Technical question related to the alar cinch and past infection/removal

[spookygee]

Hi everyone! I had upper jaw surgery about 6 years ago for an anterior open bite and tmd issues.

My question pertains to the alar cinch - About one year post-op (this was about 5 years ago) I had an infection and let it continue for about a month before seeing my surgeon, while there was puss oozing out of my upper gum area. I visited the surgeon and he performed the 'maxillary exploration' during the visit to drain the infection (made an incision right under the one used for the surgery in the upper lip/gum). This was very painful and I was not under anesthesia, just numbed (many times) which was still painful. The surgeon located the problem suture and quickly removed it, and he thought he may as well look for the other one while he's in there, but while looking, it was far too painful for me so he closed me back up. He mentioned that I should be okay with one being removed and one still in tact, and since then I haven't really had any issues.

According to him, those stitches are only required for a certain amount of months post-op due to how long it takes for particular tissue to heal, and then I asked him if removing the stitch would change anything results-wise and he said no. I thought maybe in certain cases they could, but it seems like his technique may have been different?

Anyway, while I should have just let him look deeper for the other stitch, it was too painful for me and since then I was closed up with one of the two stitches. It has been about 5 years since then and I sometimes wonder if leaving one of two stitches in is 'okay'. I would hope not to have another minor procedure in the future and that this would not cause an unbalance of muscle and tissues, or pain.

Any input here? Are there any concerns I should be considering in this situation? (ie one of two sutures were removed, is that bad? Do you need both long term? Should it not matter at this point in recovery?) Thank you !!