Opening jaw normally after orthognathic surgery?

[Alexthegreat]

How long will it take to open your mouth normally again after surgery, can full range of motion come back without daily jaw opening exercises?

[midnight]

I'm just over 8 weeks post op and can only open my mouth about 1.5cm. I can open it ever so slightly wider after I've been eating. I wasn't given any exercises to do, they just said that it will take a long time for it to return to normal and that I may never open my mouth quite as much as I could before but that it should be enough to do 'everything that I need it to do' I'm only wearing elastics at night now and the ortho said that should help a bit as my jaw will actually move when I talk now.

[troubledpatient0115]

I was never given any exercises to do, and I am now 5 months post op and have almost 100% of my mobility back. It is not perfect, but doesn't cause issues unless I am at the dentist and they ask me to open wide (I can't!)... I too was in very tight elastics, which likely contributed to my mobility returning without exercises.

[numbchin2013]

Tomorrow I will be 4 weeks post op for having my lower jaw moved forward. My OS told me at my 2 week post op appt that I didn't need to wear my elastics if I didn't want to...that they were really only like a sling for the jaw but I could go without if I chose to. I came home and took the elastics off...now I am wondering if that was a mistake.

Troubledpatient, how do you feel the tight bands help you not have to do excersises? I would think the opposite...that the tight bands would cause more ridity which would lead to needing to exercise. I'm wondering if I should start wearing my bands again??? My dr didn't seem like the bands were that important.