I had a two piece leforte 1 last year and and my lower jaw was brought forward 8mm. The screws on my right side popped loose not long after the surgery but it was not identified until my 6 week follow up. A revision on the right side was done with one day notice so no digital molds were taken to create a splint. The doctor mentioned the bone was pretty messy from the amount of time it was hanging there. Based on a comment my ortho made the jaw was brought too far forward during that surgery. My jaw surgeon felt everything was fine and could be corrected with ortho - after pointing out some asymmetry he felt it could be corrected with hardware removal and potential “contouring” of the bone. It’s been nearly a year and it’s almost time for the hardware removal. I approached my ortho with my concern that things were not working as hoped and I suggested we get a second opinion. After opening this discussion he felt I likely need a full revision of my lower jaw on both sides and the ortho approach was not working. He plans to contact my jaw surgeon but hesitated on a second opinion because “we would have too many cooks in the kitchen”.
At this point I don’t know what to think. Both doctors have excellent reputations and my ortho came highly recommended (and used for their own children) by multiple local dental professionals.
Right now I am waiting for a call from the jaw surgeon to decide how to proceed. I was not charged for the second surgery and do not anticipate a charge for the third surgery - he just submits to insurance and doesn’t balance bill for the things they don’t cover.
Any thoughts? Am I just super unlucky, did someone screw the pooch? How would you proceed?
I need outside opinions...
Moderator: bbsadmin
Re: I need outside opinions...
Get a second unbiased opinion from a different surgeon, on the side if necessary.
Why would you trust this surgeon for a third time? Not catching screws popping sounds negligent to me, shouldn't it be apparent in your post surgery x-rays?
Why would you trust this surgeon for a third time? Not catching screws popping sounds negligent to me, shouldn't it be apparent in your post surgery x-rays?