The Journey Begins

[ (February 13, 2013) (Hours before surgery) ]

Well actually, it began years ago.  A simple chipped tooth sent me to my first dental appointment ever at 26 years old.  After careful examinations by dentists, orthodontists and oral surgeons, it was unanimous that surgery would be the only answer to my mess of a mouth.  My top row of teeth don't sit on the outside of the bottom row.  Pretty much, I have a narrow upper jaw and with this device it will open it up over a few months.

SARPE stands for surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion.  They made a mold of my teeth, made the metal appliance, last Tuesday it was cemented to my teeth and I'm ready to go to surgery in just a few hours.  To my understanding, the surgery consists of cutting into my gums and cracking open my top jaw.  With the appliance came a key, which I will turn daily until my jaw is set to the correct position.  In doing so, it will give me a sweet gap in my two front teeth going from Letterman to Sponge Bob.

When telling people this, two main questions come about: Why and why now?

Why is because my narrow jaw is making my teeth to clank together causing my gums to recede.  So it's live with this for a few years now, or spend decades later dealing with fake teeth.  Also, my crowded teeth make it tough to clean between them which is leading to gum disease which could lead to heart disease.  Of course all of this pain and anguish will also lead to me having a perfect smile!  A perfect smile will take me from an extremely handsome gent, to a perfect specimen.

Why now is because I didn't know I had this problem until about a year and a half ago.  At the time I found out, I was just getting engaged.  After my jaw is set, I'm going to need braces for a while as well to set my teeth in place.  I didn't want to look foolish for the rest of my life with braces in my wedding photos.

This past week, living with the device has been a little annoying.  I sound like a teenager with braces when I talk.  I've gotten somewhat used to it and I'll have a good stretch where I sound perfect but it doesn't last long.  I salivate constantly causing spit to build up all day.  Eating is also terribly annoying.  Things get stuck in the tiny space between the device and my palate and it's tough to get out unless you have a toothpick or something similar.  The outsides of the device are sharp like braces, so it's been cutting into the inside of my mouth as well.  The wife hooked me up with some dental wax halfway through the week and that problem was taken care of.

We also stocked up on some liquid foods over the past week getting ready for surgery.  Can't wait to eat ice cream, applesauce and pudding all day.  We also got fruit to make smoothies and I know we got some root beer so I'll be drinking floats too.

That's all for now.  Wish me luck and I'll be home later with my gap.  I took some pictures earlier and I'll be taking them all along the journey for before and after shots.  Stick with me to see how the story unfolds...

-Joe