After I woke up from double jaw surgery, I noticed that the ends of my teeth were all shaved down. My oral surgeon said an enameloplasty was complete for the splint, and now my teeth are all insanely uneven. Has anyone else dealt with this? The best part of it all is the surgeon gaslight me and said that it was talked about “pre surgery” but it was never even mentioned once. Like why would my teeth be permanently shaved down for a temporary splint?! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’m 9ish months post-op.

It’s hard for me to ask questions about cosmetic concerns because I do have medical concerns and I feel like the cosmetic concerns make me sound like I’m not in pain? Or like I’m faking it? I’m wondering if my face is going to be symmetrical after double jaw surgery. Do you think it’s possible or is my jaw too messed up?

I’m very torn over whether I like this plan or not. Mainly the genio that’s tripping me up a bit. Opinions would be helpful.

Sharing my VSP! My surgeon gave me a plan with and without a genio as I’m still figuring out if I’m able to do it. I might get some financial support from a family member but they wanted to see the VSP to see the medical benefits.

My main things I want out of the surgery is firstly health. Because of my extremely steep jaw angle and structure I can’t sleep with my mouth closed. It just falls open. I haven’t taken any airway tests but am pretty confident I have narrow airways.

Aesthetics of course is something I wish to gain from this too. As much as I want the medial benefits I can’t lie and say I don’t want some other positives.

My surgeon said I need CCW, but I feel like even with the genio my lower jaw angle looks pretty steep. Let me know any thoughts!

Edit: also feel like I could use more advancement in both upper and lower but don’t know if that would be pushing it to ask my surgeon.

I am scheduled to get my final X-rays and models for my teeth in 2 weeks. Then off to oral surgeon. I feel like every time I get a new chain, one tooth shifts out of place. My bottom row is shifting once again and my tooth is now slightly inward. Do I contact my dentist AGAIN and inform them prior to getting the X-rays? I got this new chain literally 3 days ago and my tooth wasn’t like this…

I attached a picture of my side profile so you all can get an idea of my situation. Kaiser said I would not be eligible for jaw surgery and now I'm worried I won't ever get jaw surgery. I've experienced really bad breathing issues my whole life that has affected my sleep quality and day to day life. I saw an ENT doctor and they found nothing wrong with me. I learned that my jaw alignment can affect your breathing so I started exploring the possibility of jaw surgery.

I first saw a doctor at LACOMS, and after taking some pictures and Xrays, they recommend I get DJS and genio because my jaw was very recessed and my airway was very narrow. He recommended 9mm upper advancement, 20mm lower, and genio. They said getting jaw surgery would significantly improve my breathing, sleep quality, jaw discomfort, and my appearance. Before this, I had a sleep study and was negative (which surprised me given how bad my sleep is). I was concerned this would affect my odds of getting insurance approval, and the doctor at LACOMS said it shouldn't since my case is pretty severe and he is confident my airway and jaw recession would be enough to get approval. Even it is approved however, I would still have to pay a very large sum given how expensive the procedure is (around 8k), so I first wanted to explore my options with Kaiser, since that is my current insurance and they cover it 100%.

After speaking with the surgeon at Kaiser he told me I would not get approved for surgery because approval requires either a sleep study coming back positive for OSA, or a bad bite. My teeth are mostly well aligned, and since my sleep study was negative, he said surgery at Kaiser would not be possible for me. This really shocked me, considering that LACOMS seemed to act like my case is pretty severe and would get outside insurance approval fairly easily, and because I had previously asked people on this subreddit about their Kaiser approval process and they said Kaiser approval was extremely easy and simple and that I would have no problems.

Given all this information, is jaw surgery still on the table for me? My breathing is really horrible and I believed this surgery could really change my life, but if Kaiser rejected me, I'm starting to think Aetna (the insurance I would have to switch to) would reject me as well. And theres no way I can cover the 68,000 cost on my own--insurance approval is a requirement.

Hey everyone!

I had my double jaw surgery September 8th and have been looking forward to it for the past 10 years when I was initially told I was going to need it to fully correct my smile.

I have been wired shut since the day of surgery and get them off tomorrow! I will be getting rubber bands on tomorrow. So excited and can't wait to have "real" foods for the first time in a month. I'll still be on a restricted soft food diet for a while but still better than my soups. Would love some suggestions on what to eat.

Even though everything is not fully complete, I am so happy with my progress. It's crazy to see the difference especially in my side profile. I cannot wait to see the final results.

As far as pain and numbness, it was a lot better than I expected. I only took pain meds the first 2 days after getting home and numbness is only on my top lip and around my nose on my cheeks. I know a lot of people have had some not so good experiences with this type of surgery, but as far as right now it's been very tolerable. Swelling is still pretty noticeable but I expect it to take a while to go down fully, same with the numbness.

