SARPE Surgery

[Delag]

Ok Kids! Looks like I'm a go for the SARPE ride! DH and I have gone over the budget (no ins) and we can squeek it by. I have already invested almost 8 grand in my teeth just to get them up to snuff (crowns, crown lengthening surgery, lots of new fillings, root canals....) so why not go for broke? (pun intended ). I still need a couple more root canals, and a few more fillings need to be replaced over the next couple of weeks. I should get my bottom brakets put on before I go away for the summer...3-4 months of those to line up the bite and then do the SARPE late October or early Nov. The ortho says about 1 year of treatment. I don't believe him of course.

[tally21]

Hi everyone
Had SARPE 4 weeks ago and have been expanding for almost 3 weeks, it will be 42 turns by friday when i have my ORtho appointment, has anyone else done that many turns?

Wondering if I will run out of appliance if you know what i mean!

hope everyone is doing ok with SARPE its a royal pain!
cheers

Anthea
Melbourne
AU

[Brandyleigh35]

Wow Anthea,
That is a lot of turns! I had to do 33 and I thought that was a lot! How many millimeters are they going for? I got 9mm with 33 turns. Is your mouth super small?

Brandy

[tally21]

Brandy it appears I have an extremly small upper jaw, I was thinking it might also be a slightly different device and the turns are less than US device.

Not sure about exact space they are looking for, my guess is they dont know yet. about a 1cm gap at the moment in the front teeth.

I will be having upper and lower jaw surgery in 12 months so the OS will have the final say!

Anthea

[Brandyleigh35]

Oh yeah, you could be right about that, I never really thought about a possible difference in appliance. My turns were 1/4mm each so I was gaining 1/2mm a day.

I know you are ready to stop turning....I hated expansion. It didn't really hurt but was just annoying and bothersome. Well you are almost there (hopefully) so I'm glad to hear all is going well. You will be finished before you know it and on to bigger and better things soon!

Brandy

[mia22]

Hi everyone!!

Wow a lot has happened since I was last on here!!

Well, my update... so I went to the Ortho on Friday and they still need to keep pushing my one front tooth over... UHHH I think i might die like this. So basically I have another appointment June 29th at 2pm, lol... at this appointment my gap should be completely closed and there should be enough room for them to put the tooth I'm missing in. This whole process has certinly taken longer than expected. Also, I have a spring on the bottom (like Brandy ) and that hurts as well. So basically when I go back I will have had the gap for a whooping 18 weeks.

Oh and Brandy, I asked about the TPA and my ortho told me that since they expanded so far my bone might not be completely healed. He said the TPA would hold the teeth but the bone might be too fragile to withstand the pressure... so no TPA for me

Selims,

You poor thing!! I can't believe it has taken them that long!! I throw a fit everytime I go in about the gap, lol. I would definately say something to your doctor! But honestly, what is a few months compared to the rest of your life... Good luck with the ortho!


Kyle,

Dude, eat some mashed potatoes... you don't have to chew them and they are sooo good. Seriously tho, I think you should just try eating soft food like fish, jello, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pasta... anything that you can mash up in your mouth... and like brandy said, cut things into small pieces or small bites and just chew softly.

I was eating normal food within 3wks... I still don't eat sandwiches tho because it REALLY hurts for me to bite into something and rip off a bite.

Delag,

CONGRATS!!! It really is a big decision, and a lot of money... but like you said... why not go for broke, lol. It's so exciting for me to read about people doing this! Everyone is going to be sooo happy at the end of this whole process!! And I feel you about not believing the ortho, lol... they can't be trusted

Tally21,

Welcome to the board!! It does seem like a lot of turns, but like you and Brandy figured out... the devices are probably a little different. I have to get lower jaw surgery as well... they are still waiting to see if they can avoid it, but I would rather have it and know everything was done right!! Hopefully you will be able to stop expanding soon! Has your face changed shape at all??

Brandy,

How have you been? I'm going to post new pictures tomorrow or Friday, just depending on when I remember to bring my camera into work, lol.


Now that I feel caught up with everyone, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!!

Ciao
Mia
xoxox

[tally21]

Mia sometimes it is hard to see anything other than the HUGE gap, but you know all about that , everyone says there are big changes but when you study yourself everyday its hard to see.
Not sure if everyone else has odd stuff like after 34 years your teeth touch the inside of your cheeks, sort of proves things are really moving about in there.

I think it will be about a month before i get my braces and get the RPE out , my OS said the braces should be fine to hold the expansion, there are such differing views it seems, hard to compare one persons treatment to another.
cheers everyone
Anthea

[kballing]

hi all,
i get my expander out in 3 weeks, woo hoo. i am psyched. it will be a full 3 months when i get this thing out. no mention of a tpa, but i suppose they will put one in. my gap in the front is pretty much closed, from 1 full cm to less than a mm. the real bummer though is that the gap seems to have relocated itself to the side of my front teeth. still look a little silly and kind of upset about all of that. but, honestly, i guess 3 months from start to finish of this isn't so bad.

TALLY 21 - i turned 40 turns in 10 days!! it was crazy. so, i feel your pain there. i ended up with a full cm gap. it was really difficult, but you will be so happy when it is over.

