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Jaw Reduction/T-Osteotomy (V-line) + Zygoma Reduction at The Face Dental
I’ve always been self-conscious about my square jaw and spent something like 4 years thinking about and researching v-line surgery. After a long time reading heaps of reviews about different clinics both in the US and South Korea, I finally decided to go through with it in mid-November 2019. The specific procedures were jaw reduction + t-osteotomy (aka v-line) and zygoma reduction with Dr. Joongkyou Lee from The Face Dental in South Korea.
I ultimately decided to go with The Face Dental for a few major reasons:
1). I’ve heard way too many horror stories about people, particularly foreigners, being botched at larger hospitals like Regen, ID, Banogi, etc. due to ghost doctors, back-to-back scheduling causing rushed surgeries, and just general shady practices.
2). Dr. Lee is the only surgeon at TFD, which strongly eliminates the possibility of doctor swapping, and he has strong credentials as a certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon. (Specialization is good! In fact, the entire clinic is specialized.) He is also very fluent in English.
3). They have an actual anesthesiologist to monitor you during the surgery. (One of the scariest parts for me was being put under, so this was a big plus in my book.)
Consultation:
There were 3 consultations prior to the actual surgery. The first was over Skype with Dr. Lee so he could take a preliminary look at my facial structure. During the call, he recommended jaw reduction to reshape my square jaw, and also suggested zygoma reduction to balance out my facial width. Some doctors have been very pushy in the past saying I *need* this or that procedure, but Dr. Lee did not do this at all. He was very patient and did a very good job of addressing my concerns with the appropriate procedures.
The second consultation was in-person the day before surgery so Dr. Lee could physically examine my facial structure and go over more specifics. He confirmed that I was a good candidate for v-line surgery and zygoma reduction. (He also commented that I had a small face lol, so yay?)
For v-line, the bone on the lower mandible would be shaved to the desired shape and the chin would be lengthened a little and reshaped to give a better V shape. Initially I was afraid that lengthening my chin would give me a long face, but I am very glad Dr. Lee recommended it. The lengthening done very skillfully and the result is subtle, but noticeably balanced out my facial shape. For zygoma reduction, the bones would essentially be pushed in to match the width of my face to my temple area. I asked to keep most of the 45 degree angle on my cheekbone though as I did not want a flat 3/4 profile, which Dr. Lee did very well.
I was also given x-rays and CT scans so Dr. Lee could plan out the surgery, and blood tests and an EKG to make sure I was fit for surgery.
Surgery and Aftercare:
The third consultation was directly before surgery to do final confirmations and make sure everyone was on the same page. They also went over the expected recovery process with me. I got very, very nervous before the surgery, but the staff and nurses were very kind and reassuring. Dr. Lee could also see I was nervous and reassured me that it would be fine. (Spoiler alert, everything WAS fine.)
I was taken into the operating room where the assisting nurses were already set up. The anesthesiologist came in and confirmed my medical history with me before putting me under. Next thing I remember, I’m waking up after the surgery as they are wheeling me out. I was very groggy coming out, but thankfully I didn’t get the nausea some people experience with general anesthesia. They transferred me to a bed in a recovery room to monitor me for the next 7-8 hours. I wasn’t allowed to drink water for a couple hours directly afterward which sucked. The pain was maybe a 4 out of 10 in the first few hours, but was definitely tolerable. The nurses had me get up and walk around the floor occasionally and checked in on me often. At 7pm, I was released and went back to my airbnb.
Dr. Lee scheduled me to come back for checkups and laser de-swelling treatments every couple days for around 2 weeks before I flew back to the US. My stitches were removed around 10 days after surgery. I was given a gel pack to use either as a hot or cold pack, and told to use it often. They also provided a compression garment for me to wear for the first couple weeks. Surprisingly, I had no pain after surgery day. I didn't even need OTC pain killers.
