April 18 Surgery Buddies...

[karatz22]

Hello everyone, I am scheduled for surgery May 8th. Glad to see there are others out there in the same boat. I have an open bite with TMJ problems (jaw locking, clicking, pain, etc) that led me to get braces put on January 2017. For my surgery, I am having a Lefort 1 & BSSO done. I'm quite nervous- I've had surgery with general anesthesia before and did well, but that was for gallbladder removal. I've got anxiety about breathing, and my mouth in general, and a phobia of vomiting so I'm trying my best to not freak out about my teeth being banded shut, with a splint (& hopefully not wired- my surgeon said only 1 in 100 people in my situation end up needing to be wired).

[PierreDeFermat]

Hey Karatz,

Surgery is a very big step, but 10 days of discomfort maybe worth it for a great bite!

Has your surgeon explained to you how your TMJs will be effected by the surgery?

I should mention that everybody is worried about having their mouth secured by elastics/splint, so we're all in the same boat! The good news is the hospital and your surgeon will make sure that you don't choke or have any breathing issues, and worst case scenario they can remove the elastics and splint very quickly if there's an emergency. You will probably also have a nasal cannula to help you breath through your nose the first day after surgery.

Best of luck!

[karatz22]

Pierre,

My surgeon, orthodontist, and dentist have all been working closely with me in this process and have kept me well informed on how beneficial this surgery will be not only for my open bite & TMJ symptoms but also for cosmetic purposes. They explained that since my back teeth on the top & bottom are the only teeth that meet in my mouth, the pressure there is what has caused my jaw to develop the TMJ symptoms I have. I also frequently get cavities in those back teeth since they've gotten so worn down. Alleviating that single point of contact & pressure by fixing my open bite with surgery will help me heal, hopefully.

Thank you for your words of support regarding my nerves about the surgery. I'm glad to read the posts here of so many people who felt the same anxiety but ended up just fine, as I hopefully will be!

[runrabbitrun]

Awesome, hope you're excited!

Do you have any problems with your TMJs? Has your doctor spoken to you about condylar resorption?

It's interesting that the genioplasty isn't present in the surgical plan, I assume that is because the surgeon wants to check soft-tissue response after positioning the maxilla/mandible.

I am, thank you! I'd say I was equally excited/terrified before, and am now more firmly in the excited camp. I hope you're feeling the same way! My physical/cognitive symptoms are seemingly getting worse by the day, so at this point, I'm more than ready to get this done.

RE: TMJ - I don't have as much pain as I did say, 10 years ago, but I've always had clenching issues (my dentist was thrilled when I told him I was getting bi-max, said I already had wear on my teeth). We've not discussed condylar resorption, but he did mention that for some MMA patients, TMJ issues get worse, and for others, they're resolved.


I was curious about where your genio was on the VSP! Did you get the list of all the movements in your VSP document as well?

[anactuala1ien]

Hey everyone. Im 6 days post-op and starting to feel human again. I had bimax and genioplasty to fix recessivity. im going to have an account here in case there are future concerns, but so far things seem to be going very well.

hope everyone is enjoying the start of spring, great time to have a procedure like this imo.

[runrabbitrun]

My surgery is April 28th and the surgeon said I'll be in the hospital for 3 days...

I hope your surgery was a success, and that your recovery is going well!

[runrabbitrun]

Hey everyone. Im 6 days post-op and starting to feel human again. I had bimax and genioplasty to fix recessivity. im going to have an account here in case there are future concerns, but so far things seem to be going very well.

hope everyone is enjoying the start of spring, great time to have a procedure like this imo.

Hi there, and welcome! Glad to hear that you're feeling better so soon after such a major surgery. Hope that your recovery continues to go smoothly!


I'll be getting the same procedures (BSSO, Lefort 1, and sliding genio) here in a few days (5/9). Did (or do) you also have OSA?

[PierreDeFermat]

Hey guys I'm still alive!

I had bi-max with geniopasty and some UPPP/septum work, but so far it's been the hardest experience of my life. The soft tissue stuff is 100x more intense than that the bone work, so just keep that in mind.

Thank God the surgery went well and there were no issues (except for a breathing tube causing a small nasal bleed when being removed, which was the worst). I could feel everything on my face including lips and chin after the second day, so I don't think there's any damage.

My advice to really be on the nurse's butts about having your medication AHEAD of time, and making sure they wake you up if you're asleep to get it to you. There's been a few times when the RN would let my pain meds replase and I'd wake up with really tight jaws and couldn't swallow, which is unacceptable.

