huge gap between my front teeth, and the difference in my facial features after the stretching was completed.

As for you questions about tingling and such, mine mostly went away within the first week, amazingly I hardly swelled or bruised at all so that may have helped. I hope you both are doing well, and will be glad to share with you anything you may question.

[decisionmade]

Hi and thanks for the reply sirgey:) Well I had it on thursday A.M and it is now Saturday afternoon..I look like a chipmunk with the swelling but no tingling and I don't know about numbness yet... and little bruising has developed.. so for that I am glad..although the experience was indeed scary..I have had less physical pain than i expected and have no regrets although I am sure I will have some hard days during recovery and as the space develops...it is quite a weight loss plan..and am learning what I am able to eat and what i'm not...I've been very sleepy probably also a side affect of pain killers...This will be quite an adventure but I am so proud of myself for taking on this challenge..I admire any adult for taking this on...So nice tohear about others going through the process..best wishes to us all! -D.M

[Boriqua_306]

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. I have been very busy.

So far it is going on about a month. I discontinued the oxycodone around the second week.

I looked like a chipmunk for about two weeks and then my lip area was the last to go down.

I have been taking Ibuprofen 800s. I am still a little numb around my lip and my nose, and still having pain underneath my lip from brackets and from expanding.

I went to the Dr. yesterday concerned because I still have numbness and tightness and also tingling/pain around the incision area.

He told me that it was normal and pain is expected. The reason for the pain is because the incision area is trying to heal, but at the same time the bones are moving and this makes the area harder to heal, so there will be pain.

He started me on Ultram (painkiller) so I can deal with the pain.

I have expanded to 8 mm and I believe by next week I should be at 12 mm. He says this should be the last week that I expand. I am also a little anxious to get this BIG gap closed! (smile)

So far, I am doing well and he is very happy with my progress.

My kids and my husband are amazed at how big the gap has gotten, but I know the end result will be worth it...

Hope this helps!

[decisionmade]

Sorry to hear you are in so much pain boriqua:( I've been turning the key twice a day for week and don't have space yet since my two front teeth were overlapped somewhat..But now they are sitting side by side which is amazing! I hope this means I won't need as much of a gap as most people before stoppng the expansion but that is probably just wishfull thinking...I saw the surgeon yesterday and told him my gums are numb .(Which i only realized a couple days ago as the discomfort of the incisions declined).He said it takes a long time to get the feeling back since nerves are severed in the surgery..so it feels weird when I brush..My only other complaint is all these strings in my mouth as the stiches dissolve..pretty gross..sounds like i have had an easy time of it compared to you ..each case can be so different..but just like you said this so WORTH IT!..the drs also keep asking if i've heard the big pop or snap yet..yikes! thats creepy..Keep up the good work! love to hear about other peoples expereinces and would be interested in how things go for you!..Hang in there!

[Boriqua_306]

decisionmade:

It's funny that you mentioned that the drs asked you if you've heard the big pop yet. I already have, but my dr never asked. I thought I was doing something wrong...

Most of my stitches are gone, and I am healing well.

Still not able to chew to good, but I try to chew softly...

I will keep posting to let you know about my progress, glad to hear from you and let me know about your progress...

see ya...

[decisionmade]

Hi B, well I awoke at 2 AM with my teeth throbbing and tingly to find a space is between my two front teeth...At last..a good sign but more painful than i realized it would be so before this morning's turn i took 800 mg IBU. and am hoping i feel better...Sounds like you may have experienced this pain as well?..intense sensativity of two teeth and a stinging between them...Have you stopped turning and is the space filling in yet?..I think this may be my last week of turning but I'll find out Friday..Back to just liquids today...I never did hear the snap/pop but I don't have pressure and since things are moving I guess the surgery took care of the separation thoroughly...Have a good week:)

[Boriqua_306]

Actually, yes I do have pain in between the gap. It does sting and feel a little funny. I guess that is from the stretching. I am currently at about 8 mm wide. More than a space for a missing tooth.

I am kind of embarrassed about it, but I know that in a couple weeks they will start closing it up.

I have also experienced alot of pressure around my cheeks and top lip.

So, I usually wait until I turn the appliance to take the medicine and it will kick in. Or I use ice to ease the pain.

I was also taking IBU 800 and it did nothing for me.

I take aleve now and that helps. The doctor also prescribed ultram, which I have not tried yet.

I have my braces on and the rubbing against my cheeks and lips really hurt! I use tons and tons of wax...

This is my last week turning, and by the end of the week I may be at 12 mm wide. (really wide space)

Other than that, keep me posted...

Have a good day!

[decisionmade]

Hi ! Well it has been 2 weeks and 4 days since surgery and on thursday (2 weeks) I was told I could stop turning so i am thrilled about that...After 27 turns of the expander...Now like you, I can't wait for the space to fill in between my two front teeth...Thanks for the tip on using alleve I also find it works well and better than ibuprofen...Also ice helped tremendously when the 2 teeth split apart..i hadn't thought of that Are your front teeth moving into the space yet? I''m jealous that you have already been braced..i have to wait 6 weeks and in the meantime have to have one molar extracted on the bottom...just so anxious to get things really going...Eating is much better now that i've healed fromthe surgery although I am still careful and sometimes just knowing I'll have to go brush my teeth after I eat something keeps me from eating anything to begin with...lazy I guess:)...Love to hear how you are doing this week....thanks for all the tips and insight!

