Anyone ever heard of this? SARPE with Chain?

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#1 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:35 pm

Hi, this is my first time posting here. I'm 42 and going in for a SARPE next month. This will be followed by full braces, then a BSSO on my lower jaw.

My question is this. I talked with my ortho about the big gap I will be getting in between my teeth. He told me that there has been some research done that if the front teeth are chained together (wired) that it does not affect the whole expansion process. He says it is purely for aestetics and that is what he is planning on doing. I will be having the SARPE by my oral surgeon, then I will go in the next day to my ortho and they will chain my front teeth together for the duration of the expansion process. I will still be turning the appliance as instructed but I just supposedly won't get that big gap in my teeth.

Has anyone ever heard of this before? Also, can someone tell me about the Big pop or snap I have been hearing others refer too? What the heck is that all about? Can you tell I'm nervous! Any info you folks can give on this will be greatly appreciated! Also any tips y'all have for quick recovery, swelling reduction etc would be valued! Thanks so much.

Brandy

#2 Post by **decisionmade** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:29 pm

Hi Brandy. how exciting for you! congratulations at beginning your journey! I had Sarpe and you can follow the link below for my story...I have not heard of chainig the teeth together during the expansion to avoid the gap..It seems strange to me...

As for the big pop or snap..my os said to expect it but I never had it..he said it probably happened in my sleep...From what I've heard its not a big deal..I am extremely happy with the results..I just got the expander taken out recently after 6 mos..I've had braces on for almost 4 mos..and the progress is amazing..so happy!
good luck to you!

#3 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 7:29 pm

Thanks for the reply!

I started reading your story, but it is long so it is going to take me awhile to get through all of that. I'm so glad I found this forum. I had been on the Yahoo one, but not very happy with it. This one is so much more informative, and much easier to follow!

Honestly, I'm really not too worried about the surgery. I mean I have resigned myself to the pain and discomfort, as I know it will be worth it in the end. I'm actually sortof excited to get it going so I can begin my journey. I can't wait to see my new smile, as well as my new bite. Will be so nice to have teeth that actually fit together like they are supposed to!

Now, with the SARPE, I cannot find anything on chaining the front teeth! Weird huh? I mean pretty much everything I have read has said nothing about this. Supposedly my ortho says that chaining the teeth together has been shown to have no adverse affect on the overal SARPE results. It sorta makes sense since they pretty much bring the front teeth together right after the expander come outs, but I wish I could find at least one other person or an account of someone else who has done this.
It would just make me feel a bit better.

I noticed from one of the links that it looks like the expander attaches to the rear molars. Do the other prongs just rest on the teeth? Not exactly sure how it works. Thanks and I look forward to hearing back from you. I think I will document my journey with pics too, just for fun.

Brandy

#4 Post by **katemm06** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:45 am

Brandy,

I've never heard of the front teeth being chained together after SARPE and I haven't come across anything like that on this site. Mine were not. But anything is possible with medicine today. Your orthodontist might be trying a new type of procedure. Maybe you could ask to speak with some of his/her other patients who have had this done to ease your mind. Good luck with everything!

As for the big pop I did not experience that either. I think it might happen more for people who expand a large amount of mm, like for instance 11 or 12 mm. The expander feels out of place for a few days and after that you'll hardly notice its there. It attaches to the rear molars but is centered at the roof of your mouth.

#5 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:49 am

I'm a little worried as per Dr. J's reply on the Doc board. He had not heard about this and seems like he is not really supporting it.

I'm seriously thinking I'm just going to have to joing the Gap club and learn to love my gap for awhile. I don't want to take the chance of things getting worse, or taking even longer!

I want to see this research he is talking about. As for other patients having this done, there have been none! They said they can count on one hand the number of SARPE patients they have had. They do a lot of expansion work with kids, but few with adults as most don't want to go through the surgery. I'm going to check into it a lot more.....I'm not big on just taking a doctors word, just because he is a doctor. I want to be informed! I'm also going to talk with my oral surgeon about it as he does a lot of SARPE's and perhaps he knows something about it.

Overall how was the surgery for you? Did you have a lot of pain and swelling? I'm planning 2 weeks off from work, but I can take 3 if necessary. How long would you recommend??

Brandy

#6 Post by **katemm06** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:54 pm

Brandy-It's great that your questioning the procedure now before you actually have it done. See what your oral surgeon has to say about it. I really value my own oral surgeon's opinions on my treatment. If you do choose to have the gap, it is really noticeable but once you stop expanding it starts to close rather quickly.

My experience with SARPE went really well. My face was swollen the first few days after surgery but not a lot of pain since I was pretty numb for a while. More detailed information about my surgery experience is under the really long SARPE thread. As for time off, two weeks recuperation was about all I needed. My energy came back really quickly after I started eating "real" foods once again by the second week. The psychological impact of having a huge gap was the hardest part of the whole process for me. But thankfully my gap is practically closed now 5 months later

Take care and keep us posted.

#7 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:35 pm

Well I just got off the phone with my oral surgeons nurse. She told me that the last few SARPE's they have done have had the front teeth connected and there have been no problems. She said that if my doctor gets in there and feels it is not going to work he will clip my archwire and I will have to go with the gap, but if there is not a problem that he forsees, he will leave the archwire in there and we will proceed with the expansion as scheduled.

That did help me to feel a bit relieved knowing he has done this before without issue!

Thanks for the description of your experience. I'm confident it will all be fine and work out. I'm healthy and in good shape, so I'm honestly not that worried about it. I will deal with it! It is nice reading everyones experinences....and seeing the end results! That really makes it all worth while! I know I will love my smile once it is done! Good things come to those who wait right???

Brandy