Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi there, three weeks ago I had my lower jaw lengthened 8mm. 2 weeks later the swelling had pretty much completely gone; stitched areas had totally healed. I've always been known for quick healing and it causes more problems than needed in some cases, so don't take this recovery period as a reference.

For the first week I was unable to get access to the back of my mouth with a brush and the gum has swollen somewhat on one side. I'm working on getting that down now with various brush types and sizes, and different mouth washes. The only problem that I'm currently having at the moment, is that I can't open my mouth very wide at all. In fact, I'm having so much trouble opening my mouth that I literally have to cut food into very tiny pieces to fit between my teeth. Chewing is no problem once the food is in.

To give a rough idea, the max that I can open my mouth results in a gap of maybe 1.5cm between top and bottom teeth at full stretch. When i reach the maximum, there is pain only on the left side near the joint, just below my ear. I can't tell if its muscle or just the joint that suffers the pain.

What I want to know, is whether or not it is perfectly usual for the opening of mouths to be restricted after the surgery. If so, are there any recommended exercises that I can do to help work back to something suitable where I can actually eat normal sized food.

(I have 1 elastic on each side on 5 & 6, which do not cause any problem when opening my mouth)

I think this is pretty normal. It took me several weeks before I could get a small soft toothbrush to my molars, and longer before I didn't brace myself before yawning. There's no rush especially if you're eating normal food.

At about 2 weeks post op I noticed my gum was sore and hard just behind my very last molar tooth (only on one side). The whole side of my face started to ache and I actually had an infection. It even hurt to drink. My surgeon gave me some strong anti-biotics and it went away in about 3 days.

It is very hard to clean back there. Try using some mouthwash and lying with your head upside down/tilted back.

There are exercises you can do - probably check with your surgeon though. I was told to never exercise with my bands in as it puts too much stress on the plates.

Take care.

hey, thanks for the replies.

I do have gum swelling behind the back molar also - it's swollen so much that the gum has consumed the brace anchor attached to the tooth and is almost breaching the top of the tooth itself. Though this is being worked on already, and is at the opposite side of my mouth to the pain that I get when trying to open wide.

From your replies, I'll assume it's normal, and ask my dentist about exercises to help work it open.

Cheers