Sliding Genioplasty a cure to Lip Incompetence?

[shanalouis]

bowater, i think you look great as you are, i saw your photos and i was amazed at your results............

[ReoSity]

My estimation was 7mm but subconsciously I was hiding the true size of the gap when measuring it. In reality the surgeon found it to be 11mm. As for expenses:

BSSO - Free on the NHS
Le Fort I - Free on the NHS
Vertical genioplasty - Free on the NHS - possibly, otherwise £2000-£4000
Rhinoplasty - Free on the NHS - possibly (slight medical need), otherwise £4000
Cheek implants - £3000

Worse case scenario the total is looking to be £12,000 however for every year at university I receive a £2,000 bursary based on my parents income. The student loan/grant alone are more than enough to live off so after this year (fourth) that will be £8,000 saved leaving £4,000 to find. Right now I am applying for part time work on the weekend, which would mean 16 hours a week for the 30 weeks until graduation at minimum wage £5.80 that totals £2,784. That leaves £1,216 to find. However having to leave 6 months between operations the earliest I could have the cheek implants is March 2011 and hopefully I will be in full time work by then.

I am presuming you are in America? I realise there is no NHS but a lot of people seem to be having their surgery paid for by insurance as for the cosmetic surgery are the costs significantly different? As for the bursary there are a few benefits to having poor parents after all... at least here.

Wow, it's amazing how most of yours was covered. Had I gone with traditional upper/lower/genio from the start, I'm sure some of it would at least been covered. At this point since to the untrained eye it doesn't seem like I have any glaring defects, there's no way any insurance will help.

What's frustrating is technically my lip incompetence/mentalis strain is a functional issue, as well as aesthetic.

[Bowater]

Hey thanks shanalouis! I agree it has made a remarkable difference and made the whole experience worth while up to now.

To ReoSity:

What is your bite like? Have you ever had braces? The BSSO at least was available on the basis of correcting my bite as opposed to fixing my lip incompetence. If you need a BSSO then in theory you will have an overbite unless braces have been used and extractions performed to camouflage the problem.

[ReoSity]

Hey thanks shanalouis! I agree it has made a remarkable difference and made the whole experience worth while up to now.

To ReoSity:

What is your bite like? Have you ever had braces? The BSSO at least was available on the basis of correcting my bite as opposed to fixing my lip incompetence. If you need a BSSO then in theory you will have an overbite unless braces have been used and extractions performed to camouflage the problem.

Bite is actually good, I had invisalign sometime before my genio. Again, a mistake since bite issues are usually part of why the insurance covers it.

[Bowater]

I was able to find out if a vertical chin reduction would have any impact on how my (short) lips rest finally! The answer was provided by a Neal Goldberg, MD on the following Internet site:

http://www.realself.com/question/jaw-long-face-lip

I was personally very impressed as before I had been convinced by a consultant that it was necessary to see him in person for an answer. When I did he didn't know the answer - he said it wasn't possible to tell. He still charged me £120 for the privilege. When I wrote to tell him I would not be paying he had the debt collectors after me! I wrote again to inform him if he did not drop it I would make a complaint against to the General Medical Council. Turned out that did the trick and the debt collectors dropped it.

It seems like I am alone in having short lips! Which makes researching solutions that much harder.

[ReoSity]

I was able to find out if a vertical chin reduction would have any impact on how my (short) lips rest finally! The answer was provided by a Neal Goldberg, MD on the following Internet site:

http://www.realself.com/question/jaw-long-face-lip

I was personally very impressed as before I had been convinced by a consultant that it was necessary to see him in person for an answer. When I did he didn't know the answer - he said it wasn't possible to tell. He still charged me £120 for the privilege. When I wrote to tell him I would not be paying he had the debt collectors after me! I wrote again to inform him if he did not drop it I would make a complaint against to the General Medical Council. Turned out that did the trick and the debt collectors dropped it.

It seems like I am alone in having short lips! Which makes researching solutions that much harder.

He's actually wrong, here's a quote from the book Contemporary Treatment Of Dentofacial Deformity... with a vertical reduction genioplasty the "lower lip relaxes and moves up as the chin is elevated. The change in lip position reduces lip incompetence."

[Bowater]

Hey ReoSity, is that sentence quoted word for word? I tried searching for it on Google Books and found the book but not the sentence. I would like to ask my surgeon about it because he has implied there is nothing that can be done. However as I would be doing the surgery to fix facial proportions too this would be a welcome bonus.

[ReoSity]

Hey ReoSity, is that sentence quoted word for word? I tried searching for it on Google Books and found the book but not the sentence. I would like to ask my surgeon about it because he has implied there is nothing that can be done. However as I would be doing the surgery to fix facial proportions too this would be a welcome bonus.

Uh huh which is why is I quoted it.. Chapter 15, Long face Problems, pg 479

http://rapidshare.com/files/179405518/C ... MITY.5.pdf

Btw, if your surgeon is adamant that a genio won't help than I doubt any textbook will change his mind. Find a new doctor if you're serious.