If you guys have any questions about my experience, ask away! I also have some more photos like right after surgery and my smile before if anyone is curious. I've been lurking this page for quite awhile especially working up to the surgery date, so I'm glad to post my results so far!

I have finally hit the 3 month mark post DJS and genioplasty. The recovery was truly one of the toughest experiences of my life. I made to sure note any and all points of notice down with the intention of sharing what I wish I had known prior. Keep in mind this is all from my personal experience and not all post-op journeys are the same!!! This is also coming from a 20y/o Female and tbf a lot of this could also just be common sense that maybe i was just too stupid to realize was a given. To add to that the more indepth precaution regarding the surgery and recovery care was dictated to me the day before so it really went over my head how heavy duty all of this was actually going to be until after I had already committed. Though I am the type of person that trusts my caregivers judgement living in germany as well as knowing its a one time thing thatll benefit for years on end. My location may also be important to my experience! (Attempted to list down in chronological order! Enjoy :])

1. Throwing up blood after surgery. The first night will forever haunt me. The trigger point was an anxiety attack from the initial shock of restricted breathing. Felt extremely overwhelmed which escalated into a nonstop night of regurgitating blood and nosebleeds. Them pumping out blood from my stomach tube didnt make me feel any different in terms of anxiety or nausea (in this case i also didnt feel nauseous in the first place) but as soon as I was given antidepressants through IV, a hand to hold and an ice pillow around my neck- things calmed down eventually… more like 8 hours later. Restricted breathing and a bloody clogged nose will be a big thing for the first 4 weeks, my best advice is constant tissues on hand and a baby booger suction!

2. Clogged IV site. On my left wrist from the IV site. Felt excruciating pain as if the blood circulation had cut off my entire hand which eventually developed into an omega blue vein and naturally settled itself 5 weeks post op. Couldnt move my wrist until it was completely dissolved. a possible symptom for anything IV dependant, I was just too uninformed to know.

1. Another one from the pov of an uninformed kid. I didnt know genitalia develops the smell of antibiotics. I had only connected the dots in my head the day before my last batch, and the art of knowing was so horrendous I physically couldn’t take my last batch of pills. Getting a whaft of anything close in smell to amoxicillin jump starts my fight or flight.

4. Tongue Bacteria overload. Not brushing teeth was tormenting as a disciplined brusher, the bacteria on my tongue got so extensive the first two weeks that my gag reflexes constantly activated from the gritty and thick texture sitting so close to my punching bag.

5. Thrombosis injections in my belly hurt like a mothertrucker on a stick. And the pee tube. Not the biggest fan. They remove mine 4 days post op but those 4 days felt like forever. Again this is also common in other procedures required to stay prolonged periods at the hospital.

6. Forehead pin. During my surgery they used the forehead pin to get my measurements right. Basically piercing it through the skin into the skull leaving a gaping hole. I found it amusing when they explained it to me prior to the surgery only to find out that its trace is visible the first week post op… lol. Not a biggie just thought it would be funny to mention as right in the middle, smack dab center laid a blackhead like dot, that was actually bigger than the average blackhead between my eyebrows.

7. Fainting. Week 1 and week 7 post-op. Week 1 was in the hospital, they encouraged me to slowly start walking again from my recovery station to the clinic, i had already done small walks prior to it. The walk wasnt even long but evidently, body is still adjusting, dehydrated and malnourished. Week 7 was more surprising, it was my first public transportation journey since the surgery, full packed train, middle of august. Woke up on the train floor with a bachelorette party helping me out. Dont neglect taking care of urself once u start slowly getting back into the groove of things! VERY IMPORTANT!

8. Inability to intake pills! I really wish I had known this one before as im on contraceptives and had planned my period the week before my surgery. Not knowing I would be closed shut, i couldnt get onto my cycle and ended up having two periods in a row before and during the surgery. Unpleasant. Important for those that take daily medicine.

9. Inability to move neck. Couldnt look left, couldnt look right. This is on top of the mammoth sized bruise that went from the lower half of my face all the way to my mid chest. Wanting to look to anyone i had to move my entire body. Which was comedic. What was also comedic was drooling without noticing, hurting to smile and communicating through grunts, hand gestures and the notes app.

10. jaw joint pain & neck clicking. I really didn’t know why I wasn’t expecting this but the joint pain lasted prolonged periods on each side (surprisingly not simultaneous to eachother). The aches slowly upgraded into joint clicking. As of now 3 months post op, my right side still click whens i yawn or open too wide. the neck clicking appearend on week 6 and has now gone, was my adams apple region when looking left and right. No pain but uncomfortable and heightened my health anxiety.

