Metal Mouth Message Board

Jaw surgery would be covered by medical health insurance, not dental. In the U.S., the only thing that dental insurance might cover would be the orthodontic treatment (braces) and only up to age 19. I had to pay for my braces myself because I was over 19, but my medical insurance covered my surgery ...

How long before you started to look decent and people didn't notice you had swelling? I would say that the majority of my swelling was gone by 2 months. If people looked at me they wouldn't have been able to tell that I still had swelling. But to me, I could still feel some puffiness in my cheeks a...

It's the swelling. In the second picture she's only 35 days post-op and she had upper and lower jaw surgery. There will still be a lot of swelling at this stage. Even at 4 months post-op, I still had swelling. It wasn't until 6 months, that things started to get more defined. Every month you will no...

Many people who have dramatic changes are those who had both upper and lower jaw surgery. If you're only having lower jaw surgery, you don't have to worry about things like your nose changing (which can happen with upper jaw surgery). Are you having both upper and lower? In your post you mentioned l...

Thanks for the kind words! I emailed you.

Hi Jessica, I had it done with my original maxillo surgeon. It would be considered cosmetic since it doesn't have anything to do with any functional aspect (i.e. the bite is fine). I think any oral surgeon or plastic surgeon would be able to perform this procedure. I actually didn't have to pay for ...

Peskywabbit - The same thing happened to me. I also had a genioplasty and after a year once the swelling went down and I could see the final result, I hated it because my chin was off-center and too far out. It also made it hard to close my mouth without chin wrinkling. As you said, it made it look ...

You say that your chin looks lopsided but your bite is fine? Did you have genioplasty along with lower jaw surgery? Maybe you actually don't need another lower jaw surgery but a shaving of the bone to make that side more even. A consult with the surgeon will tell you for sure. Let us know how it goes!

If you're wired shut you'll have to wait until you're unwired. Being able to brush the back of my teeth was one of the things I looked forward to the most once I got unwired. After 5 weeks the inside of my mouth and teeth were feeling pretty gritty. I know it's a very unpleasant feeling. But don't w...

I was told by my orthodontist as a teenager that I would need jaw surgery because of the uneven way my jaws grew. I thought about it for the next 10 years but was too afraid to do anything about. Finally I decided that I wasn't getting any younger and my jaws weren't getting any better (in fact, the...

Minerva - The surgeon will tell you how many mm he will be moving your jaw(s) after looking at your x-rays and molds/models.

Hi thepseudophone, Don't worry, the first 5 days are the worst. After a week, you should start to feel better. You're lucky you're already on soft foods now! I guess it's different if you only get one jaw done. Most people who have both jaws done have to be on a liquid diet for a few weeks. Are you ...

Good luck, thepseudophone! Hope your surgery went well! Let us know how you're doing.

My surgeon told me that my nose would widen slightly and be a bit more upturned after the upper jaw advancement. But I had a fairly narrow nose to begin with so the effect wasn't too much. It did take some time to get used to the new look of my nose because previously my nostrils weren't visible whe...

I just realized that there's no thread for the June buddies. There must be people having surgeries in June. I've already had my surgery but I still come here to support those who have just had surgery and to follow everyone's progress. Post here if you're having surgery in June! Good luck everyone!