[Boriqua_306]

Hi Decisionmade,

I am glad to hear that you are also doing well.

I visited the surgeon last Friday, and he told me that my teeth have spread about 9 mm, but the back has not expanded far enough. Now we are going into week three and he wants me now to crank the Hyrax only once a day to try and get the back teeth opened a little more.

I was hoping that the ortho would be allowed to start moving and closing the gap, but he wants me to wait another month !

My gap is really large and very annoying at times. I try not to talk to much, but when I do people see it and want to know what happened. Then I have to go into this drawn out story, which is embarassing at this point.

I am living with it. I still take Aleve and switch off to Advil because Aleve messes with my stomach sometimes.

I still have numbness around my nose and upper lip, but it is slowly going away. Others still see swelling around my nose, but it is very minimal.

I still feel a little pain when I eat, so I still kind of stick to the soft stuff.

I have had my braces on now for 5 months and the Hyrax on for 3 months.
With having the braces on and having the surgery, the brackets are now up against my lip and my lip has been very sore underneath. Sometimes not allowing me to talk, so be happy that you don't have your braces yet.

I used tons of wax on the brackets to alleviate the canker sores in my mouth.

Well, this is my update until next time...

Have a great week!

[PaperFlowers]

Hello everyone. I had this surgery about 5 months ago, and let's just say it did NOT go very well for me. I don't remember having much pain, but I had a lot of swelling and bruising. I threw up a lot of blood, and had a non-stop nosebleed for about one and a half days. I also lost about 5 pounds, which was not a good thing for me because I only weighed about 108 to begin with and am 5'6. So I was very weak, tired, miserable, and swollen. It took about 1-2 weeks for the swelling to start to go down, and it wasn't completely gone for over a month. THEN, just when I was starting to get better, I got an infection. So I became weak, tired, miserable, and swollen all over again! The reason I got the infection was because I wasn't given enough antibiotics. This was very discouraging for me, but I eventually got better and have been fine ever since. The only thing that still bothers me is the fact that there is still numbness in my gums... I really hope it's not permanent. As for the whole gap thing, it was there for about one month (max 6mm for me) and was completely closed two weeks after I stopped expanding. Good luck to everyone who had to go through with this! Recovery differs for everyone, and I was just one of the unlucky few who has complications.

[Boriqua_306]

PaperFlowers:

I am sorry to hear you had complications with your surgery. I am glad that you wrote about your story with your surgery.

Three weeks after my surgery, I was still having alot of pain and I thought that I had an infection also, but the doctor said that my incision was fine and the pain that I was having was normal.

He then gave another set of pain killers, which I don't take.

It is about a month later and my gums and area around my nose are still numb and I am also hoping that it returns. The Dr. did tells me it takes a long time before the feeling comes back because nerves were severed.

I still have pain and swelling in the area and still find it hard to chew, but I stick to the soft food and continue on. I have expanded to 9 mm, and he told me to keep on until the expander does not allow me to go anymore.
I had a very bad inbite and notice the difference now and I do like what I see, but I am also concerned with this BIG gap I have in front.

He does not want the ortho to move my teeth for another month...
I am also happy that it took you two weeks to get it closed, because I hope it takes me about that long...

Take care...

[decisionmade]

Boriqua and paper flowers..I'm so glad to hear your stories...and its awful that you pf have had such a miserable tim eof it...as for the gum numbness..i'm expecting that to last indefinately from what my surgeon told me..really only bothers me when I brush ..lol..which is at least 10 times a day so that is a drag

The surgeon put me on antibiotis right away to avoid sinus infections and he said to expect nosebleeds and to try not to blow my nose luckily for me the only bruising was under the front of my lip and the swelling was at its worst for the first week and completely gone after the second...oh and did i mention that i was allergic to the antibiotic and broke out in hives then the next day broke out in poison ivy from keeping mself busy with some hedge trimming! i was quite a sight but can laugh about that (a little) now

i hope my space fills in within 2 weeks like yours..Its been one week now since i stopped turning...luckily the space I have is only 1/2 a tooth with big but it stills makes me feel awkward and like you B, i am so tired of explaining my whole story when someone stares at my mouth!!!

My question for you PF is was there pain as the two front teeth came back together as there was for me when they separated? and where are you now in the process? braced? i am very lucky to dedicate mytime to this right now with time off from work and have no kids ..I can't imagine trying to balance all of that..Are you both working while going through this?

From hearing your story B, i thin i am happy not to be braced yet..one step at a time is working just fine for me..but at the same time I just want to get those darn things on and see progress...Although i must say that my corrected crossbite is gone and thats pretty amazing...Love to keep up to date on both of your progress...We are amazing to be doing this..I'm very proud of us!
Dm

[Boriqua_306]

I truly feel for you having hives and poison ivy at the same time.

Yes I am working, and some of my co-workers know what I am going through and they try to reassure me that they can barely see it, but I know better.

Alot of my family members think I lost a tooth and that is where I have to tell my story over and over.

But I am taking it day by day until September comes along...

Have a great week!