SARPE Surgery

[john123]

So I got my bonded RPE off 5 months after surgery and it has fixed my small underbite. I was wondering though, is there a chance of relapse? Or is that just with non-surgical expansion cases?

[redwine]

In my case, they expected a small relapse and overcorrected with that in mind. After the RPE was removed and before upper braces were installed, I noticed a definite difference - the upper jaw was shrinking! After several months in braces, it seems to have gotten wider again. I noticed a difference in the width of my nose and in my breathing - worse shortly after the RPE was removed. Now it is back to my (new) normal. Fingers crossed - I find out tomorrow about lower jaw surgery!

[Pavlidja]

Hi all,

First off a big thanks to all who have contributed to this thread as it made my SARPE journey a lot easier & manageable.

I had the surgery completed on the 24th March & also had all 4 wisdoms taken out at the same time. I wasn't in too much pain and I only had minimal swelling compared to some of the pictures I saw of people who had SARPE. I was numb around the left side of my cheek near my nose & lip but this went away in 2 days.

So far it has gone well & i began to expand 2 days after the surgery & stopped yesterday (7th April) so 13 days total.

My gap is 8mm and i look like a hillbilly. I'm still completely numb on my upper teeth and gums but this is probably a good thing while the expansion was taking place.


I have been told I can now get braces which was happening in May but due to a cancellation I'm getting them on tomorrow

I thought I had to wait until the bone healed but according to my ortho he said there are no problems with them going in while the expander is in place but this just means more steel in my mouth. I'm ready and cant wait for this gap to close.

Also my face didnt really change at all with the expansion. I think my cheek boned came out a bit but i did loose 3kg so it could be that oh I can breath soo much better through my nose.

All in all it wasn't bad. I don't like the gap and the not being able to eat the foods i want but that is also improving on a daily basis.

[Funkyteeth]

Hi everyone-
I've been reading this thread for the last several days, although admit I'm only about halfway through all of the posts. I'm scheduled to get my RPE put in on Thursday and SARPE is scheduled for a week later- July 10. I've been watching some videos of people with RPE's and in at least one the woman kept "sucking back spit" every few minutes. It seemed like she had had the RPE on for a while, is the excess spit thing something that lasts for a few days or is it the whole time you're wearing the RPE? I'll admit this is really nerve-wracking for me, as I'm interviewing for jobs and there's no way someone's going to hire me if I have to suck up my spit every 30 seconds...yikes! Would love any feedback!

A little history on me. I had braces (top and bottom) for six years as a teenager. The OD also extracted 4 impacted teeth because my mouth "was too small." Now I can see that he probably should have used an expander, maybe that just wasn't done in the 80s, who knows. I have a crossbite/underbite and dentists and due to teeth grinding I've lost a LOT of length in my teeth, so they're short and stumpy). Dentist says if I do nothing I'll have no teeth in 20 years. Was supposed to have jaw breaking surgery first, but OD decided there wasn't enough clearance in my mouth, so he's added SARPE first. I have lower braces on now, had uppers for a month, but he took them off a couple of weeks ago after adding SARPE. A second surgery will follow, but probably next year. Then I'll do veneers because even when my bite is fixed, my teeth will still look funky. Anyway, I've always been pretty self-conscious about my teeth, but I think this is the right path. Thanks for having this forum, I've found it very comforting.

-Greta

[Pavlidja]

Hi,

When I had mine put in swallowing anything was hard and so was eating. liquid in the mouth is difficult because the tongue will no longer be able cover the roof of your mouth and makes swallowing awkward at first.
At first being able to swallow and eat is hard. Food will stay on top of the expander, liquid stays in your mouth when you try to swallow and you need to put your tongue behind the expander to do this.

Good news is you will get used to it (not that you have a choice) in a week or so you wont notice it as much and have your eating and drinking techniques mastered.

As far as job interviews I would wait at least 2 days until you have had time to adjust to it. Follow the advise in other posts and do things like reading out aloud and practice what words you cant say. You will find ways to talk as you did before.

