Lower jaw only vs both jaw surgery - help!

Message

#16 Post by **Izzy1979** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:54 pm

try this again...
the first 2 pictures are in a more "natural" position, the other 4 are with my jaw closed. This was after Invisalign treatment, I now have braces but my upper teeth really havent moved since.

So current plan is - advance lower jaw to meet upper (I think about 8mm but dont have the actual measurements), chin reduction by incising bone and slide back/maybe a little down

Option 2 is as above but advance upper jaw forward and down some

#17 Post by **Izzy1979** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:44 am

a few more pics....

today's pictures - with braces which give a little upper lip support

Also wondering if I would get the same/better balance by getting a rhinoplasty later instead of upper jaw. I did meet a plastic surgeon who throught my nose could use a little something and didn't find my jaw so unbalanced, but thats not really his specialty either

this one smiling... never loved my smile and wondering how much just doing the lower will help that

As it is.. 10am, less than 24hrs from surgery, stupid insurance still hasnt come through! ahhh!!

#18 Post by **Bowater** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:25 am

You look pretty good at current so that is promising for the future. Just a few things I picked up on from what you have said:

" never loved my smile and wondering how much just doing the lower will help that "

"I guess what I dislike about my face is the "sunken" appearance at the bottom of my face"

"Option 2 is as above but advance upper jaw forward and down some "

Advancing your jaw down will leave you showing more teeth and improve your smile. Advancing your upper jaw forward will work to reduce the sunken appearance and allow the lower jaw to advance further still to fully remove it. Bear in mind if they do not advance your upper jaw forward then the lower jaw will not be able to advance as far and the impact will be limited.

No need for a rhinoplasty unless you are wanting to change the shape entirely, i.e. ski slope or perfectly straight?

Maxiofacial surgeons are far more talented than plastic surgeons so ideally you want to rely on him to do most of the work. To become a plastic surgeon in the UK you need no qualifications but to become a qualified maxiofacial surgeon takes 10 years or more.

Maybe someone working for the insurance company has been reading this thread and is keeping an eye out for you...

#19 Post by **Izzy1979** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:37 am

I figured that I need to have a chat with my surgeon today, left him a message to call me.

I'm not sure I can convince myself to have upper jaw done if it's only esthetic.. risk of complications vs benefits seems high. However I want to make sure there is no other reason to do it - some people mentioned higher risk of recurrence and don't know if that applies to me or not, also want to make sure my bite can be as "perfect" with just lower. If none of this applies I think I will need to learn to live with a bit of "sunkage", hopefully the chin reduction will help a lot of that. Either way I suppose I can only look BETTER right?:) And so far nobody has ever run away from me in the street:)

As of almost 1pm, still no news from the insurance, so I guess unless they come through in the next 4hrs then I'm not going in tomorrow. It's a bit annoying since at this point Ive had to get all my meds filled, send the dog away, make my friend bring her stuff over to stay with me. My boss is also very annoyed that she may have to redo the whole schedule for the next month since I may have to be back at work now!

The joys of last minute fiascos...

#20 Post by **Izzy1979** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:35 am

well final update
the insurance went through
I had a good long talk with my surgeon (a bit overdue!!!) and there is no functional advantage to the upper. He would probably move it about 5mm and he doesn't feel it would make much difference in my appearance from not doing it, my lip wouldnt be much more supported, while esthetically would be more "perfect" he really doesn't feel the additional pain/recovery will be worth the result, especially from a front point of view (and really that is usually how people watch me, not from the side)

So tomorrow it is. Now I can just stress out about the surgery, my results and my pain!!!

keep you guys posted, thanks for all the opinions

#21 Post by **sauerkraut** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:26 pm

All the best for tomorrow, Izzy

#22 Post by **Izzy1979** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:54 pm

Thanks Sauerkraut!
I'll keep you posted on the results. If I'm in a oxycodone induce haze for 2 weeks then good luck on yours!

#23 Post by **Emmauk** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:09 pm

Well done for making the decision and talking it through with your surgeon properly, at least now you can focus on having it done then recovery rather than the i wish i'd done something or asked something before.

Good luck

#24 Post by **vincejawsurgery** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:00 pm

I was presented with the same option.

I consulted a couple of surgeons and they all said either one or two jaws but the best would be 2 jaws because my upper jaw was underdeveloped as they say.

So I did two jaws instead of one!