Arch Bar Removal - Hurt???

[Punakmouth]

I have braces but because I have a bridge on my upper left back teeth and crowns on my upper back right teeth, my brackets fell off during surgery. My surgeon placed about an 1.5" arch bar on one side and about 1" on the other.

When I get my splint removed on Day 31, he will remove these arch bars as well. Hard to imagine how since I can barely open my mouth; I can get a baby tooth brush back there but still can't stretch my cheeks or mouth opening very much. (I'm on day 19 right now.)

Has anyone had arch bars removed? Does it hurt? Do they use local anesthetic? Do you swell up all over again? Or does it feel like heaven since you have all this hardware out of your mouth? Does it immediately improve mobility of soft tissue? Does swelling go down pretty fast after the arch bars and splint are removed?

Any insight is appreciated!!!

[snapdresser]

They basically yank the archbars out with pliers. I guess it hurt a bit to try to open for it, but the feeling of them yanking the wires out on the gums must have taken my mind off it. Some of them hurt more than others. They offered local anesthetic but the first one didn’t hurt too bad so I denied it. That was a mistake About halfway through they asked if I was sure I didn’t want the local anesthetic and I said I changed my mind, I do. It was pretty straightforward and easy after that.

I didn’t swell up after the removal, nor did the swelling go down. It didn’t feel like heaven for me either, but I have what seems to be an unusual situation where I have a strange feeling in my gums, so your mileage may vary. Maybe you’ll feel like a million bucks after the removal. I hope you do!

[Punakmouth]

Thanks Snapdresser!

I will ask for the local right away!

I'm hoping I will be able to smile bigger when the arch bars and splint come out. Right now my upper lip is covering my gums in the middle. This makes my smile so ugly!

[PierreDeFermat]

I'm getting mine removed next week, it's going to be an outpatient procedure under general anesthesia (somewhat uncommon, I'm going to ask the doctor about it tomorrow).

I believe most patients have local anesthetic with or without IV conscious sedation. I think without at least lidocaine rinse it would be pretty uncomfortable. In any case it should only take about 15-20 min to remove the arch bars.

[EmilyTravels]

My arch bars were full arches on both upper and lower, and I had "light" IV sedation. But I was still completely out of it. I expect I was numbed up locally once the sedative took effect (don't recall), and that was just fine with me. Having screws taken out of my jaws while conscious (even with Novacaine) was not something I wanted to contemplate. So it didn't hurt a bit!

I can't imagine doing it without any anesthesia. I am a dental weenie, though!

[snapdresser]

Having screws taken out of my jaws while conscious

Wait, your archbars involved screws?! Mine were just wired around my teeth...

[EmilyTravels]

Having screws taken out of my jaws while conscious

Wait, your archbars involved screws?! Mine were just wired around my teeth...

Yes...mine were screwed into the bony area above (top arch) and below(bottom arch) my tooth roots on each arch. My jaw was wired shut after jaw fractures (bicycle accident) so a bit different than what most people here experienced, I guess. The four screws on each arch bar provided a place to wrap the wires around. So even the removal of the arch bars was actually considered oral surgery.

Icky, eh?!

[snapdresser]

Having screws taken out of my jaws while conscious

Wait, your archbars involved screws?! Mine were just wired around my teeth...

Yes...mine were screwed into the bony area above (top arch) and below(bottom arch) my tooth roots on each arch. My jaw was wired shut after jaw fractures (bicycle accident) so a bit different than what most people here experienced, I guess. The four screws on each arch bar provided a place to wrap the wires around. So even the removal of the arch bars was actually considered oral surgery.

Icky, eh?!

Haha I think we're all ok with "icky" around here, after seeing pictures of a bimax and then going through it ourselves Very interesting about the screws for archbars. I hadn't heard of that before. I wonder if OP has them screwed in...

[PierreDeFermat]

Usually IMF screws are used as an alternative to arch bars:

IMF Screws.png

I spoke to my surgeon today, he said it wasn't deep sedation but IV conscious sedation, whew!

Good luck Punkamouth, let us know how it goes.

[EmilyTravels]

Interesting! I wonder why my Oral Surgeon doesn't use the IMF screws -- those do look a little less traumatic than the archbars I had. I didn't have time to shop around for multiple opinions since I had fractures that had been completely missed by a CT scan in the ER, so was walking around 2 weeks after my accident with a fractured jaw before I got into an oral surgeon for evaluation since my occlusion was totally off.

At that point, he did scans, and I found out I did indeed have three jaw fractures. I tried to make an appointment at another Maxillofacial surgery clinic, and they wanted me to wait WEEKS to get in -- with jaw fractures! Sheesh....

Sorry for the thread hijack!

[Punakmouth]

I don't have screws, just the arch bars with hooks to hold rubber bands. I am getting them taken off on Friday so I'll report back!

[Punakmouth]

Ok.... It didn't hurt at all!!! He removed the splint and the two sections of arch bars with no anesthesia and I didn't feel a thing!! He does 100 surgeries a year, so maybe he's really good at it...?!

Also, maybe I couldn't feel it because I was still numb in those areas? Who knows? I'm just glad they are out of my mouth!