MIA - sounds like we are still on the same path, with the exception of the fact that your gap has closed and you don't have the silly space that i do. hope all continues to go well with you.

BRANDY - so glad things are moving along nicely with you. i will definitely consider the fact that it might be painful to get the palate expander out. any advice as i prepare to go in for that?

next up, preparing for jaw surgery. in december. eeek.

[Brandyleigh35]

Wow...

Updates from everyone!

Mia, glad to hear things are progressing, and your gap is almost closed. What a trooper you have been. 18 weeks is a long time! Don't you love that spring! Those little suckers hurt don't they? Ahh...but they sure work well. I can't wait to see your pics tomorrow. I guess that info about the TPA makes sense. Maybe it is something they can give you in a couple more months. Once the bones are completely solidified. Didn't you expand 10cm? I expanded 9cm and I haven't had any problems. Weird...supposedly from what I have heard there is not much chance of collapse after 3 months. Hmmm...

Kballing, I'm jealous, you will be having your jaw surgery before me. I was thinking of moving mine up to December, but want to have the whole summer to recover so I'm going to wait until May of 2007. I can't wait to hear how it all goes for you though!

Tally21, I would take pics everyday and compare them, I could always see changes, even if they were small. As for your teeth touching your cheeks. I have experienced a bit of that. When I first got my molar bands on they didn't bother me at all. Since expansion I have to put wax on them everyday as they catch on my cheeks all the time. Most of the time it feels like my upper teeth are too wide for my mouth now! As for it only being 1 month before you get your braces and RPE out that doesn't sound right. From the research I have read it takes minimum 3 months for the bones to solidify again. I'm right at 3 months and I still don't totally have feeling back yet. First comes the bone regrowth, then the blood supply, then the nerve regeneration. Braces will not hold it....in fact, I have only the beginning wire on mine and my ortho will not even begin moving my upper teeth til it has been 5 months total. Would totally suck if you went through all of this for nothing and your palate went back to its pre surgery size. I personally would not have the RPE taken out without something else being put in its place in less than 4 months. Just my humble opinion, however, if you look through the threads on here, most people have worn their RPE's for not less than three months, while others have had them in for up to 8. The ones who got TPA's had them put in about 3 - 4 months and wore them for a minimum of about 2-3 more months. You are the only one I have heard of that would be getting their RPE out so soon! and with nothing else to help stabalize the bones. I was seriously talk to your doctor about this.

Kyle, I hope you are eating now....hopefully you have headed all of us survivors advice and are now feeling more fulfilled and full!

Delag, Congrats on your decision to join the SARPE group! I promise you will not regret it. You will think it sucks sometimes but you won't really mind because you will be seeing such awesome changes. Are you excited?

Brandy

[tally21]

Brandy
Always happy to hear others opinions and thoughts, makes for an overall balanced view in my opinion.

All will be revealed tomorrow morning I suppose when I go to see the ortho.
My current thoughts are that they are keeping me sweet by saying the RPE will come out after 9 weeks but will keep it in longer, I dont think I will be as grumpy once the expanding stops so if its longer than 9 weeks so be it .
I seem to be able to eat much better now and its just the talking thats bad, I spend my whole working life on the phone to people from other countries, I just get sick of explaining why i sound like a drunk!!
hope all is well with everyone
Anthea

I did mean to add my ortho is the president of the Australian Society of Orthodontists so I am hoping he has a clue LOLOLOL
cheers
a

[mia22]

Kballing,

I'm so jealous! You had the surgery after and you getting the RPE out sooner... I wish! And don't worry I still have a tiny gap... but I have a gap next to my front tooth (where they are making room for a new tooth) Talk to me on June 29th and I should be happy, lol!!

Tally21,

I understand! It really is hard to see anything other than it... I actually put wax in my gap to camoflague it. All you do is get dental wax and put it under running warm water to soften it up... when it is soft enough, put it behind your front teeth and swish it through... then just smooth and shape it in the front. I have been doing that for the past few months and it has made it easier to deal with. Most people don't even notice when I talk b/c they can't see the gap and the wax is just aout the same color as your teeth. I have gone through TONS AND TONS of wax, lol. I buy it off the link at the top of this page.

Brandy,

oh the springs feel great, lol!! I'm going to post the pictures in a few hours!!

Hope everyone is good!

Ciao
Mia

[Selims]

Mia,

Thank you for your comments. I will find out next week what the next step will be. Fingers crossed that the gap will start to close!

I am glad to hear about your speedy recovery!

Selims

http://mysite.verizon.net/restjzsp/

[Brandyleigh35]

Ok Miss Mia!
Where are your pics.....I've been looking and they are not there yet!

Brandy

[mia22]

Lol, sorry Brandy! For some reason Blogger was not likeing me yesterday... it was taking forever and then it was time to leave work. BUT I did it today... you can definately see the difference THANK GOD!!!

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!!

Ciao,
Mia

[Brandyleigh35]

Hey Mia,
Wow...big changes going on in your mouth! They are looking much nicer! You must be so thrilled, especially after suffering for so long with your gap! Congrats! I can't wait til they start moving my teeth on top. I want all this tipping and turning to just go away!

Are you getting an implant?

Brandy