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Current Jaw Misalignment 5-6-25
4-6-25
3rd Jaw Surgery/1st Double Jaw Surgery - Upper Jaw Still Slanted - 3D Titanium Plate Removed - Lower Jaw Now Slanted
The first surgery was with Matouk...a 3-piece lefort on upper jaw and am not sure why he did not do a double jaw surgery. The outcome was a 3-4 cm cant/slant of my upper jaw which has caused alot of pain, functioning and discomfort issues. He initially said he was going to fix it but later deemed it acceptable. I then sought help by getting consultations with numerous surgeons.
I eventually went with Dr. Sultan who only did a lefort 1..rotating the mis-aligned parts from previous surgery and screwed a 1-piece 3D plate over my upper jaw. Since it being on, my midline shifted and I was having a seriously hard time with TMJ pain, etc... After the orthodic failing, he recommended a 3rd surgery. By this time, I had alot of questions. What I thought was going to be one and done turned into another deformity with way more complications. I did some research and asked questions listed on my previous review on realself. I also checked with several different surgeons in the area. The one at UM assessed it and said it was now a very complex jaw alignment case...since my posteriors were not only slanted but angled differently on each side. He also said they don't handle cases with the 3D titanium plate. One or 2 others were okay with the consultation and saw issues with the jaw until they found out I already had jaw surgery.
Friedman & Cardenas did my 3rd surgery...which was the first double jaw surgery. I had alot of reservations but the pain was unbearable. Work went to 12hr shifts and talking for 12hrs where my job is dependent on it was very taxing. I basically was taking advil like clock-work...and later my Dr put me on Meloxicam to ease side effects advil was having on my stomach. The recovery was taxing this time...no pain meds the first few days. It improved a few weeks later but for some reason left side of my face stayed swollen much longer this time. I have nerve damage and my lips feel taut. I noticed the slant was still there but now my lower jaw was angled slightly into it. The TMJ is less painful but the asymetry is off. As you can see in the xrays, my slant is still pretty obvious and pronouced. I do regret having jaw surgery since my case ended like this. Not only do I have the added TMJ issues, functioning mouth movement issues, nerve damage, sensitivity to cold/hot, etc...but I have lost so much time from work, it created a huge financial strain and I feel I lost apart of me. I avoid social situations. I still find comfort in wearing covid mask and not sure if I will ever take it off. I have face massagers, rollers, advil, etc...
For those looking to have this done, I am not sure why this happened in my case but wanted to bring awareness of this outcome.
Provider Review
Friedman and Cardenas did my 3rd surgery and I feel I was overcharged since they did not complete the upper jaw alignment correction and other things Friedman said I would need to agree to if he were to do my surgery. These surgeons predominantly removed a 3D discontinued plate the 2nd surgeon put in which made my jaw askew and off-midline. The surgery did end up taking 5hrs instead of 3hrs which I was told was due to problems with removal of the 1-piece 3D titanium discontinued plate the second surgeon, Sultan, put in.. I asked alot of questions and not sure how I ended up in this position. So not only do I have the functional issues caused by the severe surgically created cant, gum and bone loss in the fracture area where my jaw was cut during the original surgery with Matouk, temperature sensitivity, financial strain but also I have to struggle with the issues of devastating jaw misalignment every day. Friedman was listed on my insurance but claimed he would not take on my case unless I did not go through insurance assuring me he was capable of fixing the obvious slant that resulted from Matouk's surgery. Friedman also told me he would only do the surgery if I agreed to double jaw, upper lip control lipectomy, genioplasty, nasal cinch suturing and steptoplasty, bony augmentation and osteoplasty so I did. The pictures clearly show those weren't done. I took out a loan to pay for this surgery in hopes of getting relief from the original surgeron's, Matouk's botched lefort 1 3-piece surgery but not only did that not happen, it will take me 4-5 years to pay it back. Essentially now I am literally "paying for the mistakes of the botched surgery" in more ways than I could have ever imagined. This jaw debaucle has been really hard for me to try to see positively. I would not wish what I am going through on anyone. Since the first jaw surgery in 2017, this is not the life I'd ever imagined for myself nor did I ever think at that time I would go through two additional surgeries and be way worse off than I was when I started. I pray to God to give me strength and see me through this trial and tribulation.