Metal Mouth Message Board

In a few months i will be getting upper jaw surgery and am a bit confused about what they will be doing to advance the top jaw forward.

Right now im thinking they are just going to cut my upper jaw off(basically), move it a few mm forward then screw metal plates to hold my jaw into place. Am i right in thinking this? or is it done in a different way?

In depth explanation of this would be greatly appreciated! thanks.

An "in depth" explanation will be best provided by your surgeon. I've had several long chats with mine, and still don't think I could properly describe the process I'm facing in layman terms.

MMG

so very true. the reason i ask for an in depth explanation is i have only talked to the surgeon once and this was before i had braces. i just wanted to know how they are planning to cut my jaw and move it forward etc.

In your case, the surgeon may not yet know exactly how it's going to work.

When I had impressions done last week, they talked about cutting up one of the models to get to the final plan. But they take two sets of impressions in case their first guess is bad. From the cut up model, they make plans for the metal plates that hold the bones in the final position till healing is done. As I understand it, there are standard plates, but sometimes they have to fabricate something. My assumption on "fabrication" is that they just bend to fit then cut off any extra bits - emphasis on "assumption".

I'm also assuming that I'll get to see these bits and pieces at my final pre-surgical workup 4 days before surgery.

As always, YMMV.

MMG

Hey there,

I had upper jaw surgery around 4 1/2 weeks ago. Basically it was a simply operation. The surgeon cut through jaw bone (broke it). Once that is done he can move it forward or back depending on every ones case. Then he put the metal plates and screws in and put it all back together. Once that was all done i was wheeled into the recovery room and a new person.

I had to be on soft foods/liquid diet for around 3 weeks until i could eat anything really good. apart from that if u can go into the operation with a open mind and good attitude you will recover quickly. also try and do some normal things after a few days. it will make you forget the pain.

Cassad thanks for the info! I'll be getting that surgery done the end of this year, and thus far that's the best review of it I have heard. Question for you, can you physically feel the plates after recovery?

I'm scheduled for the wonderful world of mandibular advancement in the near future as well. I've found lots of things online by searching "Le Forte 1." That's the name of the procedure. Haven't found any real pictures yet, but I have seen many illustrations and explanations of what happens. A friend let me "feel her screws" last week and I was quite amused.