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Jaw Surgery

xanis

xanis

Lifer
So the other day I went to the dentist mentioned to me that I will have to get surgery done on my jaw. Basically, what I have is a skeletal deformation that occurs in less than 6% of the entire population. This deformation caused my lower jaw to be too far forward and my upper jaw too far back. The result is an extreme underbite that, acoording to the dentist, will cause some problems later in life when I'm older. I've gotten 3 other opinions (doctor, 2 orthodontists) and so far, 2 say yes, 2 say no. The surgery is a short procedure, but it is extremely painful and the recovery time is around 3 weeks, and I really don't have too much time during the year where I can sacrifice 3 weeks to recovery. However, I am tempted to get it done, and hopefulyl avoid having to come back when I'm 30 or so. So what do you guys think?
 
It is called braces. They use them all the time. Just be sure to wear your retainer. My dentist suggested the same thing, I say they are nutz!
 
Originally posted by: Xanis
So the other day I went to the dentist mentioned to me that I will have to get surgery done on my jaw. Basically, what I have is a skeletal deformation that occurs in less than 6% of the entire population. This deformation caused my lower jaw to be too far forward and my upper jaw too far back. The result is an extreme underbite that, acoording to the dentist, will cause some problems later in life when I'm older. I've gotten 3 other opinions (doctor, 2 orthodontists) and so far, 2 say yes, 2 say no. The surgery is a short procedure, but it is extremely painful and the recovery time is around 3 weeks, and I really don't have too much time during the year where I can sacrifice 3 weeks to recovery. However, I am tempted to get it done, and hopefulyl avoid having to come back when I'm 30 or so. So what do you guys think?
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do it. it needs to be done and you will regret it years down the road if you don't.

 
Do you have good insurance to cover it? Maybe you would be better off to wait a year or two, free up some time, and see how things go. If all the docs were in agreement, I'd say do it, but their disagreement makes me think this isn't urgent, at the very least.

 
I know someone who had this done. I don't know if he had the 6% deformity thing, but he had the severe underbite and the admonitions that it would cause plenty of problems down the road. I believe they broke his upper jaw surgically and moved it forward.

Yes, he ate EVERYTHING liquid for a few weeks. Even after a week or so, mashed potatoes or scrambled eggs were too much. He didn't seem to be in a lot of pain after the first couple of days, but sure missed food. PSA - liquified cheeseburgers do NOT taste good.

He spent his recovery time at my house, so that is where my observations come from.

Good luck!
 
yeah, i have a slipped disc on the right side of my head. the disc is between the jaw bone and the skull, it is out of place. it causes me to have to cross bite otherwise the jaw dislocates. nothing painful yet... we'll see in a few years though.

i'm 19.
 
Three weeks isn't a big deal. If it helps you out in the future, I don't see why not do it now.

Try a two month recovery without solid food =p
 
Depends on how far they want to move it
I had the opposite problem overbite and I was out 11mm if they are only gonna move it 3 or 4 mm it wouldn't be worth it unless you are unhappy about how you look cosmetically?
and yes it hurts they break your jaw to do it 'see broken bone'
 
I had jaw surgery too, I was in surgery for 8 hours and my lips were chapped and peeling for about 2 weeks after. Couldn't eat solid foods for 8 weeks. The blender was my best friend. You haven't lived till you've eaten blended cereal, hot dogs, oreoes, tuna fish... every single day, for every meal

Just the sight of tuna fish now makes me ill.
 
Pics?
I'm sure it's not that bad but if it will cause complications later in life, for sure get it done. Just make sure that's what you need to do.
 
Originally posted by: Kev
I had jaw surgery too, I was in surgery for 8 hours and my lips were chapped and peeling for about 2 weeks after. Couldn't eat solid foods for 8 weeks. The blender was my best friend. You haven't lived till you've eaten blended cereal, hot dogs, oreoes, tuna fish... every single day, for every meal

Just the sight of tuna fish now makes me ill.
Click to expand...

That's probably one of the worst parts about getting your jaw wired shut. Most food that you blend, you end up essentially hating forever.
 
Any surgery can result in you ending up dead. It happens all the time. Dentists always overchange for everything. I would ask Well what king of complications are you talking about? I have heard of pinched nerves in the Jaw causing Headaches.
 
I had the exact opposite problem... my lower jaw grew down and back, causing severe overbite. It also meant that the only teeth of mine that could make contact were my absolute back pair of molars, which were slowly grinding themselves into oblivion. The terminal result would be that the joints in my jaw would destroy themselves from having to move my jaw in unnatural ways in order to be able to eat.

Recovery was a huge annoyance... five weeks of a completely liquid diet, then another two weeks of soft food (defined as food you can eat merely by mashing it against the roof of the mouth with the tongue, since chewing was not yet allowed). I do not know if I will EVER eat yogurt or tomato soup ever again. In addition i have to have braces for approximately six to eight months after surgery, and had to have them put on six weeks prior to surgery.

Overall, I'd have to say I'm quite dissatisfied with the experience. Yes, the supposed problems with the joints are now resolved, but the surgeon was not able to line properly align the upper and lower jaw. The consequence is that the upper jaw is a few millimeters too far to the right and my front teeth don't line up properly. Symmetry is a big deal to me and it's been a major annoyance that I can't stop thinking about. The orthodontist is about to give up and take off the braces since he doesn't feel he will be able to sufficient correct the problem. This surgery was performed by supposedly the best guy in the western United States (performs about five instances of this procedure per week, over 15,000 over the course of his career).

If you have any questions about my experience, feel free to send me a PM. Hopefully yours will go better than mine.
 
I'd be very careful with that. When I was younger a dentist recommended the exact surgery for me. We went back to our regular dentist and he said there was no need for it and it could be fixed using a retainer. Which it was.

But the scary thing is there was a girl in my hometown at the time who had it done, had her jaw wired shut after. She woke up in the middle of the night and freaked out, swallowed her tongue and died.

So becareful and get a few more opinions.
 
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