June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[Ciao78]

Hi everyone I am a new user and I write from Italy.
I'm also a candidate for surgery.
I am a third skeletal class head to head with posterior bilateral crossbite.
I'm 43 years old.
Do you think age will affect the final result?
Thanks a lot and congratulations to everyone.

[snapdresser]

Hi everyone I am a new user and I write from Italy.
I'm also a candidate for surgery.
I am a third skeletal class head to head with posterior bilateral crossbite.
I'm 43 years old.
Do you think age will affect the final result?
Thanks a lot and congratulations to everyone.

You should create a separate thread for that question.

[Ciao78]

Thanks.

[makenoise]

Hello, I'm new here. Getting double jaw surgery in a few weeks!

[snapdresser]

Hello, I'm new here. Getting double jaw surgery in a few weeks!

I know this thread seems like a convenient place to post as it’s one of the longer and more active threads, but it’s best to create a new thread for posts like this that aren’t related to the topic of this thread. Good luck with your surgery, and feel free to create your own “Surgery Buddies” thread to find others who may be having surgery around the same time.

[jaime]

Hey guys, I'm back.

I've been wearing my bite splints since August or September last year. They have definitely helped because I rarely have jaw pain anymore. My dentist is pretty pleased with it but treatment isn't over yet. Because I'm doing well, my appointments are a couple months apart. I go back again in May to talk about next steps. I think my dentist is happy because I'm not experiencing pain, but my bite is so jacked up, I can't live like this forever. When I look back at photos of my teeth from when I got my braces off, there's a huge difference.

The dentist asked if I'd be willing to do braces again and I said I would be if I knew FOR SURE it was going to actually fix the problem. I already had braces for 2.5 years and I ultimately relapsed. I don't want to go through it again.

Honestly, I can't fathom a fix that doesn't involve surgery. My lower jaw is slanted now, which developed over the past few years. I just don't see how that can be fixed with braces alone.

I really wish I knew why this happened. My non-TMJ dentist suggested it's pre-surgery muscle memory.

Hope you're all doing well, or at least, better than my jaw is!

[snapdresser]

Hey guys, I'm back.

The dentist asked if I'd be willing to do braces again and I said I would be if I knew FOR SURE it was going to actually fix the problem. I already had braces for 2.5 years and I ultimately relapsed. I don't want to go through it again.

Honestly, I can't fathom a fix that doesn't involve surgery. My lower jaw is slanted now, which developed over the past few years. I just don't see how that can be fixed with braces alone.

Good to hear from you, Jaime! I’m glad that the splints have helped with the pain and you’re getting some relief. When you say there’s a huge difference in your teeth since you got your braces off and your lower jaw is now slanted, do you mean the gap in your bite got bigger? The one dentist said they think it’s because of muscle memory. What do the other docs think? It’s been years since you last saw your surgeon, right? IIRC you said it was a problem since you moved to the US.

It’s good to hear from you and I hope you keep us posted as things progress!

[jaime]

Good to hear from you, Jaime! I’m glad that the splints have helped with the pain and you’re getting some relief. When you say there’s a huge difference in your teeth since you got your braces off and your lower jaw is now slanted, do you mean the gap in your bite got bigger? The one dentist said they think it’s because of muscle memory. What do the other docs think? It’s been years since you last saw your surgeon, right? IIRC you said it was a problem since you moved to the US.

It’s good to hear from you and I hope you keep us posted as things progress!

When I got my braces off, my bite was more or less ideal and my jaw opened evenly. I had a bit of an open bite on my left side but it was manageable. Now, my jaw opens unevenly and it's my right side bite that's open, and my left side is only partially closed. It's hard to chew on my right side.

My TMJ dentist doesn't know why any of this happened. He's only ever said, "90% of surgeries don't work" when I've asked, which I don't know if I agree with.

I just saw the TMJ dentist again last week. He's still pleased with my progress so I'm supposed to slowly wean off the splints for the rest of the year. When I get to a stable point, he says I should go back to an orthodontist. I still feel like another surgery is probably in my future but we'll see. One thing at a time. My husband started a new job late last year and the new dental plan includes orthodontics, so at least I don't have to worry about that part of it.

[snapdresser]

When I got my braces off, my bite was more or less ideal and my jaw opened evenly. I had a bit of an open bite on my left side but it was manageable. Now, my jaw opens unevenly and it's my right side bite that's open, and my left side is only partially closed. It's hard to chew on my right side.

My TMJ dentist doesn't know why any of this happened. He's only ever said, "90% of surgeries don't work" when I've asked, which I don't know if I agree with.

