Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi everyone

Well I can't believe I've got my surgery date on the 19th November. Lower jaw surgery for a 12mm overbite oh how I'm well ready for this. Feeling excited and getting nervous already lol

It's countdown time for me

Harmony

I am having my surgery on the same day! BSSO and the surgeon gave me some additional time to decide if I also want a genioplasty. I'm leaning towards no. I'm with you... Excited and nervous!

Oh that's great news Leias. My ortho thought at the beginning of my treatment that I probably would need a genioplasty but recently there like 'no' so I'm not having it done, just lower surgery. Think my overjet will be around 3-4mm as they feel if they bring it forward anymore it could leave me with the 'chinny' look and I don't want that! Do they think you would need genioplasty done? Is it just lower your having done as well?

Yes. My lower jaw is coming forward. Initially they said I may want to have a genioplasty to give a stronger chin but the surgeon now says it's a judgment call and a personal preference for appearance. My chin coming forward will already give me an improved chin. He was going to try to sketch out what he anticipated both options would look like and let me decide from there. I would have to pay the cost to add the genioplasty out of pocket. It seems like a lot of cost for what would likely be a small move for me after my chin comes forward. Good luck! I'm starting to get a little anxious now but I have so much to do before then I won't have much time to be nervous!

Great news for both of you!

Leia, I'm surprised that the surgeon wants a lot for a genio... Mine offered to do it for free if I got a BSSO in addition to my LeFort.

Thanks sirwired! That would be nice! To add the genioplasty would be an extra $2800 for me. That was higher that I expected to add it on. I do have some insurance coverage but I'm still paying a good chunk out of pocket with just the BSSO.

The date is quickly approaching!

Just wanted to wish you luck! It will soon be over and you'll be hurtling your way to the finish in no time.
Best advice I can give, take it easy and don't rush to recover.

Thanks everyone for the wishes. One final sleep it is and I'm all set to go! Am actually excited now about going in and looking forward to getting this done. Not really nervous, maybe that will change in the morning. I'm just keeping with the positive thoughts as I know it's going to be so worth it and I'm going to be just fine. See you's on the other side!!

Well, make sure you post here letting us know how it went while you are still loopy on drugs! That should be pretty funny!

Hi everyone, well it's all over

I had my lower jaw surgery on Wednesday and home yesterday (thursday). Have to say it was pretty ok for me, yes I'm swollen etc but I'm finding the elastics now the worse. I can't talk right and have to keep them in all the time and only take them out when eating and brushing my teeth and have to wear them all night.

Thankfully I was fine with it all and if I had to do it again I would. Elastics seem to be the worse part for me, hate them!! Can't talk right and it's so frustrating! I've to wear 3 bands, 2 at side and 1 front as I'm a class II, they've been the worse part so far for me! Can't get used to them and getting elastics on is impossible I'm sure I'm delaying things not wearing them!!

Harmony

Hi Harmony!

Congratulations on getting through the surgery !!:jump:
Glad that it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. How was the hospital stay, did everything go alright?
the elastics don't sound like much fun! hopefully you'll get used to them soon, it's only been a couple of days.
When do you go back to see the surgeon?

Thanks kitkat1. Yeah the hospital stay was fine, was only in one night and back to the surgeon in 10 days time. Getting there with the elastics I think. Find them so frustrating as I can't talk the same with them and people can't understand me, for me this is the hardest part of my surgery journey. However, I'm sure I'll get used to them as it's early days.

I hope you can get the elastics under control... they are really important for proper healing, as they help to hold things in place. (It's because of internal fixation and elastics that people usually don't have to be wired shut!)

I had a splint in place of heavy elastics, and I would have preferred the elastics! The splint was wired to my archwire so it could not be cleaned. The first time I had it out (after six weeks), I literally brushed my teeth three times in a row to clean them! It then went back in for another three (I almost cried when the surgeon broke that little tidbit of news!)

I used a laptop with Wordpad set to a huge font to communicate...

Yeah communicating is not the easiest sirwired I'm back to hospital for checkup next week and am hoping I've the elastics on the right hook at the back. Would it matter if I have it on the wrong hook and if it's on the hook beside??

Hi Harmony,

Glad to hear you got through to the other side

Elastics are really important because they hold your jaw in it's new place and it's amazing how much things can move about in there. 12 weeks out and my midlines have been unmatched, came together and now in the other direction and it hasn't taken long for this to happen.

It is important to wear your elastics on the hooks you are told to, in the configuration you are told to. Elastics come in different strengths so exert different pressure/force depending on how you are to wear them and your ortho will have decided where they want your teeth to stay or go. Sorry, probably not what you want to hear.
I use tweezers to help me put them over the hooks, give that a try if your having a problem getting them in.