Just had my surgery, ask away

[VandelayIndustries]

Hey guys,

I'm a male in my twenties in the US. Recently I had double jaw surgery to fix an open bite. A week after my procedure it became apparent everything wasn't properly in place so I went back under for a revision which isn't nearly as painful as the initial procedure since there are no fresh bone cuts.

Originally I planned to make a blog but that's too much of a time investment so I'll use this thread instead.

Feel free to ask me anything.

[BracketBaring]

Sorry to hear you needed a revision. I got no questions for you at the moment, but I do have to say I love your screen name, lol

[Alejandroe84]

Hey there,

So I am wanting to go through double jaw surgery, but I was curious to know if you had any major fears - anxiety, or anything of that sort in concerns to surgery.

I mean, I'm sure everyone has those little fears - a natural reaction, but I was curious to know if you had any major fears about going through surgery itself or the complications that can arise with any type of major surgery.

I have sleep apnea, and have read that there are risks associated with general anesthesia and sleep apnea. That, and other than financially, I am okay to go ahead with surgery.

I know I have always wanted to go through surgery, as I have a slight under-bite, and a protruding chin, but now have some more stressors attached to this.

Thanks, and good luck on your recovery!

Regards,

Alejandroe84

[BracketBaring]

Hey there,

So I am wanting to go through double jaw surgery, but I was curious to know if you had any major fears - anxiety, or anything of that sort in concerns to surgery.

I mean, I'm sure everyone has those little fears - a natural reaction, but I was curious to know if you had any major fears about going through surgery itself or the complications that can arise with any type of major surgery.

I have sleep apnea, and have read that there are risks associated with general anesthesia and sleep apnea. That, and other than financially, I am okay to go ahead with surgery.

I know I have always wanted to go through surgery, as I have a slight under-bite, and a protruding chin, but now have some more stressors attached to this.

Thanks, and good luck on your recovery!

Regards,

Alejandroe84

Are you overweight?

[Anna5]

Hello,

I am happy that you had your open bite fixed. But how bad that your first surgery didn't go well so that you needed to have a second surgery. I hope it will turn out well in the end!
Are you happy with the results now? How big was your open bite? Maybe you can post some before and after pictures, that is always interesting.
I wish you a very good recovery!

[sak07]

Hi - it looks like i'll have to have a revision as well - can I ask - how soon after the first surgery did they perform the revision? How was recovery compared to the first operation - did you you have to do an overnight in hospital again?

[Alejandroe84]

BracketBaring> No I am not overweight, in fact I feel I am underweight for my age - I'm 5'4 and only weight 140.

I do understand that you can have sleep apnea due to weight factors, but in my case, I see no relevance and I really don't know why I have it - genetics, environmental, etc, could be factors, but I'm not too concerned about that right now.

[BracketBaring]

BracketBaring> No I am not overweight, in fact I feel I am underweight for my age - I'm 5'4 and only weight 140.

I do understand that you can have sleep apnea due to weight factors, but in my case, I see no relevance and I really don't know why I have it - genetics, environmental, etc, could be factors, but I'm not too concerned about that right now.

Oh, sorry. Most people with sleep apnea are overweight, that's why I asked.

[VandelayIndustries]

Alejandroe84 :

I didn't really have fears about complications, the most common one is that you'll never regain sensation to certain parts of your lower jaw which I was prepared to live with.


Anna5, sak07 :

Post 1st surgery, it wasn't that bad, I still had an open bite, but regular orthodontics couldn't fix it. Revisions are less traumatic on the body since there are no fresh bones cuts so the days after are much less painful. A lot of the unpleasantness I experienced the first time: constant nose bleeding & lightheadedness didn't reappear. I'd say the revision only set me back 3 days in the recovery energy wise.

[sak07]

Thanks for the response Vandelay - makes me less anxious about the surgical revision. Is the result after the 2nd surgery more as you expected?

I am still quite angry that the surgeon had seemingly ballsed up my surgery - I just can't quite understand how it can happen, they have a surgical plan and numerous x rays, models and pictures so I don't understand how I need a second surgery ?? Plus the cost involved in having a correction -annoying. I just pray and hope that in the end it will all be worth it.

[r2ndc]

Hi - thanks for posting here.

What was the plan for the first surgery?

And what was involved in the revision

Please details - more the better - much appreciated....

Hope the recovery is going well.

[sarahxgx]

Was the recovery for going back under the knife as tough? you poor thing!

[VandelayIndustries2]

Hi all this is the OP, I've been meaning to respond back in June but I had issues logging in (I forgot my password and the system would not allow me to reset it.) Anyway in case anyone is still interested:

[quote="sak07"]Thanks for the response Vandelay - makes me less anxious about the surgical revision. Is the result after the 2nd surgery more as you expected?

I am still quite angry that the surgeon had seemingly ballsed up my surgery - I just can't quite understand how it can happen, they have a surgical plan and numerous x rays, models and pictures so I don't understand how I need a second surgery ?? Plus the cost involved in having a correction -annoying. I just pray and hope that in the end it will all be worth it.[/quote]

Did you have the 2nd surgery yet? How did it go? The result is better but I'll wait until my braces are off before giving a final judgement. I'll try to dig up some before, midway and after photos and post them here.

r2ndc : Details of the procedures : The first procedure was a Lefort I and BSOO with just light rubber bands needed for the recovery. This was to fix an open bite (hard to say how big but I've been told 5mm by some and 7mm by others). In addition my 4 anterior teeth on both jaws were canted (jaw surgery would fix the top, bottom by orthodontics). With an open bite comes the accompanying lip incompetence and mouth breathing which you hope the jaw surgery can fully fix too.

The second one was just called a revision. All my screws got removed and they attempted to adjust the fit without any fresh cuts. The cuts were apparently fine the first time around but apparently I "woke up hard" from the anesthesia and clenched which was the source of the movement. I forgot what the exact historical odds they told me but I think there is a ~2% chance that this can happen. Last one the office has seen being 4 months before me so it's not that rare.

One thing to keep in mind about revisions, screwing in the titanium plates ideally requires fresh bone. So for my bottom jaw I have no plates after the revision, but had a lot of rubber bands in place to keep it from moving.

Sarahxgx : the physical recovery is much easier the second time because they did not make any fresh bone cuts. Eating was harder because after the second one I was fully banded shut instead of just having light rubber bands though.