RPE & Saliva

[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

[jaime]

Hopefully it wasn't me in the video. I put 2 videos up on YouTube after my surgery and I remember I was sucking back spit a lot in it.

For me, that only lasted maybe a week or two? Your mouth and saliva levels will definitely adjust and you won't have excess spit forever. I don't think I had any excess spit before the actual surgery. Part of my problem I think was my face was so swollen that I couldn't close my mouth, and it was hard to manage the saliva levels when my mouth was hanging open.

[Funkyteeth]

Hi Jamie,
I don't know if it was you in the video either, but I certainly mean no disrespect to whoever it was. I'm just starting to get nervous and anxious, RPE goes on tomorrow (well today actually since it's 1 a.m.) and then surgery next week. I'm less worried about the surgery than I am about talking....if that makes sense?

[jaime]

Good luck today!

I know how you feel. I was more worried about the pain with eating and talking than the surgery itself. You don't really have to do anything for the surgery; just go to a hospital and lie there.

I'll say this, the talking and eating will be tough but manageable. It will get easier, slowly. The talking will also seem worse to you than it will to anyone else. Many people told me they didn't even notice I had a lisp when I thought it was very noticeable. I was most self-conscious of my gap because I didn't have braces on until 5 months after surgery, and I felt like some crazy redneck with awful teeth for the first few months (my gap closed very quickly once I was done turning the key). Either way, all of it is very temporary!

[Funkyteeth]

[quote="jaime"]Good luck today!

I know how you feel. I was more worried about the pain with eating and talking than the surgery itself. You don't really have to do anything for the surgery; just go to a hospital and lie there.

I'll say this, the talking and eating will be tough but manageable. It will get easier, slowly. The talking will also seem worse to you than it will to anyone else. Many people told me they didn't even notice I had a lisp when I thought it was very noticeable. I was most self-conscious of my gap because I didn't have braces on until 5 months after surgery, and I felt like some crazy redneck with awful teeth for the first few months (my gap closed very quickly once I was done turning the key). Either way, all of it is very temporary![/quote]

Thanks Jaime! I got the expander yesterday and it's not so bad. I can talk...albeit with a slight lisp, but this is doable. Oddly, I didn't eat until late at night...it's like the expander just evaporated my appetite. I tried to drink an iced coffee....what normally takes 10 minutes to drink took HOURS. Since then, I've had a smoothie, some applesauce and some frozen yogurt. Those seem to be pretty easy to get down. Btw, loved your surgery list on the blog...I've already bought a turkey baster for post-surgery water drinking!

[jaime]

Oh, that's great about the turkey baster!! I swear that was the most useful thing post-surgery.

Glad to hear things are going okay with the expander. How's it been now that it's been a few days?

You'll get quicker at eating and drinking! I remember my first meal with the expander felt so strange but by the time I got it removed, I would forget it's there while I was eating.

[Funkyteeth]

So far it's been ok, I've mostly been sticking with applesauce, frozen yogurt, smoothies, etc. I can eat crunchier/chewier foods if I eat it in small pieces. Last night, though, I decided to break open some cashew nuts....big mistake...I was picking pieces out of the expander for the next couple of hours, so gross! And I've been getting some achiness in my mouth, I assume this is normal? Tylenol seems to be working ok so far. Surgery is on Thursday, getting excited!