Metal Mouth Message Board

Hey People

Just got back from having my upper jaw advanced 3 mm, lower jaw advanced 5 mm, and chin advanced 5 mm in Costa Rica with Dr. Reiche.

Overall I would say my experience was a good one. I will post more details about it later and if anyone has any questions about the surgery in Costa Rica you can definitely feel free to e-mail me about it. I can't say much about my final results yet because I don't even know what they are myself! (still very swollen, I'm only on day 10).

A couple of questions though....

Does anyone know what the heck chewing does to your jaw after surgery??? I can't chew even if I wanted to, but I've been told it's ok to talk at this point, and don't they essentially do the same thing? (I mean with moving your jaw up and down).

Also, for the people who have already had the surgery, how long did it take for the swelling to completely go away??

Congrats on your surgery!

Chewing is different from talking, as it puts pressure on both of your jaws--even if your jaws are held together with screws, they are still broken and you could cause shifting or even additional breakage, if you don't follow the surgeon's orders about when it's ok to chew--especially hard food. The time goes fast--you just need to be patient.

Oh, yeah--as for the swelling: I was told most of it was going to be gone (75%) by around 2 weeks. It took much longer for me, but I am 46. The younger you are the quicker you will likely heal. It also is really an individual thing--your general health makes a difference in your recovery too.

Congrats and happy healing...Hope you see good results soon.

With regards to the talking/chewing question. Chewing is more forceful than talking and puts more strain on the bones which are still fractured and healing thats why it is best not to chew until they tell you too or you could shift your bite. Talking helps to strengthen the muscles in your face and jaws and exercise and get them used to working as they used too so talking is good and pulling silly faces to stretch the muscles is also good once you can do so.

As for the swelling, I am 5 months post op and I would say up until two weeks ago I was getting residual...very minimal swelling each morning, but since I changed my diet...a very big change in my diet I've noticed I get none at all now...

Any further questions please ask

Well, talking puts strains on both jaws as well. The major difference is muscular. Jaw surgery greatly weakens the muscles of mastication and they need a lot of time to heal and adapt to your new skeletal configuration. I put a small piece of food between my molars at the three week point and tried to crush it. I couldn't do it though. So, not chewing isn't simply a recommendation. It's an impossibility until the muscles have healed. Swelling is variable and could last for a year to some degree.

Congrats on a successful surgery and best of luck for happy healing!

Overall, how did you like your experience in Costa Rica?
What do you wish you had known beforehand?

chewing takes time. It's funny because right after surgery I asked all the same questions. I can totally understand your impatience to get back to normal.

How was Costa? I got surgery with Dr. Reiche back in October. I'm totally happy with the results.