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Unexpected Changes in Appearance - 1 Month Post Op Double Jaw Surgery

ORIGINAL POST

Hi everyone, I am a 19 year old male patient who...

RSMember1998
Hi everyone, I am a 19 year old male patient who underwent Orthognathic surgery on 9th of May 2018.
As of now, I am sitting at 1 month post operation, and I don't really like my results.
For a couple of years, I knew I needed to have a double jaw surgery in order to correct my bite, because I was diagnosed with a Class III Malocclusion, underbite. What I always hated about my face was the protruding lower jaw that always made me self-conscious about my side profile and the tilted line of teeth that made me dislike my frontal view.
So the day came, and I had my double jaw surgery. Sadly, the procedure was not exactly like how I expected everything to go. They made an impaction on the right side of my upper jaw to correct the tilted line, and rotated the mandible clockwise to have it in the correct position. But here is the twist: To correct the underbite itsself, instead of moving my lower jaw back, they moved my maxilla forward. This is where I think it all went wrong.
So as I said before, I disliked my protruding lower jaw in the first place, now not only my lower jaw is protruding, my whole jaw is pushed forward making me look like a chimp. Another thing that I didnt really expect, is that by moving the maxilla forward, me nose is now totally flat and looks big especially when I smile. I read many reviews, recovery blogs, saying that in time it will get better but the weeks are going by, and I keep thinking its getting worse and worse. Is it possible that I am still swelling which creates an illusion or is this actually the result? It feels really weird, I lost my former face, making me feel like I lost my identity. I don't look like my sister anymore which was a super strong bond that we had for our whole lives.
If anybody can relate, or has some comment about all this, any advice, I would very much appreciate it as I am feeling a little down right now. I'll attach some pictures to show what I mean.
Thank you all very much!

RSMember1998's provider

Prof. József Barabás

Replies (5)

June 5, 2018
If it helps you don’t look that different to me at all! In some pictures I can barely tell unless I knew you had jaw surgery and even then the difference is only in your jaw
June 6, 2018
To me you look almost identical but just a little bit more symmetrical!
June 6, 2018
I think you are being to hard on yourself. You look good and I think the new jaw suits you.
June 6, 2018
My goodness, you haven't even given it a tiny fraction of time for the swelling to go down in itself. The bones are wired and plated bact together so they will stay, but even a small amount of swelling in the face can change looks so much. ( You wouldn't believe how much they can relax muscles and stretch your mouth open for the surgery. (I have seen both the la forte and sagattal split and that was shocking!).
I assume the doctor told you how he was going to try to fix your problem. He should have shown you on a skull what he was going to do. You don't say if this was the way he had told you he was going to do this. No other decent doctor should be willing to even look at you for 6 months or longer. On your post op visits what has your surgeon told you? You do not say what he said.
If you hated your malocclusion but still wanted to look the same, how did you address this preop?
On my tablet I cannot enlarge the thumbnail photos so I cannot address them.
Please express all this to the surgeon because these surgeries totally detach the areas of bone and maybe he could do an adjustment before healing has really begun.
Take care. Go back to the doctor. Let us know.
June 10, 2018
Dude, you look better than you did before. You've got a way better jaw line and your midface isn't sunken in. I had the same scenario you had pre op but my ortho said to extract all non impacted wisdom teeth and braces. This was not the way to go. Didn't fix the problem and only dug a deeper hole. I never was even informed of the le fort 1. You've got the better end of the stick.
UPDATED FROM RSMember1998
1 month post

6 weeks out - an update

RSMember1998
Hi everyone!

First of all, thank you for all the kind comments!
So I am now 6 weeks post operation, and just came home from the orthodontist appointment. I went ahead and asked whether there was any medical reason as to why it was my maxilla that was moved forward and not the mandible backwards, and voila, there was absolutely no reason. So it could have been a different procedure, one that I would have liked to get (this is why I think I could have made a difference), but alas it's in the past now. Now the orthodontist is regarded as the best the country, him and the surgeon have collaborated to fix extremely complex cases from fractured skulls to serious deformities. So he said that the maxillary advancement was miles better than anything else in my case aesthetically, well I don't think that is exactly how it is, but I do have some trust. Now I am slowly learning to accept my new appearance, but still after 6 weeks post op, I still have the feeling that my whole jaw is protruding a little bit forward, the swelling has settled a little bit more I think, but I am still seeing a chimp more than anything, I guess I'll have to get used to it...
I have a front shot and a side shot attached to the update.