I just saw the TMJ dentist again last week. He's still pleased with my progress so I'm supposed to slowly wean off the splints for the rest of the year. When I get to a stable point, he says I should go back to an orthodontist. I still feel like another surgery is probably in my future but we'll see. One thing at a time. My husband started a new job late last year and the new dental plan includes orthodontics, so at least I don't have to worry about that part of it.

That’s great news about the orthodontics insurance! Is there a waiting period before you’re eligible for orthodontic coverage? I think I had to carry my insurance for 12 months before I became eligible. Either way that timing should be just about right for after you’re off the splints.

If it’s open at the back on both sides, then either you have some sort of maxillary bone loss at the back or else the muscles have loosened, right? Either way, surgically repositioning how the mandible sits to better match your new resting jaw position seems like it could help, but I’ve never heard of anyone getting the mandible redone, have you? It seems like it’s usually the maxilla that gets tweaked in a revision. Doing a revision on the mandible could have higher risks of increased numbness, I would think.

On a somewhat related note, I’m seeing a new OMFS next week. Ever since we moved to Manhattan it’s a schlep getting out to my surgeon in Long Island, so I’m seeing a new surgeon in Manhattan to discuss the decreased sensation in my upper gums. My wife went to a neat nerve doc a few months ago that puts electrodes on muscles to test if the nerves are working properly and while I don’t think that procedure is what’s called for in my case, I was surprised to see that such techniques at assessing nerve damage exist. I didn’t think they could do much to assess nerve damage, but I guess they can, so I want to see what’s going on before I get my neck/cheek lipo, since that could potentially affect things. I had to push back my neck/cheek lipo till later this year, and find a new doc, but that’s a whoooole other story lol

[Nozzelnut]

Hope everyone is doing well enough.

It never really ends...

My last appt with my ortho; we added elastics with my aligner style retainers because my teeth are still shifting.

Might have to talk to him about bonded retainers or lingual arch wires because wearing the elastics is a PITA

[snapdresser]

The bonded retainers seem like a good option. My wife and I both have one on the bottom and they’re great! Good luck, Nozzel!

[jaime]

Still here, still rocking the bite splint. I started the weaning process by wearing them every other night aaaaaaand it didn't go well. I woke up the first splintless night in pain, and then some of my symptoms came back during the course of the month. So now I'm supposed to wear it permanently at night. Not sure how that's going to work when I seek round two of orthodontic treatment (in the fall, tentatively).

I can't wait to unload this entire saga onto whatever poor soul ends up having to help me next, haha.

[jaime]

Hey guys! My appointment with an orthodontist is next week. I've become a ball of nerves, hence my posting a nothingburger post. Until the other day, I'd avoided reading about jaw surgery relapse. Now that I've done some reading, it seems pretty obvious to me that I have condylar resorption. It's the most common cause of relapse, I have multiple risk factors, and it explains all of my symptoms. Of course, I'm not a doctor, so we'll see what they think.

I just can't believe I have to deal with all this crap again. I don't know about you guys, but back in 2013-2015, my ortho, my dentist and my surgeon had really sold me on this idea that I was doing everything "properly" and I would be "so glad" I did the surgeries. I know no one can predict relapse, but ugh.

I feel very fortunate that I live where I do now and am ~10min away from a world-renowned teaching hospital. Plus I have orthodontic coverage again (mine through my employer is a one-time deal). Plus I have literally months of paid sick leave, should I need surgery again. Small victories from what I predict is going to be another poop sandwich ordeal.

Thanks for reading my stress post, if you did. I'll update asap next week after the appointment. It's on the 12th!

[jaime]

Just got back from the orthodontist consultation and it's exactly what I assumed. Walked out with a surgical consultation. Sigh. She showed me on my pano x-ray how my left condyle is completely misshapen and worn away. This is what I assumed. I knew from my TMJ work that the left side was bone-on-bone and extremely degraded. I kinda wish my TMJ dentist told me to go get a surgical consultation last year, but I also understand that they want to get you feeling okay with as little intervention as possible.

The ortho isn't sure what type of surgery I'll need, but seemed to think total joint replacement was likely.

I won't know until I have the surgery consultation what the orthodontic component will be like, but the orthodontist is pretty confident that Invisalign will be suitable for whatever need to be done. My teeth seem to have only shifted a little bit in the last 6 years, which is good.

I'm pretty upset but I also feel vindicated that I was right about what was going on.

[snapdresser]

I'm pretty upset but I also feel vindicated that I was right about what was going on.

I totally get being upset about the road ahead, but I am SO happy for you that you’ve finally gotten to the bottom of the issue! It seems like for years you were coming home from the orthodontist or TMJ doc with high hopes only for their treatments not to work. I don’t know how many folks on here have had condylar replacement surgery, but we’ll be with you every step of the way! Good luck at your surgical appointment! It’ll be interesting to see how your experience there varies from the free NHS Canadian one.