Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi there, I'm new around here.

I had upper jaw surgery two weeks ago and so far the aesthetic results have been nothing but underwhelming. My upper jaw was moved 8mm forward, and although I'm being told that at 2 weeks post-op my current look is far from definitive, I'm pretty certain that either my jaw was moved too many mm forward or I should have had double jaw surgery (or maybe even just braces alone).

To be honest, I always felt from the very beginning that a double jaw surgery was what I actually needed, but my doctors somehow convinced me otherwise and I just had to trust them (after all, who was I to try and contradict them?). Now I'm thinking that I was right back then, despite the numerous vain attempts from both my orthodontist and surgeon to make me believe everything looks normal.

Recently I've been reading some other threads looking for info on upper jaw surgery, and what I've seem to gather from them is that bimaxillar surgery is a much more reliable procedure which tends to produce better aesthetic results with less drastic changes to nose, lips and smile, whereas with upper jaw surgery one might end up with a chimp face look (which I have ).

So that's how things are. My mouth has gotten wider, my lips are bigger and the lower one droops (I guess this is due to the distance from my chin to my lower lip having been reduced). My smile has lost its identity, and too much gum is showing when I smile wide (doesn't that just prove that 8mm was too much?). There's a noticeable gap between my upper and lower teeth, and from my eyes down, every single feature on my face goes forward, which I guess would have been easily avoided with a double jaw surgery.

Right now my only hopes are that my bite can be fixed back to normal with braces, causing the whole area to become flatter, but I guess now's too late for that. I also trust that my protruding lips are to some extent a consequence of braces adding volume to them, but I'm not sure that having braces removed will make a big impact on that.

I'm glad that the whole thing has gone by without pain, and that my recovery has been apparently more comfortable han most, but if I end up not being pleased with my final look, then it sure will have been definitely not worth it. So...

-Anyone else regretting their upper jaw surgery?
-Is it normal to have a slight overbite after jaw surgery for correcting an underbite?
-Did your teeth fit perfectly after surgery? (mine don't at all and I was already told it would be like this, but I'd like to know if that's standard procedure).
-Isn't 8mm too big an advancement for an upper jaw surgery? (I think the usual is 5 to 6mm).
-Should I consult another surgeon to get an objective opinion about this whole procedure?
-Am I hurrying at judging my results and maybe I should wait a little bit longer? (don't tell me this just to reassure me, please).

Thanks!

Hello, damontes
I had double jaw surgery 11 months ago, and im not happy with the result i already seen a 2nd opinion surgeon and i did not get any help from him.

So im trying to look for a surgeon who is capable of doing complex jaw rivision.

I definetly think that you should wait 6 months prior before making any decision, and if you still unhappy then see a 2nd opnion surgeon, but 2 weeks is still very early, and there will be alot of swelling. So give it bit more time.

I definetly feel that having one jaw broken is better than two broken atleast if you want to have a rivision done if somerhing is not right it wont be as complicated. I wished i only had one jaw broken. Im not too sure on how much movement my surgeon made to my both jaws, i never really had good communication with my surgeon. But if you feel that you should of have double jaw surgery, you ahould mention ut to your surgeon, after all he was the one who did your surgery.

Please keep updating as to how you are getting on with your jaw surgery
Thanks

What did you have done? I just had a 3
Piece lefort on my upper jaw to correct an underbite. I am also 2 weeks post op (and a couple days). It is far far too early to decide if it was the right decision for you, from what I've read, give it at least 2 months when all your swelling should be mostly gone by then.

I don't know how far my upper jaw was advanced or widened, but I do know it's a substantial amount where it seems like I have an overbite now. My surgeon has given me various elastics to wear on my front teeth in a square pattern to just bring my lower jaw into a new position.

My lower teeth don't come anywhere close to the grooves on the splint, he said I may never get them in there, but at least get the lower jaw somewhat closer to the upper jaw. I believe this is due to there being a tiny bit of relapse once all the swelling goes down. My face doesn't have the same expressions it had before, my surgeon said its due to me being swollen still. While it doesn't appear that I am, I fully trust him. He showed me how he can tell, there's lines around my nose and mouth that were there before that are just flat now due to the swelling.

Hang in there, things will get better. When do you get your splint off? Do you have one?

Damontes, from what I've read from those who had an underbite surgically corrected, your concerns are very common. You are still VERY early on SPAM SPAM SPAMMING. You need to give it time for the swelling and for the post-surgical orthodontic work to do their thing. The swelling especially tends to give everyone an overbite look.

If you go onto YouTube and search for Nathanael Eisenman, I remember him talking about the exact same thing (and he had double jaw surgery).

Thank you all for your replies.

I'm still not fully convinced on upper jaw surgery (am I wrong in saying that double produces better results?), but I'll listen to you and wait a bit longer before I start banging my head on the wall. Hopefully everything will turn out fine in the end.

[quote="tylerjwilson"]What did you have done?[/quote]
I had a Lefort I (8mm), but I have no idea how many pieces my jaw was cut into. There really hasn't been much talk between me and my surgeon.

[quote="tylerjwilson"]When do you get your splint off? Do you have one?[/quote]
I had a splint which was used during the surgery, but I'm not wearing it right now.

[quote="jaime"]If you go onto YouTube and search for Nathanael Eisenman, I remember him talking about the exact same thing (and he had double jaw surgery).[/quote]
Thanks for pointing me to that channel. His change from the first few weeks to that 10-month video is remarkable and encouraging.

I second Jaime's comment. Everyone who started with an underbite initially reports that they have a chimp-like look. Rest assured that's swelling that will go down in time.

damontes, how are you doing now? Moving both jaws during the surgery doesn’t always guarantee a great result. I’ve had a double jaw surgery to correct an underbite but they hardly moved my lower jaw back & pushed my upper jaw forward by 7mm… It’s nearly a year after the surgery and I’m devastated. I have a chimp face and instead of one protruding jaw I have two now… What kind of improvement is that?? My teeth fit pretty well (they messed up the midline though…) but the general result just makes me cry. Have your teeth settled in? Have you have anything else done to get them fit?