Before and after jaw widening

Throughout my whole SARME experience I have of course noticed my jaw getting wider.  This is mainly because of the gap that has formed between my front teeth.  However because I look at myself every day, I don't think I realised just how much wider my jaw actually is.  Last night I took a photograph of the roof of my mouth and compared this to the same photograph I took before the surgery/widening and I am truly amazed at the difference.  So here are the photographs side by side, so you can see the difference too!  When I look at these, I have no doubt that I am doing the right thing.

Enjoy the lovely nostril shots...

SARME surgery post-op day seven - Look at my gap!

It has now been seven days since my SARME surgery and I'm glad to say that everything is going pretty well.

I went to see my Maxillofacial Surgeon for the first time since the procedure and he has commented that my gums are nice and pink and that I look like I am healing fast.  I still have no feeling in my upper teeth and my gums are completely numb, but he has said it can take months for the feeling to come back!  I mentioned to him my concern over one side of my jaw sitting slightly lower than the other, but he assures me this is normal and that it will be fixed up during both orthodontics and my bi-maxillary surgery next year.

I'm really surprised with how quick my upper jaw is widening.  I know I said before that it would widen by 0.25mm with each turn and yes I know it's called a 'rapid' maxillary expansion, but I didn't realise how quickly it would become a large gap.  After four days of turning the gap is extremely noticeable and I am able to do all sorts of tricks with my gap such as whistle or direct a stream of water through it.

Anyway that's all for now - enjoy the photos below and check out my sexy (not) gap!

I'm sexy and I know it

I can almost fit a straw through the middle

SARME surgery post-op day three - I've started turning!

Three days after my SARME surgery and I am still feeling no pain, however I have been extremely exhausted and sleeping loads.

Today I went for an appointment with my orthodontist to start the adjustments/turns on my expansion device.  I freaked out a little inside when he put the mini spanner into my mouth and shook (quite visibly) as he made the very first turn.  I was so convinced that it was going to hurt, but to my surprise it didn't.  My orthodontist gave me instructions on adjusting my expander and within five minutes I was finished.

The SARME surgery on Monday split the jaw bone which allows the upper jaw to move and now by turning the device I am making my upper jaw wider.  This is not a slow process (theres a reason they call it 'rapid' maxillary expansion) as my jaw is widening by 0.25mm with each turn.  After the first turn by the orthodontist I could already notice a gap (however this did not come out in the photo below) so it's reasonable to say that I will be looking like Cletus from The Simpsons in no time.  

That's all for now - just a quick post.  I will update more in the days to come.

With this ring, I thee bled!

Ok, so grammatically the title of this post is pretty rubbish, but hey - I'm trying to be funny!

I went back to the orthodontist on Tuesday - just 24 hours after having my spacers put in.  The spacers were removed and the rings (which will eventually be connected to the SARME / expander device) were sized for my upper molars and front upper teeth.  I think I had become complacent about pain as the spacers did not hurt or cause any discomfort - but I can tell you, having the rings fitted soon kicked me back to reality!

The process of sizing the rings involves sliding various different metal rings up over the teeth in question (quite roughly I might add) in order to find ones which are the perfect fit around the tooth - not too tight and not too loose.  The rings hit my gums a number of times and I could feel the edges of them against the inside of my cheeks as well as against my tongue.  This caused some discomfort but luckily the whole process only took 20 minutes or so.

Once the metal rings were fitted I had some impressions made and the rings were removed - phew!  The impressions will be sent to the lab to have the device built and this will be 'installed' on 4th March. Oh happy day!

The spacers are in!

It's all finally happening!  I had an orthodontist appointment today and got the spacers put in ready for the expansion device which should go in about a week from now.  The spacers are simply little plastic discs that are placed in between teeth to create a larger space in between them.

I had four spacers placed in total (two on each side of my upper jaw) and I have to say they are not as uncomfortable as I was led to believe.  My orthodontist had warned me to take some painkillers as he said there would be soreness and I did take a couple of painkillers over twelve hours ago, but I have felt no pain whatsoever.

While its not the most attractive pose, here you can see one of the blue spacers in my upper jaw - they're kinda cute :)

I'll be back in to see the orthodontist tomorrow to have the final impressions made for the expansion device. Three weeks and counting!