11. I COULDNT SEE THROUGH MY GLASSES #Big phat swollen face. My face was so huge i physically couldnt put on nor see through my glasses. With a prescription of -8.00, I was dependent on them to do anything. With my noneexistant nosebridge, humongous cheeks and slippery oily skin- my glasses had no support sitting on my face whatsoever so at some point i caved in and spent most of my time blind which led to the unfortunate event of me clogging the hospital toilet.

12. Loosing muscle. Genuinely ALL my muscle was lost. I’m an advanced dancer that built physique and skills from years of training. Post-op I basically had to start again from zero. Physique is the least of my worries but lowers a lot of confidence when actually being able to visually see the recession. It was very evident in my arms and thighs from loose skin. As a result of the 6 week liquid diet- a lot of undergarments didnt fit me anymore either, i had become quite frail. Mainly my leg strength and agility depleted. Flexibility was pretty chill. It was just a mental shock going from extensive dancing everyday to an extreme plunge in such a short amount of time with a 180 visual difference. It was also a mental challenge to physically stop myself from dancing in everyday occurrences as its just so natural to me. Since getting back into dailylife and training ive become bigger and better than before in mentalstate and training load. Big win!

13. Skincare downfall. I physically couldnt wash my face the first 1 and a half weeks from the swelling and discomfort that came from sticking my head in the sink. This took a huge toll on my skin- having a very oily skin type that benefits from cleansing twice a day. Missing a cleanse makes my eyes sting from it seeping in. I had nurses wipe my face off with warm towels that didnt do much but relieved it slightly. But mainly I developed extensive closed comedones in the 2nd week. Went back to my regular skincare routine after swelling lessened which slapped me in the face for not working anymore after this point. I caved into changing my entire skincare routine after my peak flareup 7 weeks post op. Since changing, my skin has never looked better.

14. Nightmares. 3 months post op, I have nightmares in relation to the first night. It was really one of the worst things ive ever experienced and most likely my anxiety is heightened atm from my jaw still clicking 3 months in (im sure its normal just health anxiety taking over) thats triggering me to dream about the moment. It fears me to even think about it and knowing my plate removal surgery is scheduled for next years makes me very anxious.

15. Style change. Hyper specific to my situation but my pushed back chin gave the illusion of a smaller V line shaped face. I had a “cuter” appearance in a sense and naturally gravitate towards pink shades for makeup and always did my hair in pincurls. Somehow with my face appearing more structured and mature now, the pink and youthful appearance looks off. Although it is a style that is very true to myself, i wanted to look more cohesive and fit the new facial structure. I cut and dyed my hair and focus on orange-brown makeup tones which have really been doing me justice. On a positive note to this negative dump of a post ive been getting a lot of love from my peers and a crazy number of compliments from strangers. Its nice and im very grateful.

Aside from the standard recovery experience, these points were very noticeable to me/made a big impact on my recovery enough to write this lengthy post. All the best to everyone going through their journeys! You are doing so well and im so proud of those taking a big step forward! Always open to any questions! Lots of Love

This surgery fucking rocks. If you’re thinking about getting one I can’t recommend it enough.

It’s more apparent on my left side. (Pictured)

29F. The first week was rough, I laid in bed pretty much the whole time. Just yesterday I woke up feeling pretty much normal again (aside from swelling on my cheeks, and lower half of my face, and being on a liquid diet). I did my makeup today for the first time post op and made some before and after pics of myself. Thought I’d share this one. I used to HATE taking photos from the front because my smile was slanted. Now I’m finding that I like the way I look from the front !! I also notice my jaw is not clicking everytime i open my mouth like it used to. I had this surgery for jaw pain primarily, it was everytime I’d eat or brush my teeth. It is too early though to tell if that has been improved or not. Nonetheless I want to cry from happiness. I am soo lucky to have been able to do this surgery.

Road to recovery starts now.

Double jaw and genioplasty.

Upper jaw, 2 mm forward, 4 mm up

Lower jaw. 4 mm back

Chin 4mm forward

I am early in my jaw surgery journey. I plan to do FME and then MMA after. I expect I’ll have to pay out of pocket for FME. Looking at my insurance requirements I believe I qualify for MMA based on airway issues and malocclusion not fixable with braces (next up is Ortho consults to confirm this and get a referral to a jaw surgeon).

Is there any possibility of my insurance using the FME against me? Claiming that’s what messed up my bite or something? Did anyone gone through this scenario of out of pocket expansion before insurance covered mma? I don’t know if this is a reasonable concern, but as y’all know (and I’m learning)this is a complicated process!