P.S.: Good news though is that my teeth are straight and aligned so well that I will get my braces removed at the end of August, just in time before I start university. I did not expect it to come off that early but I was pretty happy to hear that. I'll definitely post more updates as the time flies by, thank you all who are following my post!

Replies (5)

June 21, 2018
Hi. I had the same surgery about 3 months ago. I had double jaw surgery. On my lower jaw to the right when I eat or move my jaw to the left I feel like something being pulled like gums or bone, do you experience this or is it just me?
June 21, 2018
June 22, 2018
I think your results are great tbh. A forward maxilla is an attractive feature. I'm correcting my underbite in a month hopefully and would be grateful if I get the same result as you did!
June 23, 2018
I agree with Cinderella, if the maxilla hadn't come forward it would leave you flat underneath the eyes. Right now you've got some great looking cheekbones and a more aligned face - handsome!
July 1, 2018
I agree with this commenter, I think you may have not realized that the term REALself doesn't always mean a model, but a better looking version of you. your Trueself. This guy in post op pics is truly good looking dude. He may not be a Model, but he is not unattractive or going to be over looked with a positive/optimistic attitude.
July 17, 2018
I feel you look great and I like the post op 6 weeks pictures than your pre-op pictures. You are a good looking guy but I feel you are now even better looking as well as you will be able to chew and not have all the teeth issues that I have had all my life from my cross bite/under-bite. I wish I taken care of my teeth when I was younger. Please keep us updated. Once you remove the braces and more of the swelling goes down, I feel you are going to be happy.
UPDATED FROM RSMember1998
2 months post

8 weeks out - feeling much better

RSMember1998
Once again, I thank everyone for the kind comments!
So this is probably gonna be more of an uplifting post than what happened so far.

As I started to return to social life and began hanging out with friends again, I became more and more confident with the new look I got from the surgery. Most of the people didn't even notice a difference, others said it differed a little bit but in a good way, some people even noted that I appeared 'handsome', who didn't find me handsome before. This really boosted my confidence, and helped me to accept the new jaw a lot. That of course was not the only thing that guided me through the rough time.

It was probably said enough times, but the swelling after this procedure really does take a lot of time to settle. Although slowly, the swelling is going down and I have started seeing more of my old self again, and as I am sitting at only 8 weeks post op, there is still a lot of recovery time left, and I believe that it will get even better. At my dentist there is a girl doing work practice, who went through the same surgery just a month before I did. Every time I had a post op appointment, I would spend some time talking with her about the recovery, and man, did it push away my worries. It feels really good to actually talk to someone who fully understands what you are going through.

And of course, I can't thank you guys enough for posting a lot of very helpful comments that made me research a lot on the topic of maxillary development and facial structure (Especially watching Mike Mew). I learned so much about the importance of forward facial growth and how it affects airways, TMJ movement and many many other important functions, as well as aesthetics. I now believe the decision to move my maxilla forward was definitely the right move, and now I know I would not take it back.

Of course, the most important thing, the whole reason I decided to go through the surgery of course, is proper jaw function. It now feels so good as I finally was given the green light to eat again. I can properly bite now as my teeth sit beautifully on top of each other, not having an open gap in between. My back teeth are touching on both the right and the left side now, which makes it so comfortable to chew food, and the resting position of my mouth is so relaxing finally.

I'll attach a couple of photos, finally one where I don't make a pale face, but look like someone who is actually starting to enjoy life :D And a comparison photo where I tried to put the post op pic in the same angle as the pre op pic, and now I clearly see that I had a pretty sunken in midface, which I am glad is now in its correct position.

I am very eager to see the result in two months time when my dentist will be removing my braces and my journey in orthodontics will finally be ending.

I will definitely post more updates, thank you all who are following my post once again!

Replies (5)

July 17, 2018
Thank you for the update. I feel you are getting even more handsome and I only wish I had this surgery at your age so I could bite properly. I feel the surgeon and the orthodontist both did a very good job. Looking forward to more updates.
July 17, 2018
P.S. I feel soon you should change the "Not Sure" to Worth It. :)
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October 18, 2018
You look great xx
December 31, 2018
you need genioplasty for chin to bring back fullness from. unless they allow you further counter clockwise rotation but your upper jaw looks quite compact already.
January 2, 2019
He looks fine.