Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm 9 days post op from upper and lower jaw surgery and palate expansion and am curious as to how many people experience relapse? It would be awful to have gone through all of this hell to relapse. I'm a bit freaked out at the moment as I've put in another post as one out of my three rubber bands has snapped and I'm not able to see my surgeon until next Weds to rectify it. I'm just hoping one little band and 5 days without it isn't going to cause a major relapse! Probably getting a little too worked up here but I've got too much time on my hands now see

Any of your experiences been similar? Thanks.

If i remember correctly, my surgeon said that 5 percent of people experience relapse/complications. So its not a huge population but its still out there.

re your rubber bands: that is good you can see him on wednesday and the rubber bands will help keep things in place. once you get that one back on you'll be fine. Just try not to open your mouth to wide or anything. If any movement has occured the bands will help take care of that

Rates of relapse may also vary depending upon type of surgery and diagnosis. I came across a study done once at the university of north carolina which had rates of relapse for each type of surgery i.e. upper, lower etc.

Sounds scary. I hope I don't get it. Just had double jaw surgery 20 days ago and I don't want to go through it again.

I had my first upper and lower jaw surgery when I was 17, and it relapsed.
I had my first upper and lower jaw surgery when I was 32, last november and guess what: we're already seeing the first signs of relapse... I still have my braces on

What happens when jaw surgery relapses? They cut the bone and make it longer or shorter...so how can it go back to the way it was? Maybe someone can explain relapse to me.

In my case, they cut my jaw to extend it. But at the condyle (articulation of the jaw), there are some cells that "eat" my bone so it shortens, and my jaw moves back again.

mountaingirl wrote:What happens when jaw surgery relapses? They cut the bone and make it longer or shorter...so how can it go back to the way it was? Maybe someone can explain relapse to me.

Our bones are always 'alive' so to speak. They are constantly being nourished etc. by what we eat, they are affected by our activity, they are always working, always responding to the rest of our body. Bodies as a whole have a 'memory', they know what should be. Sometimes - rarely - after this procedure, the body will remember that something's not right, so it will adjust the jaw accordingly. I was told that a 10/20 percent relapse is common (so a very very slight relapse, unnoticeable to us) but completely relapses, much, much rarer.

[quote="domips"]In my case, they cut my jaw to extend it. But at the condyle (articulation of the jaw), there are some cells that "eat" my bone so it shortens, and my jaw moves back again.[/quote]

This sounds like condylar resorption. One cause of relapse, but it can happens even to people who have not had jaw surgery.

Just a quick question...

For those who had a relapse, did your surgeon keep you wired shut for 4-6 weeks or did he use rubber bands instead?

It seems like some people have rubber bands to tie their teeth together after surgery but it isn't tight enough and you can remove them to eat. This seems to cause a relapse in some cases.

Relapse is scary, no doubt. But there is absolutely no evidence that wiring vs rubber bands has anything to do with it.

The only thing you could point to that definitively causes relapse is if plates/screws are rejected or break immediately post-op (which is practically impossible), or our muscles move things back to the way they were over time. This is called muscle memory.

The second is much more common and is unpredictable. As somebody said above, some relapse is common, but rarely to the point of it being noticeable to us.

Rigid internal fixation has been around for 15+ years, and it is used by a vast majority of oral surgeons today. If it really could be tied to relapse, do you think that it would be the "standard of care" or the most prevalent manner in which to stabilize the jaw post-op? Absolutely not.

So, I agree it is always a concern (and its absolutely a concern of mine), but wired vs banding is not the right place to look.

Yes, do not worry. I think my surgeon may have even said that bands are tighter than the wires, because the bands can be replaced over time, but the wires lose strength. Something like that!

I was wired shut for 5 weeks and the wires didn't lose strength, I couldn't move my mouth at all for those 5 weeks as they were too tight.

Is it true that everyone relapses 2 mm after surgery?

well i had surgery nearly 3 years ago when i was 17 just turning 18 and i had a under bite to start but now due to how my jaw and teeth have moved after surgery now have a over bite so may be in store for another set of surgery and i also can get a very painful jaw and sometimes it locks as well which never happened before surgery

i am meeting with my surgeon today so hopefully find out whats happening and also have an appointment next month with the dental school and my surgeon

it is upsetting to have relapse but even with the relapse i am soo much happier with the appearance of my face that the first surgery still feels totally justified