36ish hours out front Lefort 1

[karatz22]

Hi all, I posted last week I was scheduled for Lefort 1 & BSSO on 5/8. Heard from my surgeon right after that and he explained that upon doing the virtual surgical planning with the team from the hospital, they concluded the Lefort 1 would be enough to fix my open bite.

So I had the surgery, and it was been the best experience possible so far for me. The customer service and friendliness of the hospital staff was impeccable. I have had no pain- only extreme swelling and discomfort from that. I do have high blood pressure history so my PCP encouraged me to still use pain medication to control the BP which could be elevated by untreated pain. I’ve been taking liquid Tylenol or a half dose of Percocet as needed. Also on abtiobiotics and a chlorahexadine rinse.

So I came home the morning of May 9, and I’ve been sleeping on and off since then. Still no pain, but my nose is stuffy and my throat is dry which is adding to the discomfort of the swelling. My teeth also are not wired or rubber banded shut, though there is a split on the upper teeth. But since I’m congested I’ve been mouth breathing and I’m worried by me not keeping my mouth shut I won’t train my new bite properly. One of the residents at the hospital actually had me bite for him in my new bite before I left and it doesn’t feel right to me- it feels off a bit and uneven. Is this to be expected with the splint affecting the exact way my teeth will fit? Should I request to have my mouth rubberbanded at my one week appointment to ensure propert bite training?

[karatz22]

Sorry that should say there is a “splint” on the upper teeth. Also this was a 3 piece Lefort.

[karatz22]

Apparently I shouldn’t post while under the influence of Percocet since I have all these typos and can’t edit the post. The title should say “from” not “front”

[PierreDeFermat]

Awesome Karatz I'm glad things went well for you!

Surgery to the upper jaw will result in some congestion for probably a week or two but your doctor may give you some nasal spray and a humidifier to help combat that.

The new bite will definitely feel odd to you but once the congestion clears up and you can breath through your nose you'll get used to it in no time. If you think something is off I would talk to your surgeon at the next appointment.

Make sure to use the mouth wash and keep taking your pain meds on schedule!

The hardest part is the first week!

[karatz22]

Pierre, thanks for the reply. I was given saline spray and my husband is actually out buying a humidifier for me now. I’ve seen on some other posts that people take Sudafed- would a low dose of children’s Sudafed be okay to try? I didn’t specifically ask my doctor about it.

I realized my problem with the bite is because my bottom teeth have to come up more to meet my top teeth now I have to retrain my muscles. I have been trying to keep my jaw bra with ice packs wrapped tight enough to keep my mouth closed but I still find my mouth hanging open when I’m resting. Hopefully as you say this will come with time.

[PierreDeFermat]

I'm not sure about Sudafed (pseudoephedrine), I would call your doctor's office and speak to a nurse. I do know that some cold medicine has acetaminophen in it, which is also in many pain medications (Tylenol, Percocet), so you have to be careful with taking too much of it.

It's odd that your surgeon prescribed Tylenol and Percocet since they both contain acetaminophen. Are you sure he didn't say alternate between liquid Ibuprofen and Percocet? Of course it's fine if you're just taking them every 4-6 hours, but in my case I needed something every 2-3 hours for the first few days so they suggested liquid Ibuprofen.

[karatz22]

He actually only prescribed the Percocet and antibiotic but I told him I wanted to avoid as much Percocet as possible so he said as long as I didn’t exceed the daily limit of Tylenol I could substitute that for the Percocet - so I’ve been either a half or whole Percocet in the morning and before bed with just Tylenol at the intervals between.

[MoJo2685]

I had BSSO and a rhinoplasty on April 17th. I would say in the last week is when my new bite is finally starting to feel normalish. Because they worked on both my nose and my jaw my cheeks were super swollen and I kept biting them. That has lessened in the last 2-3 days. I reccomend facial massage to help reduce the swelling after the first week. Before then I was just icing like crazy and sleeping a lot so I didn't really think of it. There are a lot of really helpful videos on YouTube.
Once the stitches came out and my throat healed from the breathing tubes, life has gotten so much easier as far as breathing goes.
At my 2 week post OP appointment my surgeon told me I could start working on stretches to help loosen my jaw and make the bite feel better.