A concern about permanent numbness after lower jaw surgery.

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#16 Post by **antharrison** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:39 am

hello meryaten and smile 2006, thanks for your help and advice! its been 2 days now since the op and every now and again i can feel a slight tingling sensation in my chin, which im guessing is a good sign!
ive read quite a few of the posts on this forum now and realise that only time will tell with the recovery, and as you said its still early days for me right now, so im just going to get some rest!
thanks again and speak to you soon

#17 Post by **GunsNRosesChild** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 3:19 am

I apologize for the inactivity. I transferred to a university shortly after and didn't have time to reply.

I'm not very concerned about this issue. After reading all the replies, it seems very unlikely that I will have permanent loss of sensation.

I know it's still a factor, though. I don't mind lossing feeling in a very small area, the only thing that I'm worried about now is the permanent "pins and needles" sensation. But after thinking about it, the risk is very small compared to the benefits.

ohmyjaw,
I think my surgery will be some time late this year. It was suppose to be this month. But after my surgeon reviewed the position of my teeth, he called my orthodontist and said there are still teeth that need to be properly aligned before he can perform the surgery. I'm not exactly sure which teeth he meant, since he said a bunch of medical jargon. I would've stayed to ask him questions about it, but I had class soon and had to leave.

My worries about this are further reduced thanks to my oral surgeon. He's supposedly one of the best and is on the forefront of developing safe procedures for oral surgery. So I feel very fortunate to have him.

Dr. Joel S. Berger, DDS, MD (http://www.acertainsmile.com/bio_Berger.asp) if anyone recognizes him.

I'll report back after talking to him again, and hopefully after my surgery.

#18 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:41 pm

Many people after BSSO have some type of residual numbness. Not trying to scare you but this is one of the biggest risks with this surgery and one that I think many doctors seriously under report. You should ask your doctor about it. I have talked to 3 different people my surgeon has worked on and all have some numbness but nothing major. One girl has some very slight numbness running down her jawlines but nothing else (and she is only 6 months post op so she may still get it back) Another has a bit of a thick feeling in her chin but that is it, she too has full feeling in her lips. The other had surgery 15 years ago, prior to rigid fixation and she was wired shut. She has considerable numbness. Her whole bottom lip is numb as is the area from the edges of her lips down to her chin (like a triangle with the bottom of it being her lip)

My doctor said that there is a 20% chance of some type of residual numbness and that if he could eliminate that 20% he would dedicate his entire practice to nothing but jaw surgery. Unfortunately he said, we just never totally know until we get in there and do the surgery. He said that I needed to really think about it, that chances are my numbness would be minimal or even non existent, but that if I could not live with mild numbness then he would recommend not having this surgery done.

One other note, even if you have numbness you still have functionality of the lip and chin. The girl who can't feel her lip said it sorta bugged her at first, but now she is completely used to it and she doesn't even notice. She is still thrilled with her results and glad she had the surgery. She looks amazing and has nothing but great things to say about our doctor. So.....just stuff to think about, I think its criminal when people come out of surgery with no clue that they might have some long term numbness because no one discussed it with them and they didn't know the right questions to ask. There is some risk. Also....please remember that you are in the very low risk category if you are younger. Age does factor into all of this. You will heal faster, and better then many others if you are young.

My ortho wanted to do this when I was a kid, we couldn't afford it so it never happened. I'm glad because they have made so many advances in this area now, but I'm sad because now I'm having to go through all this when I'm older and it is not near as easy as it would've been had I been a kid. Good luck to you and I hope this answers your questions.

To everyone else.....sorry this is so long!

Brandy

#19 Post by **katemm06** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 3:12 pm

I agree with Brandy's comment that if someone has numbness for a longer period of time they most likely will get adjusted to it and not pay much attention to it. Seems like most people experience some kind of numbess after surgery but it doesn't seem to significantly impact the quality of peoples lives over the long term. Still, oral surgeons have a right to explain this to patients beforehand and I don't think they do a good job of it.

Although I have not had much change in my numbness, it really is not as big of a deal to me anymore. I can still do all the normal things (including kissing!) and most of the time I forget that I am even numb. I'm more careful with eating (making sure to use napkins a lot) but I don't deprive myself from any foods because I'm scared something will stick to my lip/chin. I do drool a little every now and then but I really think in time that problem will do away, seems to happen more when I'm looking down at something, like tying my shoe or shuffling papers. Maybe my mouth starts to open more at those times.

Good luck to you GunsNRosesChild (great band by the way)!