Wonky wonky!

This picture was taken about 4 months post SARPE surgery and although the gap is closing (good times!) as mentioned previously it didn't close attractively (bad times!) something I wasn't very prepared for! This wasn't a particularly good part of the whole journey as I always felt a bit like a witch!......you know those fake teeth you can buy for Halloween to make you look really ugly! Luckily I had the best family friends and boyf around me who somehow always found a way to make me still feel pretty. Thank you all so much! xx

Wow what an overbite!

I wanted to upload this image as it really does show the extent of my overbite! I'm really pleased with the shape of my upper teeth/palat here but the amount the top teeth hang over the bottom teeth really shows why jaw surgery is so vital!

Goodbye Torture device!!!

This was a good day for me! The chunky evil torture device which made we slur and lisp was finally replaced by something a lot more friendly and inconspicuous, woop! It felt so nice to be able to touch the roof of my mouth with my tongue again and great to be able to say cheese instead of scheeze!:0)

Just for the record....my teeth never used to be this stained by the way. I used Corsodol (an antibacterial mouthwash) for about 6-8 weeks after surgery when you're only meant to use it for a maximum of 2...wooops! Still, nothing my dentist couldn't sort out as you'll see later.

31/2 Months post SARPE Surgery

3 1/2 months post the SARPE surgery and the gap slowly but surely started to close!! As the teeth moved inwards the fake tooth got filed and I became happier! I remember feeling a bit like a horse at this time....my teeth felt to wide and too big for my mouth and I couldn't get my lips over the brace.....I knew it would get better though!

The FAKE tooth!

Luckily, when I went back to the orthodontist a couple of weeks after we had stopped turning, I think they felt a little sorry for me due to the size of the gap and very kindly had a fake tooth made up for me:0) Although when you look closely it looks a bit weird as it's just one pretty large tooth floating in the middle (attached to a brace bracket only) it did really help with the initial shock when people saw me, so thank you Shivani; my lovely orthodontist!

Closing the gap!

So not only could we not start closing the gap until 6 weeks after we had stopped turning, but I really didn't realise quite how long it would take to close and that it wouldn't close very attractively! To be honest, anything after having a gap that big was a positive so although it took a loooonnnng time for my teeth to be back together I have to say that I kinda got used to it as did the people around me.

The Brace! 2 weeks after SARPE turning

So, a day after I had stopped turning I was finally ready for the brace! Yes I look hideous but at least with the brace it looked like I was having something done rather than just looking like I had no front teeth. The bar across the gap was a bit of a shock but there's no other way! Now all I wanted was for the gap to close but now that my palate was at it's desired width I had to wait for new bone to form which would mean at least 6 weeks of the dreaded gap before they even tried to close it....this sucked!

The SARPE Gap....13 days after turning and THE LAST DAY!

13 days later and a 13mm gap!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pound coin my butt....try 4!

Yes I look like I have no front teeth and yes people stared and whispered! I made it my mission not to hide away though and still went out just as much as before.....not partying but shopping etc. if i'm honest people are ignorant but so was I. I regularly heard the whispers of "oh my god that girls got no front teeth" and the snigger's of teenagers but I can honestly say the gap has changed the way I look and judge others. The gap was probably my low point and I wished people would just ask me about my teeth but I understand why they didn't. Off to the orthodontists again!

The SARPE Gap....11 days after turning the spanner!

So now it starts to look like i'm missing a tooth!

11 days of turning and i'm still going. I look pretty happy here and surprisingly I was! Although I looked a bit freakish I didn't care. People would look at me a bit weird but I kept a positive attitude and had THE most supportive people around me. This sounds pretty gruesome, but as I kept turning the spanner I could actually feel (and hear!) the bones moving and creaking....yuk! but strangely addictive:0)

The SARPE Gap.... 6 days after turning the spanner!

So now you probably know what I mean when I say torture device! :0)

Swelling had gone done a lot by the 6th day and I was off to the orthodontist hoping that now I could fit more than a pound coin in the gap the turning would be over!

Unfortunately I came home being told that my pallet wasn't wide enough yet and that I still needed to turn for at least another 5 days......The gap gets bigger!!

The Sarpe Gap.... 4 days after turning the spanner!

So 4 days after turning and the gap already felt huge! Luckily my gorgeous other half James was extremely supportive and took me out to cheer me up:0) The gap seemed to be getting big quickly and I knew I had at least another 3-10 days of turning to go, eeek!

The Post op SARPE process!

So remember the metal torture device I spoke about earlier! Well 8 days after my operation I had an appointment with my orthodontist. As you can see, the swelling had gone down quite a bit in just a week!

As you will see from the picture I have a small gap in my teeth following my appointment. The torture device came with a teeny weeny spanner which at my appointment my orthodontist placed on the metal bar and turned twice. before my very eyes my front teeth started to part and a gap formed before my very eyes......I could actually see them moving!

This was the start of the palate expansion and I was told to turn the spanner twice in the morning and twice at night.....As I used the spanner the metal bar lengthened and my palate widened!

