SARPE Surgery

[mic26]

Well,
It's been almost 24 hours since surgery, and I'm starting to feel a least a little bit alive. I had a boost shake with ice cream last night and it made my mouth feel better. The hardest part has been the swelling (does it ever go down?) and the nose bleeds.

I slept with ice packs on my face last night. They kept falling off, but it felt good to have them there. I used gel packs and frozen veggies and a refillable ice pack.

RDA_79, I had my surgery done at an outpatient surgical center. I had general anesthesia. As far as changes in facial features, it's hard to tell right now because of all the swelling....

Thanks everyone for the recipes. I'll try them, and thanks especially for all your support. I know I'll make it and be glad I did this.

~mic26

[decisionmade]

hi RDA79 and welcome!! for my pallate expansion I had it in my surgeon's office under LOTS of local anesthic..he even gave me more as he finished up to hold me over til the painkillers kicked in..then I went wo blocks up the street.( driven there of course) to my orthos office for the expander to be cemented..i think my blood grossed them out a bit..my ortho was shocked that I handled being completely aware of everything going on..and had done it with only local and nothing else...I used visualization/relaxation techniques the day before and during the surgery which I believe kept me calm...and yes I also swelled up big time...I had lingering swelling for more than four weeks that was more noticable to me and my close family and friends than to strangers..(I think).. and certaily it went down condsiderably during the first 1-2 weeks..Once the swellng went down I could see a difference in my appearance but it is subtle..and hopefully for the better..an added broadness across my upper lip and through my nose...i think the real dramatic difference will be seen when I gt the braces on and they start doing their job..I'm hopeful for a dramatic and stunning result and am thinking positively tomorrow it will be six weeks since my surgery...and I know just what you mean about getting the "ball rolling!"..oh and I am so happy now..no regrets! I hope this helps

[revampmysmile]

Hi fellow SARPE adventurers. I had my surgery 6/6 and things went well. I had the usual swelling but I no pain at all. That really surprised me. I still have the expander in, hoping it will come out next week. After my surgery I had to turn it twice a day for two weeks and once a day for one more week. It was hard to find the hole at first. I would lie down and carefully try to find the hole. Once I got the feel of how fit in - piece of cake (which I have eaten a lot of)

I have a gap about 1/8". I was hoping it would have come together more by now--really before now. I had a nephew get married 8/6 and I had to tell the story so many times, you know the drill.

As far as one question I can give some insight into. Insurance. Most insurance will not cover this procedure unless it is "medically necessary". At first my insurance rejected it, hospital bill $11,000, OS $5,050 and about the same will go to my Ortho. I have 22 months to pay off the O. I didn't expect them to pay the OS, but they did. Said it slipped through the cracks. I had this done because it is my hope it will help with my sleep apnea. My OS did a lot of research on this and we finally convinced them. Of course being 52 yrs old helped. If it were for cosmetic reasons I would have done it 30 yrs ago. Besides how could they say it was cosmetic when they hadn't seen me.

Now everything is getting shifted for my next surgery on the lower jaw. I'm a little freaked about this one. OS said he would put the screws through the outside of my face. He assured me it would be very small incisions.

I know ya'll are tired of reading my saga. Like many of you stated, I'd do over again. I forgot to mention I had suffered from TMJ. That's what started all this. After the first month of braces my jaw has not bothered me at all. Hope this works as well for the sleep apnea.

Good luck to you all!!

[joplin]

do you have your surgery in a hospital or at the oral surgeon surgical sute in office??
General anestheitc or IV sedation??
does it change teh look of your facial structures at all??

1. I had my surgery done at the dental clinic where my ortho and OS work. They have a standard surgery room there.

2. I had general anesthetic and the operation took about one hour, including removing one impacted upper wisdom tooth. Decisionmade, it was very courageous to do it with local only! My OS said it can be done, but it's much less traumatizing for the patient to be "out" during the procedure. Later I had my impacte canines surgically removed under IV sedation and that worked pretty fine, too. I knew what was going on, but I didn't really care

3. I experienced a number of very subtle but positive facial changes: I got cheek bones, my sunk in mouth is not sunk in anymore, my upper lip looks fuller and my nose got sligtly wider. All these I count as bonuses since I used to have a flat face, sort of I like it better after SARPE. Also I find it easier to breath through my nose now.

Good luck with your surgery!

I'm so happy to see this thread being so active! When I first started out there was next to no info at all about SARPE to be found and I felt like a lonesome freak at times. It's so nice to see you people helping each other through the process and to see there are many of us having this done, successfully too, I'd like to add

[decisionmade]

Hi Revamp..just have to ask..you said your expander is coming out soon? how long have you had to have it in?..my ortho says I will have mine for 6 mos..ugh!..and joplin..i know..I couldn't believe when I first got on archwired I could find so little info for people like me who were far from being braced and now look at all of us! Your "story" was the first one I found at all helpful at the start! This has been such a gift..I have learned so much from everyone! .now off to enjoy this beautiful day...and will try not to talk..my mouth needs a rest!

[katemm06]

Hi everyone,

Wow, there have been a lot of new posts since I last checked in!

I was surprised to hear that the majority of SARPE surgeries had been done at the oral surgeon's office. Mine was performed in a hospital under general anaesthesia.

Mic~I'm glad to hear you are hanging in there. I think the first week is the roughest after the surgery. I still have swelling, but it is not as horrible as it was the first week.

