Minor moan - another 4-6 months sentence for me :(

Message

#1 Post by **dubnobass** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 5:44 am

I'm coming up to my 4-month anniversary after bimax surgery to correct lower jaw underdevelopment and assymetry and upper cant/gummy smile. Ever since the surgery, I've been in various permutations of elastics to close my post-surgical posterior open bite. It's gone from 5mm post-surgery on both sides to molars-just-about-touching in places on the left. The right is still Â½mm away from my molars touching.

On the plus side, I have regained some degree of feeling everywhere but the gums above my upper front teeth. Apparently it's unlikely I will ever regain feeling here, as the nerve that serves the gum here gets completely severed during the LeFort. The gum numbness also has tha added benefit of my braces and elastics not hurting anymore.

On the minus side, my orthodontist predicted today that the braces would come off in another 3-4 visits. I'm back to 6-weekly visits at the moment, so I could be looking at May or June before these things come off. That means I'll have been braced for 3 years.

I'm just so bored of having braces now. I'd hoped they'd be off by the end of March, but no. Lots of other people on here seem to get their braces whipped off within days of their swelling going down.

#2 Post by **smile2006** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:25 am

I feel for you! I had my braces for over a year after my surgery. I too felt very anxious to get them off. It stinks to have to wait so long but the results are worth it. Hang in there!

#3 Post by **asd** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:25 am

ooo i know exactly how you feel, im so fed up of my braces too,

. Im now 6 months post op. A few months ago i was told braces should be ready to come of very soon but i keep going back and their just keeps being more problems with teeth moving, and im also still in bands which im ment to weat 24 7 but thats impossible. Anyway im noe hoping that tbraces will be able to come off by Febuary, if not it will also be coming up for 3 years for me aswel, just got to hang in there, atleast when its all finished we should have lovely straight teeth and it will all be worth it - i hope!

#4 Post by **ohmyjaw** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:57 am

The soonest I can hope to have my braces off is February, which will make it 11 months post surgery for me.

I was never aware that the nerve going to the gums above the upper front teeth gets severed! Guess I'll stop waiting for that feeling to come back. Sheesh. I wish they would tell us these things.

#5 Post by **Mikatgeo** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:04 am

We all feel your pain, dubnobass. I was just handed down the same sentence.

I'm over 2 months post op for a bimax to correct a class III overbite with asymmetry and a slight anterior open bite and I'm feeling the same numbness in my upper gums that you described. I was curious if you can feel any sensation in your teeth when you bite down. I was completely numb but lately I've had some sensation in just my front teeth. Chewing is still very strange - kind of like false teeth. As you said, it makes ortho adjustments and elastics much more bearable when you can't feel anything but I'm a little worried about permanent numbness. No feeling in the gums is no fun but I'd hate to think of no feeling when I chew. How is it for you?

#6 Post by **Nryan** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:58 am

Hi there,

I am about to start the whole process myself. I am getting braces put on on Jan 29th. I will likely need upper and lower jaw surgery to fix my overbite/gummy smile.

They will move my upper jaw up (as it grew too far down resulting in my gummy smile and longish face) and back and my lower jaw slightly forward.

I am really scared about how this will impact the rest of my face, especially my nose!

Could anyone here offer some insight on how their nose changed after this type of surgery? I can't find info on this anywhere

Any info/personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!!

thanks!!

~N

#7 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:33 pm

Dubnobas,
Regarding the gums above your teeth. I'm not sure where that info came from but my doctor said he has never had a patient yet that has not regained full feeling in their upper palate after Lefort 1. It just takes time....When I had my SARPE it took almost 16 months to get full feeling back everywhere. I'm at 7 months post op, and just this week my upper teeth have been really burny with lots of feeling in my upper gums coming back. I know this is the case as I remember this feeling well when I was healing from my palate expansion. My doctor did say that the front incisors and canines are usually the last to get feeling as it does take the nerve awhile to recover. I found that my left front incisor and my second incisor were the very last to come back, and not until the end of week 16. So....do not give up hope, it should return eventually.

#8 Post by **dubnobass** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:00 am

Nryan wrote: They will move my upper jaw up (as it grew too far down resulting in my gummy smile and longish face) and back and my lower jaw slightly forward.

I am really scared about how this will impact the rest of my face, especially my nose!

Could anyone here offer some insight on how their nose changed after this type of surgery? I can't find info on this anywhere

Difficult to predict, as everybody's soft facial tissue differs. I think generally speaking, if you have the upper jaw brought forward and/or down, it tends to make your nose wider and tilt upwards. If you have impaction (as you will be having, and as I had), it's not supposed to affect the nose very much at all.

Having said that, my nose has definitely changed after the surgery and has widened by 3-4mm at the base. I don't think it has tilted at all.. it's just wider. What I'm not sure of yet is whether this will be a permanent change or not - I most certainly still have some degree of swelling on my lower jaw so wouldn't be surprised if that was also true of the upper (though it's less obvious because it's near my cheeks). Just by pressing the skin either side of my nose, I seem to be able to widen/narrow the base of my nose.. so if there's swelling, that will put pressure on the skin and give me a wider nose.

As swelling can take up to 18 months to go completely.. well, I'll let you know this time next year if my nose changed after the surgery or not!

#9 Post by **Nryan** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:25 pm

Thanks very much for the insight!!

I'm not sure why there is such limited info on soft tissue changes...even though it is so hard to predict and depends largely on the individual case, I wish there was more info... thanks again for your reply

Best of luck with the swelling!