How wide can you open?

Message

#1 Post by **jdon** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:59 am

Hi all,

For those of you that are post-op, how wide can you open your mouth? The reason I ask is that I have to do some breathing tests in April (will be about 5 months post op) and I think I will have to be able to put my mouth around some of the test devices. Right now I can only open about 2 fingers wide and am 2 months post-op.

Thanks!

#2 Post by **ORTHO12** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:17 pm

Im 5 months and I am 4 fingers wide since 3 months

#3 Post by **trish222** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:23 pm

I'm 5 months post-op and can only open 2 fingers wide-ortho 12-any advice? I use tongue depressors and can get up to 17 wide. My ortho put me in elastics for 12 hours a day from 24 hours last month and now my bite has relapsed and now back to elastics more hours and jaw stretching less. Any advice would be appreciated.

#4 Post by **trish222** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:24 pm

-oops-even worse I'm 6 months post-op!!!

#5 Post by **soleil4716** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:31 pm

I am 4 months post-op and can open 3 fingers.

#6 Post by **ORTHO12** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 1:50 am

@trish222

I never wore elastics post op.

That could be one reason.

Another reason could be because I never felt pain post op so moved my jaws alot I only did 1 week of ibruprofen and that was it so my jaw was moving from the get go...

It seems to me that people who have to wear elastics to fine tune their bite have slow progress.

#7 Post by **candycin** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:40 am

i am 10 weeks post op and can do just a bit more then one finger but i did have a regression in my healing
i am still in bands unless eating or brushing and do find if i leave them off for a bit i can get wider and wider

#8 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:38 am

I'm 3 weeks and can open 2 fingers vertically. Perhaps slightly more, but not a whole other finger certainly

#9 Post by **almost50** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:11 pm

I'm at about 7 weeks post op and I have 2 fingers plus (if I've exercised them and loosened my jaw up a bit). My surgeon gave me exercises to do (at 4 weeks post op), and my goal is to get to the point of those two fingers at the second knuckle.

I should add that I have a small mouth and very large wide fingers for a woman so it's all relative. I knew a woman in college that could fit her whole fist in her mouth cause she had very small hands and a large mouth. Great party trick. I bet she could fit quite a number of fingers post op if she needed surgery.

#10 Post by **OhioM** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:26 pm

I'm at 2.5 fingers at 15 days post op. Haven't worn elastics since the hospital.

#11 Post by **jdon** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:32 am

Thanks everyone! Hopefully by April I will be able to open my mouth wider. Actually I just checked again and I can only open 1.5 fingers wide