Over the past several days, I have had to take a lot of extra strength tylenol every few hours to deal with the front teeth discomfort from turning the key. The thing that drives me crazy is the tip of my gum in between my two front teeth. It will burn and sting off and on throughout the day.

The other thing is that it hurts to smile and laugh. My upper gums are so sensitive. If my toothbrush even touches the upper gum, it is extremely painful. Is this normal?

DM~your gap looks much better now!

Talk to everyone soon.

[mic26]

Well, it's day #2 since surgery. I went to see the oral surgeon today and we turned the key twice. I feel some pressure, but I can't decide if it's from turning the key or from the swelling. I am still sooo sooo swollen. The doc said this will go down, that the first 2 days are the worst for swelling.

I will turn the key once a day, the doc said by Monday (when I go in to the ortho) that my top teeth will not be overlapping anymore. That is exciting! For as horrible as I look, I'm glad to finally be getting things moving.

I've lost about 10 pounds since I got my expander in, but I'm trying to eat lots of high calorie and protein stuff so I don't lose anymore. The oral surgeon said I need to be on soft foods for 8 weeks!

I have numbness in my upper lip and jaw and some numbness through my palate. I don't know what it worse though, pain or numbness. I am going longer between the pain pills and taking Ibuprofen between times and that seems to help.

Anyways, if I could figure out how to post pictures, I'd show you all how swollen I am, and keep track of my progress.
Thanks everyone ~mic26

[decisionmade]

katem yes its normal!! I had the worst pain as my two front teeth split apart..i wrote about it on here somewhere at the time it happened..It was awful..stinging, burning..all normal..I went back on the perscription painkillers the wknd it happened and also applied ice to my mouth ..the pain is due to the tissue stretching..trying to catchup with the expansion..oh i feel for you ..When I went in for my one wk after surgery apointment and the surgeon said "any pain or discomfort around the fron t teeth?..I proudly said "not at all"..he then let out a little chuckle and said.."well there will be"..He was right several days later!

Eat lot sof ice cream!

[revampmysmile]

Hi Revamp..just have to ask..you said your expander is coming out soon? how long have you had to have it in!

Ortho told me 3 months. I'll be one week short of that time on my next visit. My luck -- it will be another 3 months before it can come out. Things have progressed quicker than I thought. Hopefully this will be the case on the expander.

[katemm06]

So did anyone else who has had the surgery have their upper gum turn white? My oral surgeon told me to keep an eye on it since it should be pink. He thinks the gum was probaly overstretched from turning, which may explain the off and on discomfort. He told me not to turn the key today and to start again tomorrow.

The good news is that he thinks I will only have to turn the key for one more week since my gap is already so huge! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Happy Saturday!

[decisionmade]

Hi katem, no i didn't experience my gums turning white...Makes sense its due to the stretching,,you had a lot in a short amount of time as I recall..
Mine was turned only twice a day beginning following my surgery for two weeks...That is however great new about your space! Its working!!..mine is shrinking oh but the discomfort though My teeth are just all sore and loose..I hope your gums turn pretty pink again soon...

[joplin]

No white gums here either, but the roof of my mouth turned pale during the expansion process, see a photo: viewtopic.php?t=444&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15
(scroll down the page a little to find it)
Neither the OS nor the ortho have said anything about it.

[katemm06]

Hi everyone,

I went to my orthodontist today and he didn't seem too concerned about my white gums. He told me to keep turning the key until next Sunday, so that's what I plan to do! The key is the easiest thing to turn now. It's funny how scared I was about doing it by myself before. I'm completely on soft foods now, although I cannot chew, I just swallow the food. I have tried to chew but nothing happens when I do. I guess it's because my top and bottom teeth are not lined up properly.

Hope everyone is doing well.

[mic26]

Hi everyone,

It's been almost a week since surgery, one week tomorrow. I've had some ups and downs lately...this is harder than what I expected. The swelling is starting to come down slowly. Although my upper lip and nose area are still swollen and nothing seems to help, not even ice. I bruised a ton though, under my eyes, my cheeks, my upper lip.

I can't stand the numbness, my gums are competely numb. Oh well, it just hope it doesn't last too long. Like DM, it feels really weird to brush. I have noticed that I too grind my teeth, especially at night. I try not to, but it's hard because I can't really feel that I am, with everything being numb.

I am adjusting my diet, which is hard. I love to eat and to not be able to eat what I want is frustrating. I can't chew because my bite is off, and it feels really weird when I try to. So I'm on a soft food slash liquid diet, stuff that is easy to swallow.

I'm sorry to complain, I just had no idea so many things were going to change all at once and I'm having a difficult time adjusting.

I'm starting to get a little gap in my front teeth, that is progress and I suppose I should be thrilled....at this point I don't know why I did this.

Sorry guys, just needed to vent... I'm glad everyone else is doing well, and hopefully I'll get to the point where I'll be happy I did this.
Mic26

[decisionmade]

Hang in there Mic..More easily said than done ..I know I experienced almost everything you described...and even after 6 weeks post op I still have to resort to very soft food on some days..but every day seems to be a little bit different...due to all the crazy tooth movment I am experiencing..and I am still experiencing lots of clenching and grinding...
That is great news about the gap though..It means the surgery worked!..and no need to apologize for complaining..we've all been there too ... I believe complaining to also be an important part of healing... We'll all be here to clebrate with you when the time comes.... and until then we are very glad to share in your frusturations..We all need to vent sometimes!
One day at a time and I believe you will begin to see that light at the end of the tunnel...