The Ordeal

“It was after the scan that the orthodontist noticed something that would change my life forever. He asked if I ever had sinus issues.“

Theresa Christensen

It’s hard to believe that Summer is here once again. It seems like we were just ringing in the new year. This year hasn’t been an easy one. It was just before the new year that I noticed that something was off about my smile. It seemed that things were shifting and crowding pretty rapidly, so I took a trip to the dentist, who said that I should look into getting braces to correct my bite. I went to the orthodontist who treats my children for a consultation. He agreed that crowding was causing some severe issues with my teeth. Most notably, my teeth were drawing down, which would eventually lead to them coming out. He did not believe that braces alone would fix the issue.

Wait, What?

He started telling me about a type of upper jaw surgery called SARPE (Surgically Assisted Rapid Palate Expansion), in which they open up the roof of the mouth, or the “palate,” and expand the upper jaw to make more room for one’s teeth and correct any issues with the bite. They would insert a palate expander, then surgically cut open the roof of the mouth and make two fractural incisions from the nose to the outside of the jaw on both sides of the skull. He lost me at that. It seemed like a far too invasive procedure to fix my teeth. The alternative would be to get the braces and eventually have teeth extracted to make more space. Before I left, he offered to do some panoramic scans of my head, just in case I changed my mind and decided to seek a consultation with a maxillofacial surgeon.

What If…

It was after the scan that the orthodontist noticed something that would change my life forever. He asked if I ever had sinus issues. I have had a plethora of sinus issues for the last 30 years. I was getting chronic sinus migraines, sinus infections, and ear infections. I snored, I had terrible allergies, and I had sinus pressure and pain on a daily basis. It would often cause me to miss work as well as activities and events. I also had a very difficult time breathing through my nose. I was a constant mouth-breather. The scan showed that my upper jaw was so narrow that not only were my teeth not lined up, causing the open bite and what’s known as a “crossbite” in the back of the mouth, but the jaw was pinching my nasal passageways nearly completely closed. That was enough for me to seek a consultation with a surgeon.

OK, This is Scary

I first met with Dr. Michael Schwartz in December of 2024. He showed me a PowerPoint presentation detailing the procedure, and I nearly passed out. Once they made the three incisions in the skull, known as a “Lefort,” I would begin turning the expander to widen the palate. This would leave me with an 11mm gap between my front teeth, and then I would finally get the braces to bring the teeth back together.

You might have a child who had a palate expander and be wondering why they never needed this surgery. Up until about age 14, the palate and jaw are still pliable enough to expand and move. As an adult, it’s all hard bone, and turning the expander would cause teeth to crack and possibly break your jaw. By making those three incisions, it allows the jaw to widen and the palate to expand without breaking any bones. Four metal plates would hold the jaw together as the bone started to heal and regenerate. The palate would only be held together by the expander.

Here We Go

I told him that day that if there was even a 50% chance that this surgery could eliminate my sinus issues, I was in. I had the palate expander placed in my mouth on February 18th and surgery on February 20th. It was done at Northshore LIJ under general anesthesia. The procedure started at 7:30am, and I woke up in the recovery room at about 1pm, completely bandaged up and very “out of it.” I was home that night.

And Then Came The Recovery…

The first week was terrible. There was a lot of pain and swelling. I was worried that my face would never look normal again. A week following the procedure, I had to turn the key on the palate expander and begin my 11 mm expansion. Since I couldn’t do it myself, my husband did it for me twice a day. “Through sickness, and in health…” as they say…

Since I was deemed a healthy, fit person, the doctors recommended that I take about three weeks off from work. It’s highly beneficial to be in good physical shape before undergoing any surgical procedure. It generally reduces healing time and lessens the chance of complications. I was not allowed to lift anything heavy for 4 to 6 weeks following the procedure. As a personal trainer and fitness instructor, these instructions did not fit into my lifestyle. However, I didn’t want to jeopardize my recovery.

How I Did It

The first week was very difficult. I was in a lot of pain, and my face was extremely swollen. I had no energy and was on a liquid diet. I made a conscious decision that if I was going through with this surgery, I was going to use my knowledge as a personal trainer and nutrition coach to heal quickly and come out of this as healthy as possible.

For my nutrition, I put a focus on consuming only nutritionally dense foods. I wasn’t going the typical “ice cream and milkshakes” route. The first week was a lot of bone broth, egg drop soup, and protein shakes. By the second week, I was able to consume soft foods, such as scrambled eggs, yogurt, avocado, flaky fish, and mashed sweet potatoes. I ate pretty much the same meals every day: yogurt with protein powder, almond butter, and cinnamon for breakfast, egg salad made with good quality tuna in oil and mashed avocado for lunch, cottage cheese as a snack, and some fish or ground turkey with sweet potatoes for dinner. Getting vegetables in was difficult without feeling like I was eating baby food, so I was conscious of taking my vitamins and greens supplements every day. My supplement routine was a little insane, but I credit the routine to aiding in my rapid healing. I took Mary Ruth’s liquid vitamins, liquid collagen, bovine colostrum, and Naked Greens every day. I also supplemented my meals with a Naked whey protein shake daily.

The Road Back

I returned to Fitness Incentive about 2.5 weeks post-surgery. At this point, the gap in my teeth was at the full 11 mm expansion, so I was a little crazy looking. I needed to get out and move, though. The surgeon advised that movement would help with healing. I started with walks on the treadmill, and next, I was able to go back to indoor cycling. At four weeks, I was cleared for lifting light weights, specifically under 10 lbs. I was teaching two strength classes per week, two spin classes, and training on my own 1 to 2 days a week. I was also walking more, at least 30 minutes per day.

At eight weeks post-surgery, I was fully cleared to do whatever my body would allow. I kept up my routine and started lifting heavier weights. I tracked my progress post-surgery by undergoing an InBody scan the day I returned. That initial scan showed that I had lost 8.5 lbs of body water between having such invasive surgery and being on a very limited diet for 2.5 weeks. Although my weight was down, my body fat remained the same, as I had lost only water weight, which correlates with lean body mass. I was determined to increase my LBM and get it back to where I started while losing body fat, something that I do for my clients on a regular basis. It was time to do the same for myself. Since March, my body fat has decreased by 17 pounds, and my lean body mass has not only returned to its pre-surgery level but also increased by about 1.5 pounds. My visceral fat is down 5 points thanks to clean eating and eliminating most processed foods.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

I got my braces on May 5th, and my teeth are starting to shift back together. I’m breathing through my nose, I’ve stopped snoring, and I haven’t had one headache. I’ve had no allergy symptoms, no sinus or ear infections, and I just feel great overall. My workouts have also improved as a result of being able to breathe more freely. I’m still getting used to the changes in my face. They said it will be six months to a year before I have no swelling and will see the final results of the surgery. I also have to bear the discomfort of the braces and the palate expander, and, of course, the “under construction” look of my teeth, but ultimately, I’m happy that I went through with the surgery, and I would absolutely do it again. Now, there are only 96 days until I get this palate expander removed, but who’s counting?