This may sound crazy, but I was so ready for the whole process that I actually looked forward to turning the spanner. I knew I was looking worse every day but I new it was all my decision and for a good reason! Positive mental attitude as they say!

My orthodontist told me that the gap would get to a size that I could fit a pound coin in.......at the time this seemed quite big but lets just say I was in for a shock!!!

One SARPE op and 4 less wisdom teeth later!

How much do I look like Princess Fiona from Shrek!

Lookign back now after Jaw surgery, the above piccies taken just a few hours after my SARPE op don't look so bad! I remember feeling very swollen and tender but the pain wasn't actually too bad. I was discharged from hospital the next day but unfortunately I had a bad reaction to codine (painkiller) which made me very sick. Being sick is awful when you cant open your mouth very wide!

Pictures taken the day I left hospital after my SARPE operation and wisdom tooth extraction.....I look a bit like a hamster and very young!

SARPE (Surgically assisted rapid expansion) aged 23

I have to admit that the whole SARPE process was much worse than I had originally thought!

When you get past a certain age (probably your teens) your bones are pretty strong and do not move as easily as when you are younger. The reason for SARPE was to increase the width of my palate and the only way to to this sounds a bit barbaric so brace yourself (pardon the pun!)

The operation consists of you being knocked out and then a cut being made above your top teeth under your upper lip.....from here, the surgeons some how manage to make a cut in your palate (only the bone so all "internal") which later on enables the expansion required. You are then sewn up (with dissolving stitches) and then bought back round unless like me you also had to have all 4 wisdom teeth out due to crowding!

Prior to the operation I had this pretty torturous looking appliance fitted to the roof of my mouth. It was like a thick metal bar (shown later on) which attached to one side of my upper back teeth right across to the other side. When my lovely orthodontist fitted it I actually wanted to ask her if she was kidding! How could I possibly get used to this....Trying to talk was ridiculous, I had such a bad lisp!! The first time I tried to eat was part embarrassing part dangerous as I thought I was going to choke! I made the mistake of eating mozzarella which got completely tangled around the torture devise and I had to spend about half an hour "de-stringing" it!

At the time I honestly thought that this was it for me...how was I ever going to be able to talk, eat or go out again but believe me, it's crazy how quickly you adjust to such a thing in your mouth!

About Me...........

Hello!

I'm Natalie (now aged 25) and on 3rd July 2009 I had Jaw surgery at The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead. I am starting this blog as I wanted to write down my feelings before and after surgery which will hopefully offer information, reassurance and support for others in or considering going through a similar process.

At 18 I wanted to correct my 12mm overbite (where my top teeth/jaw hung 12mm over by bottom teeth) When I was told I would have to have train track braces for 18-24 months prior to jaw surgery I was horrified! but my decision not to go on the NHS waiting list back then was a decision I later regretted at 22 when I decided braces

wouldn't be so bad.

So, at 22(and a half:0) I had just started up my own company and had decided that the complex I had about my side profile wasn't going to go away and was getting more noticeable to me.

I booked an appointed with Dr Ken Sneddon at his Maidstone surgery in Kent (a jaw surgery surgeon who had been recommended to my mum) Dr Sneddon agreed that jaw surgery with a brace first would be the only way forward and so transferred me to the NHS waiting list at The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex. Here I stayed for about 15 months until finally I was at the top and it was my turn. I have started this blog as at the time and now I really struggled to find information on SARPE (Surgically Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion) and Jaw surgery of someone in the UK who had gone through a similar process.
Braces as an adult are hard enough but walking around looking like you have no front teeth after SARPE and a face like a football after jaw surgery is even harder! At times I just wanted someone to chat to who was going through a similar thing.

So, first things first! The main reasons I wanted to go ahead with this were as follows:

• My teeth were straight but I hated my side profile!
• From the side my chin looked too far back and I appeared a bit "gormless" if that makes sense
• One of the downsides of a 12mm overbite means that your can't actually shut your lips together and that your mouth naturally hangs open (not a good look!)
• Snoring and breathing through the mouth rather than the nose
• Not being able to bite from the front and having to tear pretty much any food I ate....even a sandwich
• Advise which told me as I got older the problem would become more obvious and my hanging jaw would pull my whole face down causing premature aging and the possibility of jowls

When I had made the decision at 22 that braces wouldn't actually be so bad I literally wanted them right then and there and couldn't wait to get my jaw (or jaws as I later found out broken) Knowing I had to go on a waiting list was extremely frustrating and given the choice I probably would have paid quite a few thousand to bi-pass the waiting list but unfortunately as the process is a combination of orthodontics and surgery you are not able to have the braces privately and the surgery on the NHS...booooo! Unfortunately it's all or nothing and the purse strings meant NHS all the way!

In Decemeber 2007 I was finally told it was my turn and that my treatment would start with SARPE (Surgically Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion) something I wasn't aware was even necessary! This meant an opperation before I even got the braces!

On the 18th January 2008 (aged 23) I was admitted to the Queen Victoria Hospital for SARPE which was thevery start of the whole process!