SARPE Surgery

[Gkc08]

Getting so fed up with my surgeons office. I have to call multiple times just to get a simple question answered, and now they're making me come in for an appointment for a question I asked them a week ago. These secretaries were probably the most stressful part of this entire experience.

[Sadoozie]

Glad everyone is on the road to recovery. Am i the only one who hasn't been braced on my top jaw yet? This gap of mine is taking its pretty little time closing up and i dont think it will close much more until the braces come on.

[lalcharlie]

Hi Sadoozie, my top braces haven't been activated yet and they put a spring between the front two to stop them closing up. Due to the bone still forming in my palate. In 3 weeks I think the ortho will start to close the gap which is about 5 mm at top and 3 at bottom of front teeth. Strange they haven't just closed all by themselves! Not bothered having brace on early, it's given me a chance to toughen up a little - the wires - pain, worse than recovery from SARPE !! or maybe my memory has faded ...
Good to hear from you. I assume all is well?

[Gkc08]

I got my wire back on a month after my surgery. My ortho actually had me in braces for 2 months before the surgery (he "preps" the front two teeth for surgery and said in his experience it also hastens the gap closing time), and he simply took the wire off a day before surgery. I have to wait around 6 weeks until he actively starts closing the gap, but I expect it to close on it its own before then. I remember a week after my surgery, the gap the surgeon made was already closed, so hopefully that happens again.

[Sadoozie]

I'm good, just waiting for my next ortho appointment on the 30th to get a date for taking the RPE out and then getting top braces put in. My gap IS closing, right now its become too narrow to get my tongue through all the way.

Regarding the upper braces, the procedure here in Denmark is paid through our universal healthcare services but that means that braces come in one color - shiny Metal! When i ask the surgeons and my ortho, they see white ceramic brackets as being inferior to the metal ones and really discourage it, plus i'd have to pay for them out of pocket which costs like $1,500.

What do you guys have or have been told about the differences in ceramic vs. metal brackets?

[lalcharlie]

Here in the UK, exactly the same as you.
You only get a choice of coloured elastics!

[Psa]

My bottom braces are metal. I asked about the ceramic braces as well, but my ortho said that he would not recommend them at all. I am from Denmark as well and was told that when I get my top braces they'd be white on the front (4 teeth if I remember correctly). You could try asking your ortho about that. I'm getting my treatment at rigshospitalet, so they definitely have (partially) white braces.

[lalcharlie]

I'm 44, mother of 2 small children, wife to a messy forester, full time teacher of high school kids and right now I couldn't give a rat's arse what kind of braces they gave me as long as they do the job quickly.
Sorry about my foul language - a pupil in my class threw scissors at another kid today but apparently that's not a serious enough offence to have him removed by management! Disheartened by this pupil - centred attitude to education. Who cares about the staff

[Sadoozie]

Hi Psa, great to share experiences with you! Mine are metal on the bottom as well and i was speaking of the top braces being white ceramic. My orthodontist is in downtown Copenhagen at Rosenborggade 3 and i receive treatment at Køge Hospital (even though i live in Copenhagen). I have been told that if i want white ceramic, even just on the 4 front then i have to pay out of pocket. Do you just receive treatment at Rigshospital or do you also have an external orthodontist?

Lalcharlie, Im guessing that the kid hadn't thought his actions through and the damage it could have done, typical teenager. Thinking back when i was that age, i might have made a few teachers flip their sesame too, although it was only paper that got thrown around.

[Psa]

@Sadoozie - They didn't mention anything out of pocket at all. I asked if it was possible to get completely white braces, even if I paid it myself, but my ortho shot it down right away and mentioned that I'd get partially white braces.

I have no external ortho, he works at riget and everything is done there. I started going to kæbekirugisk at Glostrup hospital when I was around 18, they put me on a waiting list after my first check up and now 9 years later, and after that department moved to riget, I get everything done here.

So, unfortunately my hyrax expander broke, apparently it was turned too many times and had started just moving the tooth it was attached too and not my palate anymore. This caused it one side to be a little lower than the other and as I (apparently) clench my teeth at night I bit into it hard and it broke. They had to take it out and take new measurements for a TPA which goes in 11 days after I got the RPE out. The gap in my front teeth is closing up very quickly and is almost completely closed after only 3 days! I hope everything works out fine after I get the TPA and that my palate hasn't reverted too much :/.

Does anyone have experience with a TPA? @lalcharlie, you mentioned something about a heavy TPA, is it just as annoying as the rpe? My ortho said that it's smaller than the rpe.

[lalcharlie]

Hi Psa

The TPA I have is very thick, goes in an arch across the back roof of my mouth and is banded to a couple of back molars (unlike the RPE which was banded to 4 teeth). I barely know it's there. It is quite a relief after the RPE but like you I had the dreaded thing taken out early and im pretty sure although the TPA is doing a good solid job at the back, the has been some relapse at the front.
Ortho will be activating top braces on Friday. Right now there's a coil between the front two teeth as the bone in my palate is still forming.
I'm looking forward to seeing some real movement in the next few months. The anticipation is killing me!
Let me know how the TPA feels. I hope you haven't had too much relapse x

[jaime]

I've had my TPA for over a year now and most of the time, I forget it's there. It's much less obtrusive than the RPE.

The cool thing is that because the wire clips into molar bands, every now and then my orthodontist takes it out to make some adjustments and I get to feel the roof of my mouth for a few minutes. You forget how much real estate you truly have in there!

[instacynthia]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the board. I am scheduled for my SARPE on Wednesday, July 29. I am having my expander placed on Friday, July 24. I'm getting pretty nervous. I have a small son who will be near 10-months-old around the time I have my surgery and I'm wondering how long I should plan to have extra help. I was planning on having him stay at his grandma's during the day as he normally does and kind of winging it on my own during the hours he's gone until his father comes home but now I'm thinking I may need more help than I initially thought. I actually had an expander when I was a kid but because of my age (I was around 11 years old at the time) the experience was much less serious than it sounds this will be. The orthodontic staff seem to think about 5 days at home should give me enough rest before going back to work. I was planning on returning to work on Tuesday of the following week barring any major complications. I do work in an office where we get walk-ins and phone calls but I know my boss and coworkers will be supportive and let me sit out on those duties until I'm feeling more up to it. Any advice?

[lalcharlie]

Instacynthia - firstly let me reassure you, this isn't going to be as bad as you think! Our little minds go hey wire before surgery, I remember how nervous I was. There was no pain for me, just discomfort. The expander is by far the worst thing about the process.
You will be swollen and tired so a week off is ambitious, I would do for 2 if you can. It sounds as though your employer is very understanding, there's no way i could have gone back to teaching kids after a week. Way too stressful. See how you feel.
Yes you're right. Looking after kids is tough - mine are 5 and 8. Let other people help out and don't bet yourself up about it....I only had my husband who didn't cope very well

Jaime - I can't WAIT to feel how much space there is in my mouth. The TPA is one solid piece and two prongs (for want of a better term) run behind my front teeth off it. They don't seem to do much except annoy me. You're looking great considering what you've been through, your skin looks bruise free - how'd you manage that?!

[Sadoozie]

So did the TPA go in alright PSA? Hope your arch didnt close up too much but its not like anything is attached up there so im guessing it will be easy to expand again even if the gap closed..?

I'm going to my ortho tomorrow and very anxious to hear whats going to happen next - when i can finally get this RPE out and get upper braces. Its like; the good news is that you get the RPE out of your mouth and you can pronounce words fully again, the bad news is that you get these train tracks on your upper jaw and you should probably limit the amount of smiling after meals for the next 2 years.