Recovery:
Swelling generally peaks around 3 days after surgery, which was the case for me. A lot of sources say to expect swelling to go down after 2-3 months. I would say this is *mostly* correct. The majority of my swelling went away within the first couple months. At 6 months post-op now, I still have a little bit of residual swelling in my cheeks. I’m not overly concerned about this though. Everyone heals a little differently. I can tell the swelling is still slowly getting better, so patience is key!
It is also extremely hard to open your mouth after v-line surgery. Dr. Lee encouraged me to talk and gently do a few jaw exercises to build my jaw muscle back up. For the first few weeks, it was difficult for me to open my mouth past 1 or 2 finger widths. It probably took around 2.5 months for me to fully open my mouth again.
There is also one thing I didn’t see mentioned in any reviews I’ve read previously, so it freaked me out a little at first. Due to the t-osteotomy to reshape my chin, there was a small hard bulge of muscle right under my chin after surgery that wasn’t there previously. Dr. Lee assured me it was just the muscle being displaced and it would smooth out back to normal. It took a couple months, but it did indeed completely smooth out.
I experienced some numbness in my face after the surgery, particularly in the area around my chin and right cheekbone. I regained 100% sensation in my chin after a few weeks. My right cheek area for some reason took a little while longer, and it took a few months for 100% of the sensation to return. My facial muscles were all still working normally though, so I wasn’t concerned about major nerve damage.
General Thoughts:
Overall, I’m very glad I went to The Face Dental for v-line and zygoma reduction surgery. I’m MUCH happier about how my face looks now. Before I would hide my face behind my hair. Now, I feel a lot more comfortable wearing my hair up. The results I got were not to overly dramatic, which is what I was aiming for. When I went for acne scar treatment in April, the nurse was very surprised I had jaw surgery since the results were so natural looking :smile:. I even pointed to the areas where the incisions were made. She had to look really closely to pick out the scars.
TFD staff were also very nice and friendly. I travelled to Korea alone for this surgery and got soooo nervous at times. I’m also a gigantic baby when it comes to needles (IVs, blood draws [ ) and the nurses were understanding and reassuring. While the front staff and nurses don’t speak much English, Dr. Lee speaks English well. Communication was incredibly easy with him. This was so important during consultations when we discussed the results I wanted and any concerns I had. He was also very detailed in explaining exactly what he would be doing during surgery and attentive to my recovery.
I hope this information is helpful to someone!
I ultimately decided to go with The Face Dental for a few major reasons:
1). I’ve heard way too many horror stories about people, particularly foreigners, being botched at larger hospitals like Regen, ID, Banogi, etc. due to ghost doctors, back-to-back scheduling causing rushed surgeries, and just general shady practices.
2). Dr. Lee is the only surgeon at TFD, which strongly eliminates the possibility of doctor swapping, and he has strong credentials as a certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon. (Specialization is good! In fact, the entire clinic is specialized.) He is also very fluent in English.
3). They have an actual anesthesiologist to monitor you during the surgery. (One of the scariest parts for me was being put under, so this was a big plus in my book.)
Consultation:
There were 3 consultations prior to the actual surgery. The first was over Skype with Dr. Lee so he could take a preliminary look at my facial structure. During the call, he recommended jaw reduction to reshape my square jaw, and also suggested zygoma reduction to balance out my facial width. Some doctors have been very pushy in the past saying I *need* this or that procedure, but Dr. Lee did not do this at all. He was very patient and did a very good job of addressing my concerns with the appropriate procedures.
The second consultation was in-person the day before surgery so Dr. Lee could physically examine my facial structure and go over more specifics. He confirmed that I was a good candidate for v-line surgery and zygoma reduction. (He also commented that I had a small face lol, so yay?)
For v-line, the bone on the lower mandible would be shaved to the desired shape and the chin would be lengthened a little and reshaped to give a better V shape. Initially I was afraid that lengthening my chin would give me a long face, but I am very glad Dr. Lee recommended it. The lengthening done very skillfully and the result is subtle, but noticeably balanced out my facial shape. For zygoma reduction, the bones would essentially be pushed in to match the width of my face to my temple area. I asked to keep most of the 45 degree angle on my cheekbone though as I did not want a flat 3/4 profile, which Dr. Lee did very well.