Make sure they have the big syringes to get your meds/water, mine didn't have some until my doctor came and said they have to get their act together.

[runrabbitrun]

Pierre! So great to hear that your surgery was successful, but sorry to hear that the UPPP/septum work has been rough. On the bright side, that's amazing that there's no nerve damage!

Thanks for sharing your advice on the nurses, and again, sorry to hear about your experience on that front. That is some serious sesame that they have to be reminded to give you pain meds after a major operation like that.

Rest up and hope your recovery continues to go well!

[PierreDeFermat]

The worst part is that here in the U.S. all the hospitals are private but customer service still isn't a consideration-- despite my insurance paying about $750 a night for my care.

The moment I was wheeled out of the intensive care unit to a regular floor my care seriously declined, and RNs where virtually useless in helping me in any regard. Needless to say I'll be taking it up with the director and my surgeon in a few weeks. For some reason, I believe I was put in a different ward then the other orthognathic patients so I think it had something to do with the less experienced staff...

Anyways, day 6 in hospital is not much fun and the worst part is the sore throat (which makes swallowing next to impossible), but as long as your personally invested in your pain medication is shouldn't be tooooo bad.

Try to have family or friends come by, it helped tremendously to know they were there to get me what I needed and help out while I was basically unconscious and couldn't help myself.

We'll see if the surgery was work it in a few weeks..

[N2Deep]

I had a lefort 1, bsso, and septoplasty on April 16. Much to my surprise, I could feel everything immediately after waking up from surgery. I have just a few partially numb spots around my right nostril, and the only completely numb area is my upper gums. That did not make the first week any easier, but I'm still glad to have so much feeling so soon. I got my splint out two days ago and I now have a posterior open bite and my front teeth are a little crooked from the wire breaking during surgery.

After a brief identity crisis, I'm pretty happy overall with the results so far. I know the front teeth will resolve once I get a new wire put on. I just hope my open bite can be fixed with elastics (wearing now). I don't see my ortho for another 2 1/2 weeks. Good luck with your surgery!

[PierreDeFermat]

Are you back on standard braces? Demon system?

My surgeon said that there's small possibility that the teeth may move a little or loosen after surgery, but that it's easily reversible with some Invisalign.

I've notice that many people say my swelling has gone down a lot but I can tell that it's going to be at least a month to get down to 20%, are you sure it's not just asymmetrical swelling?

[PierreDeFermat]

I was released from the hospital today after being there for the past 6.5 days and saw my surgeon at his office across the street.

While there he suctioned out my nose and throat, rinsed my mouth with a surgical mouth wash, and cut off all of my elastics except 4.

I can feel my face and mouth completely when I smile.

I will see him again once a week for the next couple weeks and after 4-6 visits they'll take off the archbars.

But first I need a Waterpik and a variable temperature humidifier!

[N2Deep]

I have the self ligating ceramic braces (kind of like the Damon system). But the upper wire broke on the right side when he split my palate, so the front teeth have shifted a bit out of place. I didn't get an arch bar or anything other than the splint for two weeks. My surgeon seems pretty confident in the results so hopefully he didn't take it out too soon.

I think he could have widened the palate a bit more on the left side than he did, but only time will tell. It was interesting that he made the split to the right of center and not exactly down the center. So now I have an off center palate, but that is honestly the least of my worries.

My swelling has gone down significantly but I can still tell my cheeks and lower jaw around the cuts have a little more to go. Still very tight around the upper lip area too. Who knows if there is extra swelling in the gums causing my teeth to shift. Anything is possible with this surgery!

6.5 days in the hospital sounds excruciatingly boring! I was only there overnight and that was enough for me. I was lucky enough to spend the whole time in the intensive care unit though. Excellent nursing staff in there.

On a side note - For what the hospital billed my insurance company for just one night I can't even imagine what 6.5 days would be. I could have bought a house for what they charged. But they always inflate their prices and the insurance company haggles them down to about 10% of the original cost. It's such a racket. Hopefully if One were paying out of pocket They could negotiate a much better deal as well.

Make sure to get plenty of vitamins, calories, protein, and rest!

[PierreDeFermat]

Well I got to say the worst part this entire operation is my throat/nose, not my jaws!

I'm congested to the point where I can only breath through my mouth, which means I've got an almost perpetually sore-throat and I cough up all my nasal drainage/debris. To add to all that my nose will sometime ooze the drainage/dissolved blood clots as well. Surgeon said this should resolve itself in about another week.

Still haven't figured out to sleep yet, probably going to buy an airplane "c-pillow" and just lean back on the couch...

How are you guys doing? Did you have similar symptoms?