Metal Mouth Message Board

From reading many threads on this forum, it seems that many surgeons have issues with pride and an inability to admit when they are wrong or can't do something. It makes me angry for everyone of us who has to go through it. This surgery is hard enough as it is.

I feel lucky today. I'm going into the surgeons office for a quick tune up. My condyles are not the same size which has resulted in my jaw slipping backwards on my right side and my midline shifting when I open my mouth. The surgeon will be opening the tissue and screws and repositioning the bone to give me extra length so the joints feel good. It's necessary and I'm grateful he's so proactive! Still I'm pissy from no food/water since I'm about to get that anesthetic. He said i wont have to be wired again which is all I really care about at this point.

Oh that's great!

snapdresser wrote:

underbitewars wrote: It's nothing to do w swelling... (She is 2 months post op, btw.)

How do you know that? That's exactly what I experienced when I was 2 months post-op and it turned out to be swelling after all.

So you're saying you had the "chimp" look at 2 months, and it went away?

underbitewars wrote:

snapdresser wrote:

underbitewars wrote: It's nothing to do w swelling... (She is 2 months post op, btw.)

How do you know that? That's exactly what I experienced when I was 2 months post-op and it turned out to be swelling after all.

So you're saying you had the "chimp" look at 2 months, and it went away?

I've been told to not worry about your appearance until after 3 months. I'm still very swollen at 5 weeks. I also didn't move around like at all for the first 3 weeks which I think made my swelling stick around.

underbitewars wrote:

snapdresser wrote:

underbitewars wrote: It's nothing to do w swelling... (She is 2 months post op, btw.)

How do you know that? That's exactly what I experienced when I was 2 months post-op and it turned out to be swelling after all.

So you're saying you had the "chimp" look at 2 months, and it went away?

Absolutely! I even made a joke about it to my wife, then lo and behold, by the time I was about a year post-op I realized it had gone away. It's verrrry slow, so buckle down for the long haul

I had my surgery 4 weeks ago, stopped turning 2 weeks ago with a 10mm gap made.
I measure every day in hopes it'll start to close, but nothing so far.
I'm finding it difficult to attend job interviews with this massive space and mild lisp.
No braces yet. I'm hoping for a miracle lol

It's been 2 months and I'm getting back to eating normal food. The surgery seems to have given me TMJ problems when I move my jaw from side to side. The right side pops horribly and I end up with terrible headaches after eating. It could be that my muscle isn't supporting my jaw well yet. I had an issue with my left side trying to dislocate a while back, but it corrected itself when my muscles became stronger. I'm worried but at the same time trying to be optimistic that this will correct itself. My next appointment with the surgeon is the first week of October.

Dang I'm having some jaw issues too. Trying to get my opening to at least 30mm, I'm stuck at 20. I can't even bite into a sandwich. I was at 40mm pre-op and my surgeon said this is the crucial period so I'm being mindful to do heat and stretches all the time. I'm so worried I won't get full range of motion back...

Hi all,

I'm hoping for some emotional support here, having surgery in a week, originally was excited now very nervous.

Having an IVRO, Lefort 1 and sliding genio to correct a major cant, minor chin relocation, and mandible reduction on the bottom jaw, and minor cant on the top jaw. Happily all 3 are being covered under my insurance due to a fair amount of pain I get on the right hand side of my jaw from grinding/chewing.

I don't see many postings about IVRO's. My surgeon who is relativly well known out on long island (Dr.Capuano) mainly does IVRO's and told me I will be wired for 2 months after, which im perfectly fine with that (as fine as one can be). My main concern is what is going to happen when I wake up, as far as the amount of blood and i read alot of people vomit blood when they wake up due to the ingestion of blood.

Any idea you can give me on how it is to wake up from one of these I would appreciate!

Thanks,
Dan

glennstanzalone wrote:Dang I'm having some jaw issues too. Trying to get my opening to at least 30mm, I'm stuck at 20. I can't even bite into a sandwich. I was at 40mm pre-op and my surgeon said this is the crucial period so I'm being mindful to do heat and stretches all the time. I'm so worried I won't get full range of motion back...

What are the heat and stretches you do? My surgeon didn't tell me to do any of that and it seems like most people are told to do stretches. My surgeon is horrible at communication and doesn't seem to understand what it's like to be the patient. I just try to open wide and stretch a bit when I'm brushing. Is there a specific way you were told to stretch? I'd love to know!

I definitely can't "bite into" stuff like sandwiches or pizza yet. I tried biting into a piece of cantaloupe on the rind and my jaw said NO WAY! I also tried cutting up a mini pizza into bite size pieces, but it was still too much. It took me almost an hour to eat it. Just not ready yet. There are plenty of softer foods that I love, so I'm not missing out, but I just don't know what to expect time-wise because my surgeon doesn't really tell me how things typically progress. He also hasn't told me how far I could open up pre-surgery, but I know I'm not there yet. It still hurts to yawn. This healing process is definitely going to take a long time. My headaches are probably just my muscles throwing a tantrum.

Those people who eat pizza and burgers 8 weeks out are probably not the majority. At least that's what I'm thinking now. Most of those blogs I've read seem to be best case scenarios. Eating normally at 8 weeks. Braces off at exactly 6 months like clockwork... etc. Not a lot of variation.

The worst thing we can do is go too fast and cause more problems than we already have. That's for sure!

wcom939 wrote:Hi all,

I'm hoping for some emotional support here, having surgery in a week, originally was excited now very nervous.

