Metal Mouth Message Board

Can it?

For example, this girl over here is pre-surgery:



Her jaw is very pronounced and she looks skinny.

Here is her 35 days post-op:



Her face is a lot more full and she doesn't look as skinny.

Is it just me or does anybody else see a different?

More than likely she is still very swollen. I know I still have significant swelling in my cheeks, chin and lower jaw at 5 weeks post op.

It's the swelling. In the second picture she's only 35 days post-op and she had upper and lower jaw surgery. There will still be a lot of swelling at this stage. Even at 4 months post-op, I still had swelling. It wasn't until 6 months, that things started to get more defined. Every month you will notice some more difference as your swelling goes down some more. People need to remember that you're not going to see the final result right away. It takes up to a year for all the swelling to go down completely and to see the final result. A lot of the people who are upset right after surgery about their appearance are thinking that that's the way they're going to end up looking forever. It's not!

She looks so different. Is that much of a change in appearance common?

ceanna wrote:It's the swelling. In the second picture she's only 35 days post-op and she had upper and lower jaw surgery. There will still be a lot of swelling at this stage. Even at 4 months post-op, I still had swelling. It wasn't until 6 months, that things started to get more defined. Every month you will notice some more difference as your swelling goes down some more. People need to remember that you're not going to see the final result right away. It takes up to a year for all the swelling to go down completely and to see the final result. A lot of the people who are upset right after surgery about their appearance are thinking that that's the way they're going to end up looking forever. It's not!

How long before you started to look decent and people didn't notice you had swelling?

class3underbiteboy wrote: How long before you started to look decent and people didn't notice you had swelling?

I would say that the majority of my swelling was gone by 2 months. If people looked at me they wouldn't have been able to tell that I still had swelling. But to me, I could still feel some puffiness in my cheeks and above my lips. When I was unwired after 5 weeks I pretty much felt okay going out in public without feeling like people were staring at my large face. I still felt a bit self-conscious because I could still tell I had swelling but I'm sure people who didn't know me didn't think it was anything unusual.

she is SWOLLEN!!! I do know what you mean by her looking skinnier though. I'm pretty sure that her protruding jaw emphasized her bones and made her look a bit emaciated, but it's also due to the harsh angle in that picture. The other before pictures of her look completely different and like another person. I've seen this post before and found it hard to get a good feel for what she looked like before.
Also, her makeup is done pretty heavily in the second photo, including the blush which is over a large area in her cheeks, making them stand out more than they should. contours are key!

class3underbiteboy wrote:How long before you started to look decent and people didn't notice you had swelling?

I was fine within a couple of weeks.

But I agree with the earlier post, 5 weeks post op is way too soon to judge the results. I've heard 6-12 months as an estimate for all swelling to go away.

FWIW, I had similar results

My face is shorter now. My jaw gave me the angular face like that.

thats the perfect word "angular". I personally think angular pointy features, like she has in the first pic definitely make her look very skinny (she seems to be very skinny physically though), and the rounder features tend to give some one a softer/fuller look.

Do you know what procedures she had? I think it would largely depend on that as well. From what I can tell, she seems to have a shorter chin in the second picture but then again, the picture is at a different angle. Sideway gaze will always make your face look skinner than it really is. But as for the puffiness, if you look at her cheeks, that is definitely what I would classify as chipmunk cheeks due to the swelling if you were to seriously compare the first pic to the second pic esp around the jaw.

I'm more concerned about looking older after surgery. I'll be having my lower jaw moved out 13mm for my overbite.
I always think people look younger when theyve had an underbite corrected... And as I'm having the opposite I'm slightly concerned.