get corrective jaw surgery

Yup, I got the surgery last December. I scheduled it over the holidays so I could take 6weeks off. They say you can go back to work after two weeks but eeks .. are you kidding me!! Have you ever seen that movie where eddie murphy gets really fat and for the movie he has to wear a prosthetic?? Well thats how your head is going to look for a couple weeks!! When I went out people thought I had some kind of disorder! Your teeth are going to be misaligned for a while and its 3-6 months to get them adjusted again. I still have my braces on so for me its approaching 12 months.

Its been a year and I’m happy to say I still look exactly like me! Initially the estimate on the move was 6-8mm but the outcome was only 3mm. If you look on a ruler its nothing!! If they’re not moving your jaw back by much its really not worth it. Nerve damage takes a long time to heal and I’m sure they gave you the talk on that, its serious, so take another read on it! What they don’t tell you is that even if the surgery goes well, you still have a long ways to go to get full feeling back in your chin. For me I still have trouble putting on lip gloss without a mirror and I’m always eating with a napkin because I have no clue if theres food on my face!!

The worst part is recovery, its pretty brutal! You’ll starve and lose water weight but then again you could gain weight because everything you eat will be a carbs and its going to spike your insulin.

You need to figure out why you’re getting the surgery and make sure you have the right support around you. Remember you will look very scary afterwards and swelling can take up to 6 months to fully go down.

Good luck!
Rose

I had no idea about maxillofacial corrective surgery existed until my Freshman yr of colloge some crazy dentist broke one of my wisdom teeth off in my gum and I had to go to an emergency appt the next day at an oral surgeon. I’ve always had a horizontal gap in between my teeth, but I never noticed how bad it looked until I saw myself speaking on camera. It makes me look as if I have no top teeth whatsoever. it’s a little kookie. Especially considering the fact that i have pretty large lips, it makes the appearance of my teeth almost impossible with my underbite. So I really want to do it. But I have done a little research and I hear the cost is something around 20-30G’s. That’s a good grip of money to be paying out of pocket considering the fact that most insurances dont cover it. I dont have any breathing problems or anything. Although I do find it hard to eat sometimes and it puts unecessary pressure on my molars that have to take the workload off the general incisors that dont come together in the front due to my underbite. Does anybody have any info that could help me out. I’d appreciate it.

I’ve survived week one. I’m currently trying to keep an eye on the big picture while taking this slow recovery process one day at a time.

I love coming back and reading my old entries, because it’s been long enough after the surgery now that I’m not angry, mad, or bitter, or pained by it :)

My jaw surgery was two years ago, and from what I remember, I experienced no pain…I don’t think any at all. However, the painful things were the adjustments I had to make to everyday life… the most obvious: EATING!

I had my jaw wired shut, and so I had only completely liquids for 6 full weeks. That means no applesauce, no pudding. Only soups, drinks, smoothies, Ensures, juice, and blended chicken noodle soup (sounds bad, actually very tasty). Sometimes I was just so dang hungry, and I couldn’t do anything about it, because I was already sick of the same old soups and juices day after day after day. That part was very frustrating and you need a tough mindset to concentrate your brain on something other than hunger.

2) The doctor instructed me to not lay down, so the blood will not rush to my face and thus will not cause greater swelling. The result: I slept sitting for about a month. This is also frustrating, because sometimes, you just felt so weak that you want to lay down comfortably and sleep, but you can’t really get fully comfortable sleeping while sitting.

3) My breath smelled BAD, and it was completely gross. The first week I was not allowed to use Listerine, so I could only brush the outside of my teeth with a baby toothbrush. You can taste and feel with your tongue the plaque build-up on your teeth. I remember VERY well the 6th day, when I couldn’t sleep at night because my mouth smelled so bad, and I started crying. Lolz. Be prepared to feel utterly gross!

4) Ice pads for the first weeks, heating pads for the last weeks. Can’t remember the numbers. This wasn’t so bad. You just have to sit there….

I’m pretty small – I started off at 100 lbs. I remember losing a pound a day the first week. I tried to reaaallly eat fattening things, such as a smoothie every couple hours (endless milk and ice cream – yummooo) and bottles of Ensure. By the 4th week I think I was 90 pounds, and stayed around 90 until the 6th week. I gained back those 10 pounds pretty quickly after I could eat again though.

So guys – for anyone who has to experience jaw surgery – don’t be scared!! The actual procedure is really not bad at all. They put you to sleep and when you wake up, you’re all done. All you gotta do is lay there :) There is virtually no pain, just swelling and tough life adjustments. But as long as you’re prepared to make some big sacrifices for a few weeks, YOU’LL DO GREAT!

I had jaw surgery 5weeks ago. My lower jaw was moved back 3mm (hardly anything!). Was it worth it? Well lets see … is it worth the nerve damage that takes time to heal? Difficulty in opening my mouth to eat because I’m still swollen? Unable to use my molars completely because the back teeth are not alligned anymore. Is it worth it to have to wear tight tight elastics that don’t allow me to open my mouth? The little scars from the stitches on both sides of my lower jaw? Is it worth not being to feel my chin or lower lip? Is it worth eating lots of ice cream and mash potatoes and not lose weight? Hmmm tough to say!

The good thing is my front teeth works now! I can actually bite down and tear things. So dispite all that stuff i just wrote, I’m glad I did the surgery but if you had asked me 2wks after the surgery I probably had a different answer for you then!

hey
so i had the upper jaw surgery last friday and today is my 5th day post surgery and i am still feeling A.W.F.U.L. I went and look up other people’s blogs and sites and all their pictures after 4 days of surgery are amazing compared to what I look like. My nose is pushed up and HUGE, my lips are huge, and my cheeks are huge. But what i am concern about is my nose…what if it stays like this? I look worse than before!!! can anyone share me their experience? especially with the nose? I am really scared. On the plus side, my profile improve but arhhh my nose!!! Should i do something more about the swelling? I’m 17 so supposedly it should heal fast but it seems not to. :/

any help is appreciated
xx

I had corrective jaw surgery and 3 wisdom teeth out last tuesday. I was so glad to be able to go after having to stay 2 nights in hospital. I had the most severe pain on 3 days post op (my birthday) which was disapointing, but most probably because I wasnt on morphin anymore. I find that sleeping on my back every night to be the most difficultest thing. I am starting to eat more and more each day, which is great :D I have already lost 2 kilograms and i cant really afford to loose anymore as I am only 45 kilograms now!
The swelling on my cheeks and chin is going down more and more each day but im still very bruised on my chin down to my collar bone.
As each day goes on I become more postive and need less pain killers :D Im seeing my surgeon on Wednesday and he is going to teeth me how to change my elastics.

how did you guys decide to go through with surgery? was it your doctor or ortho or dentist that suggested it? Im just wondering if i should pursue this since none of my doctors seems concerned about it now.

I have had my braces on for over a year now and I have an appointment to see my surgeon in about 3 weeks to see if the braces have done their job and I am ready to have the corrective jaw surgery and have my 3 wisdom teeth removed at the same time.

Thinking about it now I know that it is the right thing for me to do and that it is for the best, but that doesnt stop me from being nervous.

I have a few questions.. maybe you guys can answer who have gone through the process.
1.How long are you in Hospital for after the surgery?
2.How painful is it?
3.How long does the swelling last for?
4.How long do you have to have your braces on after the surgery?

I have a date set for June 30. I am so excited, but everyday that it gets closer I am slowly getting a little scared.