Having an IVRO, Lefort 1 and sliding genio to correct a major cant, minor chin relocation, and mandible reduction on the bottom jaw, and minor cant on the top jaw. Happily all 3 are being covered under my insurance due to a fair amount of pain I get on the right hand side of my jaw from grinding/chewing.

I don't see many postings about IVRO's. My surgeon who is relativly well known out on long island (Dr.Capuano) mainly does IVRO's and told me I will be wired for 2 months after, which im perfectly fine with that (as fine as one can be). My main concern is what is going to happen when I wake up, as far as the amount of blood and i read alot of people vomit blood when they wake up due to the ingestion of blood.

Any idea you can give me on how it is to wake up from one of these I would appreciate!

Thanks,
Dan

I didn't have an IVRO (and don't even know what it is)! Since this is the summer surgery thread, it won't be incredibly active. Since your surgery is next week, what you might want to try is copying and pasting this into the Fall/Early Winter Surgery Buddies thread if you haven't already. There will be others there preparing for surgery there who might even be having an IVRO or can give you information on it. It's a more active thread so you'll get more information. You can also keep checking in with people who have their surgery around the same time you have yours.

Good luck!

wcom939 wrote:Hi all,

I'm hoping for some emotional support here, having surgery in a week, originally was excited now very nervous.

Having an IVRO, Lefort 1 and sliding genio to correct a major cant, minor chin relocation, and mandible reduction on the bottom jaw, and minor cant on the top jaw. Happily all 3 are being covered under my insurance due to a fair amount of pain I get on the right hand side of my jaw from grinding/chewing.

I don't see many postings about IVRO's. My surgeon who is relativly well known out on long island (Dr.Capuano) mainly does IVRO's and told me I will be wired for 2 months after, which im perfectly fine with that (as fine as one can be). My main concern is what is going to happen when I wake up, as far as the amount of blood and i read alot of people vomit blood when they wake up due to the ingestion of blood.

Any idea you can give me on how it is to wake up from one of these I would appreciate!

Thanks,
Dan

Hi Dan, I didn't have an IVRO but a girl who got hers done the same week as me did. She's not on this forum much these days, probably because her surgery was a huge success So maybe that's some encouragement? Hers seemed to be one of the more quick, straight-forward successes Good luck!

As far as the blood, I lost a lot (like we all do) but not enough to need a transfusion or anything. I was lightheaded when I stood up for a couple days, but I didn't experience any nausea. I had a little suction tube stuck up my nose and into my stomach to suck out all the blood, so maybe that's why. When I came to it was very hazy. I just wanted to go back to sleep but they insisted I let them pull out the suction tube and catheter and start trying to drink water, which was nearly impossible without a syringe. Then it was back to sleep with the occasional wake-up to urge me to drink more water. It really wasn't bad. The pain was well controlled.

uneunsae wrote:

glennstanzalone wrote:Dang I'm having some jaw issues too. Trying to get my opening to at least 30mm, I'm stuck at 20. I can't even bite into a sandwich. I was at 40mm pre-op and my surgeon said this is the crucial period so I'm being mindful to do heat and stretches all the time. I'm so worried I won't get full range of motion back...

What are the heat and stretches you do? My surgeon didn't tell me to do any of that and it seems like most people are told to do stretches. My surgeon is horrible at communication and doesn't seem to understand what it's like to be the patient. I just try to open wide and stretch a bit when I'm brushing. Is there a specific way you were told to stretch? I'd love to know!

I definitely can't "bite into" stuff like sandwiches or pizza yet. I tried biting into a piece of cantaloupe on the rind and my jaw said NO WAY! I also tried cutting up a mini pizza into bite size pieces, but it was still too much. It took me almost an hour to eat it. Just not ready yet. There are plenty of softer foods that I love, so I'm not missing out, but I just don't know what to expect time-wise because my surgeon doesn't really tell me how things typically progress. He also hasn't told me how far I could open up pre-surgery, but I know I'm not there yet. It still hurts to yawn. This healing process is definitely going to take a long time. My headaches are probably just my muscles throwing a tantrum.

Those people who eat pizza and burgers 8 weeks out are probably not the majority. At least that's what I'm thinking now. Most of those blogs I've read seem to be best case scenarios. Eating normally at 8 weeks. Braces off at exactly 6 months like clockwork... etc. Not a lot of variation.

The worst thing we can do is go too fast and cause more problems than we already have. That's for sure!

So a few times a day I'll apply a heating pad to my TMJs for 10min or so. I also take 10mg of Flexeril twice a day. After my jaw is warmed up, I try opening as wide as I can and rotate my jaw in circles clockwise and counterclockwise. Now I'm moving my jaw side to side. I'll move the mandible to the right then use my fingers to push it further to the right and hold. Then I do the opposite. Then I take my hands and apply force to open my jaw past the point of discomfort and hold it. I don't get pain where the bone was cut only in my joints. It's so stiff. I also try to push my mandible outwards like I have an underbite. Keep applying heat and I also try to make weird faces while I'm driving. It feels like all the muscles are just really confused right now and I can't convince them to chill.

Thank you for this! I will try doing some stretches, though I don't have the muscle relaxers so I will be very careful. Maybe it's something I will discuss with my surgeon at my next visit.

Yes, I know what you mean about muscles being confused! Even talking clearly can be a challenge and it just feels like I have to learn how to have a mouth again! LOL As things progress, different things feel "off" and sometimes I find myself thinking, "Is this how it's going to feel forever?" forgetting that the muscles are going to take a very long time getting used to their new position.

Patience is a virtue! I'm just hoping braces come off in the standard 6-month time frame. The bands my ortho instructed me to wear are really pulling things neatly together.