Hi - I haven't posted on here since before I got my braces (1 year ago) but I check in frequently to see how everyone's getting on! There is so much useful advice on here - I've been much better prepared when talking to my consultants because I know what kind of questions to ask The before and after pics are definitely encouraging - I'll try and post some of my own eventually.
Lots of people seem to have had BSSO. I know what it stands for, but what does it mean? I'm having a Bimaxillary osteotomy - is that the same? Basically they're moving my lower jaw back and my upper up, along with two wisdom teeth extractions and a reduction genioplasty. Sounds like the surgeons will be busy! I'm going in next Friday - meep! (to Addenbrookes in Cambridge - anyone else?)
Incidentally, has anyone encountered loss of sensation in their tongue after surgery? The max-fac surgeon threw that one into the mix when I spoke to her last week. She said it's 'very rare'!!
Ah - no wiring. Plates and screws for me, and that is the procedure they described. Now I know
I was amused (?!) when they'd listed the risks of losing sensation in my upper and lower lips, chin, cheeks and tongue, and then said 'but it shouldn't affect your speech'! I'm fairly pragmatic about that, though - it sounds scary when you get a complete breakdown of everything that can go wrong, but better to know the risks beforehand...
Looks like Meryaten has the bases covered withe the different procedures
FWIW, I had bimax surgery and the very tip of my tongue was numb for a few weeks after the op. I think it regained feeling around the same time as the roof of my mouth, and the areas under my eyes, around 3-4 weeks. My lower lip took a while longer to regain feeling - the right hand side came recovered some feeling after 5-6 weeks, and the left hand side came back to life after about 3 months. I still don't have complete feeling back, it's probably about 60% of what it was before at ~8 months post op, but it's certainly good enough for normal speech, now. I did actually struggle to speak normally for a the first 3 months - partly because of numb lips, partly because my lower jaw was really stiff.
Braced May 2005
Bimaxillary surgery Aug 2007
Debraced Jun 2008
I had this! I had pretty serious numbness on the whole left side of my tongue all the way to the tip. It was very burny and uncomfortable for about 3 months, then started to taper off and get better. At 10 months post op I still have some slight numbness on the left edge and left tip of my tongue. It does feel like it is gradually coming back so I'm confident it will eventually get back to normal.
I had Upper, Lower, and Genio done and my doctor swears that they did not even come close to my lingual nerves, nor touch them at all during the surgery. He seemed very baffled by my numbness, and honestly very surprised. I have however heard this can be a side effect of Genio to though, so perhaps it was the genioplasty that caused it and not the BSSO. MY doctor agreed that given everything that was done during my surgery and all that is involved with the genio that it sounded quite feasible that that is what may have caused it. Either way though, I had/have numbness.
I can tell you that I know a guy that had BSSO surgery a couple years back and he lost feeling and taste in half of his tongue and it has not returned. He is used to it now and says it he doesn't really notice anymore, but IT IS permanent.
last February in 2007 I embarked on the second stage of my combined orthodontic treatment to sort out my cross and open bite problems, the bi-maxillary facial osteotemy (bottom jaw (mandibular) split & le fort 1 top jaw). I questioned the surgeons and consultant orthodontists conerning the side affects of the surgery and the usual facts of numbness and pain post surgery.
I arrived at hospital for my first op feeling ok. When I woke up I was told by the surgeon that he had some difficulty getting my jaw to bite properly together and that he was going to have to do it again. (to be honest when I looked in the mirror it didn't even look like they had made any changes just that my face was swelled and I was in alot of pain). I returned to hopsital a few weeks later to have the operation on the lower jaw done again (top jaw okay) in order to correct the problems the surgeons were experiencing before. The operation went ahead and again when I woke up I was told that he still couldnt get it right and that they would have to try again the following day which they did. So after the 3RD attempt they decided the only way to get my jaw to bite how they wanted was to wire the jaws together for 5 weeks which they did during the 3rd op.
The result now is very good to look at even though I have been messed around I feel I was not advised properly according to my specific case and given the correct amount of information. It is certainly true that they do not tell you everything and that you should ask as many questions as you can.
To be honest I do not have any numbness now further to the op apart from the upper gums which have not returned to normal. The problem I have now (and I have been back several times to try and get something done about it) is that my tongue now has reformed in a strange shape on the right hand side of my month which makes it difficult to speak and is very annoying. I have enquired about them shaving off a small section of the tongue where their seems to be some waste tissue as a result of the operation but they are reluctant to do anything about it which is most disheartening. I have been told in this case also that the tongue may have been that way before, which is absolute rubbish.
What is more when the fixed braces were removed I noticed a piece of tooth had come off one of my teeth. When I commented on it I was told that it must have happened before and in fact it looks like it has had some previous reconstructive work, and because of this I would have to get my dentist to sort it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!(at cost no doubt)
I am still awaiting a proper clean, scale, and polish which is what they told me they would do post treatment, but it seems this may not be the case.
As you can probably tell, a rather bemused customer of the NHS.
This no doubt is a very specific case of problems occuring during this type of treatment, but make sure you ask as many questions as possible and get the facts!
sorry to hear youve had probs with the nhs, my treatment from thems been great (not trying to rub your nose in it, just dont want all nhs peeps to think they need to worry) sure ive had alot of probs,but dont blame the nhs for them. Tho they did take out the wrong tooth, but they have done everything poss to rememdy this.
Why didnt they just re-do the surgery straight away rather than waking you up, then have a 3rd attempt the next day? As i had probs with my bite too during surgery, and i didnt leave the theatre till they were 100% happy with my bite, it then relapsed slightly and i was banded tightly for 7 weeks to correct it. Id ask for a 2nd opinion on why 3 surgerys was necessary.
Hope you have no more problems.
Braces on 11th June 2006,~ BSSO and Wisdom tooth removal 11th February 2008,~ Plate Removal 14th May 2008,~ Braces off 28th August 2008.
The surgeons i work for call it a BSSRO (Bilateral Sagittal Split Ramus Osteotomy). The reason for the (possbly permenant) numbness is the nerves that run through your lower jaw, mainly the inferior alveolar nerve.
I've marked in yellow the nerve, as it travels through the mandible. I've marked in red the mental foramen (hole in the bone) where it exits the mandible and spreads out into the cheek and lip, gums etc where it provides feeling. The big thing to note here is that the inerior alveolar nerve provides only feeling! Its not a moving nerve! So while you'll still be able to move and everything, you might not be able to feel it or you could have a tingly or crawly sensation that usually fades with time! One of the surgeons I work for has permenant damage to a small branch of the inferior alveolat nerve, and he has a patch about the size of a quarter on his lower lip/chin thats numb. He appears totally normal and functions fine. He says he doesn't even notice anymore! Anyway, just thought I'd share a little anatomy lesson there! If you have any more questions, I'd be glad to ask one of the Docs I work for!
The before and after pics are definitely encouraging - I'll try and post some of my own eventually.
