Does my face look right after surgery?

[davinci7]

Hi everyone,
I had surgery nearly 6 months ago (upper and lower jaws moved forward to correct an overbite). After the swelling had subsided i was a little disappointed at how little my profile had changed. I suppose I expected my lower jaw to have moved forward more. I did not have a genioplasty as the surgeon thought that it was not necessary (although he suggested that I could consider it later). My bite has been corrected which is wonderful but every time I look in the mirror I feel that my face actually looks longer. The distance between my nose and upper lip seems particularly long and I still can't close my lips. I'm not sure if this will improve once the braces are removed. When I drink liquids and my head is down it often leaks out because i can't close my lips tight enough.
Since the surgery, nobody has made a single comment about my face. I'd like an honest opinion from people in this forum. Are my expectations too high or is there something wrong?

[Anastasia8]

Was your upper jaw moved up at all?

This would have allowed the bottom jaw to rotate upwards and forwards.

[davinci7]

From what I can tell it seems to have been moved downwards making it longer. The surgeon did admit to having had problems lifting my upper jaw up due to too much scar tissue from previous surgeries. He told me that it had been successful despite the issues.

[Anastasia8]

Was your previous surgery this type of surgery? Was this a revision?

Yeah, surgeons will always tell you it was successful. It was successful in terms of bite perhaps but most of us don't put ourselves through this just for a perfect bite - it's not unreasonable to expect an aesthetic improvement too.

[davinci7]

I had similar surgery many years ago for the same problem when I was very young. Unfortunately it relapsed. Then a year before the latest surgery I had to undergo sarpe surgery and have a wisdom tooth removed (which was apparently an extremely difficult procedure) because it was embedded into the lower jaw bone. All up, I've had 4 surgeries on my face.
For the last surgery I had 2 surgeons who were extremely qualified and highly recommended. It took me years to find a good enough surgeon I could trust.

After all this I am feeling somewhat disappointed that the aesthetic outcome wasn't better.

[ST24085]

Have you voiced your concern with the surgeon? Being honest, it does seem like you're straining a significant amount to keep your lips closed in that picture.

It breaks my heart to see some people come so far and not get the result they'd hoped for .

[davinci7]

Every time I bring it up, he tells me that it will take time and to just wait. Plus he reckons that it will make a difference when the braces come off. I don't really believe this because other patients don't seem to have the same problem. The lip issue could be a problem because not being able to close the lips can lead to more problems and is a functional issue...not just cosmetic. I also think that the distance between my nose and upper lip looks too long.
I'm going to see a cosmetic surgeon who will hopefully give me an honest opinion and may be able to use some less intrusive procedures to balance things up properly, although I feel that I've been through enough already.

[ivonne]

Hi I am not able to see the picture because I'm new in the forum but
I can tell you that
1- after surgery you might not see things right..
2- we can also be psychologically affected (normal after surgery)
the shock of seeing our face different can have an impact where we are not calm
and seeing things as they truly are and don't attempt any changes at this point...
3- After any major surgery there's a lot of swelling and things going on

I highly recommend under any circumstance to keep calm and do wait a few months before you go
see a cosmetic surgeon because there's a lot of swelling and things going on
just wait for some time until everything heals.

[davinci7]

Hi Ivonne,
Thanks for the good advice. It's true that I have "good" days (when I am more than happy with my face) and I also have "bad" days (when I look in the mirror and feel lousy). I've heard other people express the same experience for a considerable time after surgery.
I have found a good plastic surgeon and today I got a referral from my doctor to see him. I'm going to probably wait at least another month. I just want to know what is possible and what is not possible so I can get a realistic view of my choices.
In the meantime I'm going to try and focus on all the positives, like my beautiful smile, straight teeth and perfect bite. Also the feeling has almost completely come back. I can breathe through my nose and soon the braces will be gone!!!

[davinci7]

Well braces are off and it's now 18 months later and my face still looks WRONG! I also now have speech and eating problems because it's hard to talk and eat properly when your lips have to strain to function.
I realize that the surgeon for some reason rotated my jaws in the opposite direction to normal. Yes my teeth meet, but my bite slopes downwards at the front and up at the back making my jawline more vertical, my face longer and my lips unable to close.

[steven]

I suggest you to stay calm and wait for few more months. Because It will take upto 1 to 2 years to get exact shape after surgery. So no need to worry about this,,

[davinci7]

Well it's been over two years now and I have to say that it was not a successful surgery. I'm going back to my surgeon today to see if he can do the sliding genioplasty on my chin to try and balance my face & possibly allow my lower lip to close up over my teeth so I can actually close my mouth. Quite honestly, it probably won't help as it's only an attempt to disguise the stuff up.
The thing that annoys me the most is having the surgeon tell me that everything is perfect when it's obviously not. He implies that it's all in my head which is frustrating to say the least.
If I could go back in time I would have done the orthodontics and a genioplasty and not the jaw surgery. Absolutely not worth it.

[snapdresser]

How much gum does it show on the top when you smile really big?

[Sarah96]

I can totally understand you. You look like you force your lips to meet up really much. It's not like looking bad but closing your mouth is something balance the face. After surgery i ended up with a similar result. And my surgeon does not accept the fact something went wrong and for him i have the perfect proportions. Maybe our surgeons just want to get rid of us...
I wish you the best of luck. I'm interested in your improvement and please inform us whatever happens.

[ivonne]

Don't worry so much as to the lips needing to cover the teeth in their "entirety"
I think if he can do the genioplasty (which many doctors do while doing jaw surgery) and he can slightly make your mouth close you will look
REALLY GOOD!!!!

Please google a lot of photos of Megan Fox and models you will see it's something most people don't pay attention to, but beautiful faces have the teeth showing when the lips are
resting. When my mom had her dentures put by a woman who also focuses on aesthetics and rejuvenation she said the teeth needed to show somewhat and that it would make her look younger, when people
get older the lips cover the teeth completely because of sagging.

I hope it all works out!!!! Thank you for keeping us updated!