Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi all,

I had my surgery (maxillary advancement only) on Dec 20 and am feeling well. I had an issue with opening only 20 mm or so, but a couple of you posted, helping resolve that concern, so here's another one:

My maxilla looks to far forward to me now. I am wondering how much of this is swelling and how much of it will remain, because I really don't like the way it looks. Also, my upper lip supposedly had a really strong suture placed in it and it doesn't move when I smile. Criminy! I am not getting too frustrated, I just hope it gets better.

Any help would be awesome!!

Do you know how far forward it was moved?

It was moved about 7 mm I believe. The orthodontist wanted a bit of overcompensation to account for relapse, so I guess I am a bit too far. I just hope it will not be like this indefinitely.

I would guess it's partially swelling, and partially you not being used to the new you. I had my lower jaw brought forward by 10mm, and at 2 weeks post-op I wept in the bath for a couple of hours because I firmly believed myself to look just like Desperate Dan:


Relative to how I used to look.. I do. Weirdly, I got used to having a big swollen jaw, so that now, 5 months down the line with only minimal swelling left, I feel my lower jaw looks too small and recessed again. Ah, the tricks our eyes play on us!

These are all reassuring comments. I appreciate them so much. I guess I'll talk with my ortho about it.

Just wanted to note that since I wrote the above original post, the swelling has gone down and seems more normal. I still think my upper lip/nasal area is too far forward, but hopefully is just soft tissue and not bony.