I was also given x-rays and CT scans so Dr. Lee could plan out the surgery, and blood tests and an EKG to make sure I was fit for surgery.
Surgery and Aftercare:
The third consultation was directly before surgery to do final confirmations and make sure everyone was on the same page. They also went over the expected recovery process with me. I got very, very nervous before the surgery, but the staff and nurses were very kind and reassuring. Dr. Lee could also see I was nervous and reassured me that it would be fine. (Spoiler alert, everything WAS fine.)
I was taken into the operating room where the assisting nurses were already set up. The anesthesiologist came in and confirmed my medical history with me before putting me under. Next thing I remember, I’m waking up after the surgery as they are wheeling me out. I was very groggy coming out, but thankfully I didn’t get the nausea some people experience with general anesthesia. They transferred me to a bed in a recovery room to monitor me for the next 7-8 hours. I wasn’t allowed to drink water for a couple hours directly afterward which sucked. The pain was maybe a 4 out of 10 in the first few hours, but was definitely tolerable. The nurses had me get up and walk around the floor occasionally and checked in on me often. At 7pm, I was released and went back to my airbnb.
Dr. Lee scheduled me to come back for checkups and laser de-swelling treatments every couple days for around 2 weeks before I flew back to the US. My stitches were removed around 10 days after surgery. I was given a gel pack to use either as a hot or cold pack, and told to use it often. They also provided a compression garment for me to wear for the first couple weeks. Surprisingly, I had no pain after surgery day. I didn't even need OTC pain killers.
Recovery:
Swelling generally peaks around 3 days after surgery, which was the case for me. A lot of sources say to expect swelling to go down after 2-3 months. I would say this is *mostly* correct. The majority of my swelling went away within the first couple months. At 6 months post-op now, I still have a little bit of residual swelling in my cheeks. I’m not overly concerned about this though. Everyone heals a little differently. I can tell the swelling is still slowly getting better, so patience is key!
It is also extremely hard to open your mouth after v-line surgery. Dr. Lee encouraged me to talk and gently do a few jaw exercises to build my jaw muscle back up. For the first few weeks, it was difficult for me to open my mouth past 1 or 2 finger widths. It probably took around 2.5 months for me to fully open my mouth again.
There is also one thing I didn’t see mentioned in any reviews I’ve read previously, so it freaked me out a little at first. Due to the t-osteotomy to reshape my chin, there was a small hard bulge of muscle right under my chin after surgery that wasn’t there previously. Dr. Lee assured me it was just the muscle being displaced and it would smooth out back to normal. It took a couple months, but it did indeed completely smooth out.
I experienced some numbness in my face after the surgery, particularly in the area around my chin and right cheekbone. I regained 100% sensation in my chin after a few weeks. My right cheek area for some reason took a little while longer, and it took a few months for 100% of the sensation to return. My facial muscles were all still working normally though, so I wasn’t concerned about major nerve damage.
General Thoughts:
Overall, I’m very glad I went to The Face Dental for v-line and zygoma reduction surgery. I’m MUCH happier about how my face looks now. Before I would hide my face behind my hair. Now, I feel a lot more comfortable wearing my hair up. The results I got were not to overly dramatic, which is what I was aiming for. When I went for acne scar treatment in April, the nurse was very surprised I had jaw surgery since the results were so natural looking :smile:. I even pointed to the areas where the incisions were made. She had to look really closely to pick out the scars.
TFD staff were also very nice and friendly. I travelled to Korea alone for this surgery and got soooo nervous at times. I’m also a gigantic baby when it comes to needles (IVs, blood draws [ ) and the nurses were understanding and reassuring. While the front staff and nurses don’t speak much English, Dr. Lee speaks English well. Communication was incredibly easy with him. This was so important during consultations when we discussed the results I wanted and any concerns I had. He was also very detailed in explaining exactly what he would be doing during surgery and attentive to my recovery.
I hope this information is helpful to someone!
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