Jaw surgery

degausserxo

After years of awful public orthodontic treatment as a young teenager, I decided to be seen privately about the application of tracks. Sent xrays into my new dentist and had another appointment this morning, where she talked me through my treatment options.

Basically, my jaws don't meet where they should, and I can either get a removable device to fix this, which would add over a year in terms of treatment, or get surgery. As well as the jaw problem, the bone under my nose/above my teeth is quite short compared to most people, so when I smile you can't actually see my teeth. I've been told that the removable device and tracks won't fix this, but that surgery will. As well as that, the orthodontist said that the surgeon would be able to shave some bone/remove soft tissue from my chin, which is something I'm very conscious of.

I'm not objecting to the surgery, I'd rather have it over and done with than prolong the treatment further than is necessary. I'm waiting on a call from a surgeon in Vincent's at the minute to schedule an appointment detailing the surgery (got a summary of it from the orthodontist, basically have to have the bones rotated, plated and partially shaved).

Has anyone had this surgery or one similar? What was your experience of it? Did it heal okay, stuff like that? And did your profile change drastically? Thanks!

Dixie Chick

Hiya

Yes, I did! 6 months ago tomorrow actually, i had a bimax jaw surgery. I had an open bite and also one side of my jaw was longer than the other so my teeth never met.

I had my surgery done publicly (waited about a year for that but had braces the whole time in between to prepare for surgery and also to get them straight) in Cork Dental Hospital under Prof Duncan Sleeman.

My experience was very positive really. I mean I never felt ANY pain, I managed the drugs they gave me very well. I did get discomfort alright when they put elastics on the braces to position the jaw but i couldnt honestly class that as pain.
You are on a liquid diet for a good 6 weeks, soups, yazoos, smoothies, complan and chocolate milk will be all thats in your fridge but eventually you can move to mashed potato and scrambled eggs, anything you dont have to chew really. I lost a shed load of weight but made a very good attempt at my Christmas dinner (2 months later)

Yes, its healed well. I am still using elastics to hold the jaw in place now. I am getting the braces off this saturday (:D) and I can honestly say I am happoy with my new jaw placement

Did my profile change? Yes, subtly but unbelievably so. When i first got it done and the swelling went down (prepare for 6 weeks and occasional puffiness even now) people were like OMG when they saw me. People had said beforehand there was nothing wrong with me but really saw improvement when it was done.

Ask away anything you need to know im more than happy to answer anything.

pinkfloyd34

i had the surgery for an over bite, same as above no pain but uncomfortable and when elastics go on be prepared not to eat and that can be hard to get used to but i was able to go on mashed potatoe after a week so maybe there is different lengths of time for different types of surgery, i had the elastics banding the jaws together full time for 1 week but then the surgeon said i could take them off to eat soft food and brush my teeth and then put them back on myself with a tweesers he gave me, im on my 4th week now and i hardly even notice them so you do get used to it and im delighted with the results, probably the best decision i have ever made, when i was in my first week i was actually regretting it because i couldnt sleep properly or eat anything and there were hard times but after the first week it did get easier, complan was my saviour

day dreamer

Glad that the surgery worked out for you Pinkfloyd

It is not for everybody so anyone who has this option should consider it carefully. In general the results can be amazing but there significant risks and these should be discussed and explained before treatment starts,

bobbyg

pinkfloyd34 wrote: »

i had the surgery for an over bite, same as above no pain but uncomfortable and when elastics go on be prepared not to eat and that can be hard to get used to but i was able to go on mashed potatoe after a week so maybe there is different lengths of time for different types of surgery, i had the elastics banding the jaws together full time for 1 week but then the surgeon said i could take them off to eat soft food and brush my teeth and then put them back on myself with a tweesers he gave me, im on my 4th week now and i hardly even notice them so you do get used to it and im delighted with the results, probably the best decision i have ever made, when i was in my first week i was actually regretting it because i couldnt sleep properly or eat anything and there were hard times but after the first week it did get easier, complan was my saviour

How long do you have to wear the elastics for?

pinkfloyd34

bobbyg wrote: »

How long do you have to wear the elastics for?

i had to wear the elastics for 6 weeks but after 1.5 weeks the surgeon gave me a little tweesers and bag of elastics and i could remove them to eat soft foods and brush my teeth and then put them back on myself, might sound difficult but its very easy to do, and then the hunger thing is not an issue anymore

pinkfloyd34

surgeon said that in some cases after surgery that the jaw goes back to its original position after a few years, its just the jaw was so used to being in that position that it reverts back itself, he didnt give me the chances of this happening, i will have to ask him more questions about this when i see him again but just wondering did anyone hear of this or experience it, tried to google it but doesnt throw up anything

pablop

Hey pinkfloyd, did you get your surgery fully covered by insurance? ( can u pm me the compay name?? and who was your surgeon??