Metal Mouth Message Board

I had double jaw surgery + genio 1.5 years ago. The results were okay as far as my bite goes, but my face is now distorted and looked botched. After a long battle of trying to look somewhat normal through prolonged orthodontics, I finally get my braces off next week.

I should be happy but instead I feel incredibly distraught. I have spent the past 1.5 years feeling insecure and very introverted. I used to be ridiculously outgoing pre-surgery.

I don't know how to cope. Has anyone been through this? Advice please?

you poor thing - feeling like that must be dreadful.
First I would consider seeing a therapist - possibly a cognitive one - to help you cope with these feelings.
Next, I would consider consulting with a plastic surgeon - they can really help post-surgical issues with injectable fillers and/ or implants. Do lots of research and make sure you speak to previous patients of a surgeon if you choose to go that route. There's a post somewhere on jawsurgeryforums.com about a surgeon who creates custom-made specially shaped implants to correct imbalances that remain after jaw surgery. It might help just to see that, even if just to rule it out as an option if you're not into that. I've asked that forum if anyone can locate the link for me as I can't find it right now - if they can I'll post it here for you asap.
Finally, you can consider seeing another jaw surgeon who specializes in aesthetics. Arnett and Gunson in Santa Barbara are known for this but are expensive - I'm not sure if insurance covers repeat surgeries. There are other great surgeons too. It might be worth just consulting with a few to see what they think of your surgery results and if they have any advice.
I believe you when you say you're unhappy with the results - especially since it's been 1.5 years, but sometimes people really get down and depressed with the changes simply because they don't adjust well to a new look. What do your friends and family say? What do you feel is 'off' about your looks right now?
Try not to despair, there are people who can help and if you really feel still very strongly about this (especially after some counseling sessions) then it may well be worth it to you to take some action. Good luck and I hope you feel better very soon.

Thanks, Beetle.

After my surgery, i repeatedly expressed my concerns. My orthodontist agreed my results were 'not desirable' but my surgeon refused to see anything wrong. My midlines match each other but are 2mm off from my nose and lips. Even though the plan was to move my upper jaw up and the lower forward, my surgeon decided last minute to rotate my jaw. I know have a cant (one side of teeth is higher than the other and my teeth slant to the side). Since my whole mouth is pushed over to the right and tilted, so is my chin. The chin looks awful. I smile and it protrudes so much....just on the one side.

At my one year check-up, I begged my surgeon to help me and he finally said he would. We even scheduled a surgery date. But insurance came back saying my bite is fine and my probs are all cosmetic. My surgeon dropped my case. I told him i would pay out of pocket but he said he'd make me look worse.

He sent me to a plastic surgeon but the plastic surgeon claimed he saw nothing wrong. I know i am not crazy. My orthodontist sees it, his assistants see it, my mom sees it. Same with my fiance, friends, and co-workers.

I cannot afford Arnett/Gunson. I would have gladly paid out of pocket back home but I cannot seem to get any docs to take my case. I have consulted with a few who said they'd help me but then they find out who my surgeon was and retract the offer. My surgeon is regarded as the best in my area.

So I feel incredibly helpless. I know it will be worse when my braces come off next week. I need to see a therapist. My quality of life is suffering. My fiance says I am not the same person anymore and it is rough because he was completely against the surgery in the first place. I feel like an idiot for doing this to myself.

Firstly, you're NOT an idiot. You trusted your surgeon, which everyone has to do at some point - we have no choice.
It sounds like you have very real concerns. The problem is often that surgeons will 'close ranks' and not want to acknowledge that anyone's work has gone wrong, least of all their own or that of a highly-regarded surgeon.
I'm so sorry insurance doesn't cover a re-do - I guess since technically your bite is OK, they can say you don't 'need' it.
I get that Arnett and Gunson are too expensive. I'm going with them and it's killing me completely financially!
However, I really encourage you to travel for some other opinions. Don't take no for an answer. You can do it on a budget and just drive/fly in for a day and have a consult with some surgeon(s). If there's one you like, some of them take payment plans.
Where do you currently live?
Over on jawsurgeryforums.com there is a section on great surgeons around the world and a lot of discussion on the strengths of different surgeons. You may be able to find some recommendations on there. I also was able to send my pictures over to this guy in Belgium http://www.mauricemommaerts.eu and he gave me a short opinion based just on my photos. He's also cheaper than a lot of US surgeons and considered one of the best too. It might be helpful just to hear what he has to say, even if you have no way to actually have surgery over there.
But definitely sounds like you need to find a good, solid therapist who can help you get through this - it's such a trauma. Even when surgery goes well, it's clearly really mentally hard on people to go through the changes. I understand you probably feel really low. I'm trying to prepare for that myself as surgery is in three weeks.
It sounds like implants aren't what you need but in case you're interested, someone on jawsurgeryforums.com remembered where the link was for those post-surgery implants:

http://dryaremchuk.com/english/orthognathic-surgery.htm

Do you really want to go through jaw surgery again? the bite is naturally influenced by the relationship with the jaws. any deviation outside of normal limits is simply unacceptable.

find the most respected third party doctor in your city or state and pay for the consult.

my advice would be to determine whether another jaw surgery is needed to correct your aesthetic result, or if facial implants/grafting/bone shaving is a better and more sensible route. if you get surgery again, you'll probably have to go through another round of braces, especially if you save money and decide to go with AG.

a general plastic surgeon probably won't see anything wrong. try and find an orthognathic surgery that is also a plastic surgeon, they are rare especially in the mid-west but big states like cali/ny/florida have many. consider europe as well.

Hello. Well, I got my braces off this week.... When they came off and I looked in the mirror, I was surprisingly pleased. However by the time we got all the glue off my teeth and got me in for impressions for my retainers (only 2 hours later), my teeth moved an incredible amount. Orthos says he has never seen such rapid movement and I swear he had no color in his face. So...I don't know what we are going to do. My canines caved in and my lateral incisors are like snaggleteeth. Looks like my teeth have a mind of their own... I have an appointment set up to figure out what we are going to do now. I cannot afford to put braces back on when I have no guarantee things will work a second time around.

So, another surgery cannot be in the works. This whole process has been a disaster for me. Surgery failed. Braces failed. I am disgusted with the whole process.

Rasperry, yes I was very happy with how I looked pre-surgery and pre-braces. I had a gummy smile which I disliked but it was not the end of the world. But my teeth were surprisingly straight, never having braces prior. I had facial pain because my bite was off though and I had a hard time eating and I would grind my teeth, etc. That is why I had surgery. I was told that I would relapse if I did braces only. Looks like I relapsed anyway...

Wanted to give an update. It has been two weeks since my braces came off. My front 4 teeth on my top arch are very mobile. I have seen my dentist and he says that my roots are blunted due to the orthodontic forces (root resorption) and we just need to wait and see what happens next. Potentially I could lose my teeth. So....needless to say I won't be having a redo surgery, nor will I be having any more orthodontic work.

Thank you all for your kind words. At this point, I think I will be ecstatic if I can keep my teeth a while longer.

Hi ktr78
Hope you get what you desire.Amen
Best Wishes

I understand completely. I;ve had quite a few setbacks which can be really frustrating! Hang in there.