When I got mine put in I went straight back to work, mind you my job at the time required a lot of time on the phone with customers. It was pretty bad. Also for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to eat noodles for my first meal. This was terrifying and I don't recommend eating that for a first meal.

As said you will get used to it and be able to eat almost everything and talk again. The only time I did the sucking thing was when no one was around or I would do it on the sly when I took a deep breath. I stopped doing it after a week or so.


Also I got mine out yesterday Its worth it and you will soon see the benefits. Good luck on your orthodontic journey.

[jaime]

I'm always surprised to see people say it only took about a week to get used to the expander. For me, it was well over a month before I stopped paying attention to it when I was eating. After that, I would completely forget I had it in while I was eating.

[Claireliz100]

Hi all,

I'm due to have SARPE in October. Like you Pavlidja they are going to put the braces on 3 weeks post surgery. Does anyone know if they will actually start closing the gap then or will the braces just be on doing nothing until the bone is healed? I should have asked my ortho however mind just goes blank at appointments.

Thanks

Claire

[jaime]

Claireliz100, if your ortho is putting on braces after surgery, I imagine they will put the archwire in as well. Some people get the brackets with no archwire prior to surgery, but I've never heard of that post-surgery.

[Claireliz100]

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for your reply, I'm hoping they do start closing the gap 3 weeks post. I've just been reading your blog.... The effort uve gone to is great to inform people about SARPE. Thank you. Really enjoyed reading your posts and watching your journey. Be good to see some pics of you since may, hope your happy with your progression it certainly seems like a horrific journey!

Thanks for sharing

Claire

[jaime]

Thanks, Claireliz, that's very flattering! I will definitely be posting some photos of my teeth soon, I keep procrastinating. After 6 weeks in braces, my teeth already look so much better than I ever thought they could.

Good luck with your surgery, I look forward to hearing about your journey as well.

[Pavlidja]

My experience with the gap is as follows:

Cranked twice a day I think a few days after surgery for around 12 days in total.
The gap grew to 8mm in total & i looked like a hillbilly. This was the worst part of it for me but I just rocked it and didn't get too many looks.

As far as closing it, I did not see any movement for at least a month after they put on braces. Then it closed about 4mm in 10 days. On my next appointment my ortho put on a power chain across the front teeth witch fully closed the gap in about 6 weeks.

My teeth are back together and it took the whole three months for this to happen. I wish it didn't take as long but worse things have happened.

[jaime]

Wow Pavlidja, that's a long time to wait for the gap to close! You must have been happy the day you saw it was finally closed.

Did you have braces on while you were turning the key? I didn't get braces until 5 months after surgery. I was shocked at how quickly the gap closed on its own. It took 8 weeks, although my teeth tipped in slightly sideways to close the gap which is only slowly being corrected by the braces.

[Pavlidja]

Yeah I thought they would close a LOT quicker then they did but my ortho wanted the teeth to settle as much as possible.

I did not have the braces on while I was turning the expander. Actually I was originally told I would have braces put on 2 months after I finished expanding but was lucky that someone cancelled an appointment so I had them put on the week after.

The ortho advised me that the gap closes at different speeds for everyone. He also wanted the braces in while the expander was in to hold the expansion but also straighten the teeth while bone is still soft.

Now i still have the power chain on and I'm worried the teeth will cross over. I will give them a call if this starts to happen tho.

[Funkyteeth]

Had SARPE procedure under general anesthesia a week ago. First three days post op were painful but manageable. Was almost off painkillers. Started turning RPE on Tuesday (2 turns/day) and as of this afternoon, my upper gums are literally ON FIRE. Someone please tell me this is normal? I expected the sinus, nose and eye pressure with the expansion (and I've had it), but my gums feel like they're burning right now. Stitches look fine, doesn't look infected. Back on the pain killers and not a happy camper...

-Greta

[jaime]

Hmmm, it probably is but it may be worth a call to your dental surgeon just to make sure. About 2 weeks after surgery, my incision would sting all the time. Is it your gums or the incision line specifically? I know it is hard on the incision because it's try to heal and keeps getting stretched, I'm sure it causes lots of different nerve-related problems.