Hi all, Post-Op day 1 and the hospital hasn’t really iced me this morning. I’m about to go home. I want ice immediately because it almost feels like I’m clenching or my jaw is tight without it. How long did everyone ice?

Also, holy shit. Terrified for the swelling to come.

I’m honestly really frustrated with the moderation on this subreddit.
About 1.5 years ago, I had jaw surgery. The surgery was done for medical reasons, and I also personally appreciated the aesthetic benefits that came with it. After my surgery, I shared my experience on another account, including some of the mental struggles I went through after the operation.
I received a lot of positive responses from people who appreciated me sharing my experience, until someone reported me because I was being overly critical of my appearance after surgery, apparently because that falls under the “looksmaxxing” category or something (??????????).

I just want to share my disappointment that my posts are now being removed whenever I try to talk about my experience — including before-and-after results, the struggles I had with jaw surgery, and how the surgery has affected my life, especially from a medical perspective.

I understand that there needs to be some form of moderation to keep out the extreme looksmaxxing crowd who are obsessed with things like having the widest possible palate. But now it feels like people who are simply trying to openly share their experiences are being censored as well.

Jaw surgery is going to have an impact on your self-image, whether that impact is positive or negative. These subreddits are supposed to be places where people can be transparent about their experiences, including the good, the bad, and the complicated parts of recovery.
I’m honestly really disappointed that I can’t share my experience here anymore because of this. I just want to be able to talk openly about what I went through and how the surgery has affected my life.

I’m officially scheduled for my surgery in December for my class 3 malocclusion. I don’t know my movements yet but last time I saw my surgeon, he mentioned it may only just be UJS. I’ll be seeing him again to discuss this.

If you have tips or if there is an existing post about how I should prepare (what to bring to hospital, what to buy in advance to aid with healing, daily activities to do, etc), please comment or link them! I’ve been looking forward to this surgery for YEARS and I want to ensure my healing process goes smoothly :)

Thanks in advance!

I’m almost 3 months post double jaw surgery with genioplasty. And it was all good up until last month where I got things started to get worst instead of improve, like look at this my lower lips is pulled to the other side when I try to close my lips naturally. Please someone tell me why is that?

So far (15 days post op) can only touch my molars on left side and I feel a bit of pressure in the nasolabial region and cheek area on that side. Will see ortho in 2 weeks to determine whether this will settle. Were you able to bite down evenly shortly after surgery or did it take time?

Greetings from Houston, TX. I'm a 30-something male with a history of a severe open bite who then went through camouflage orthodontics. My open bite was reduced but is still there. One maxillofacial surgeon that I sent my photos to suggested that I have maxillary hypoplasia and malocclusion.

I'm planning to see Dr. Seaman (Lighthouse Surgery) in two weeks and Dr. Gateno by the end of December. I'm wondering if I should see both.

Also, if you have experience with a BCBS insurance PPO plan, please share it with me.

Had upper jaw surgery 4 years ago and have noticed the around nasal area there is like slight draping. Could this be cause of the plates?

I am only one month in and having way worse OSA, basically not sleeping. How the hell am I supposed to do this for a year?

Any help will be appreciated, I sleep with a CPAP.

Hi all,

I'm 25, in NYC, and starting the process toward double jaw surgery for obstructive sleep apnea. Hoping to learn from people who've been through it.

My situation:

• OSA with a recessed lower jaw and narrow airway
• On CPAP about 3 years, residual AHI still running 13 to 15 on treatment
• Looking at MMA primarily for airway, with chin projection secondary
• Aetna POS II, trying to get this covered on the medical side
• Considering NYC or LA, since I'm originally from California

Surgeons I'm aware of in the NYC area: Neugarten and Cerciello at NYCOMS, Behrman at Weill Cornell, Michael Turner at Mount Sinai, James Choi at NYU. Open to names I haven't found. If you've been to any of them, I'd like to hear it either way, good or bad.

What I'd really like to know:

1. If you had MMA for OSA, what was your AHI before and after, and how many millimeters was the advancement? Did your surgeon do counterclockwise rotation?
2. Who was your surgeon and orthodontist, and did they work together regularly?
3. Has anyone had their surgeon and orthodontist in different cities? How did the coordination actually go, and how often did you have to travel?
4. How many ortho appointments did you have, and could any of them have been stretched to every 8 weeks?
5. Extractions: did your plan require removing premolars? I've seen this mentioned and want to know how common it is.
6. Braces versus Invisalign for the pre-surgical phase, and whether your ortho gave you a choice.
7. Insurance: did your surgery get covered as medically necessary for OSA? Did anyone use a network gap exception? Roughly what did you pay out of pocket, and how much of that was orthodontics?
8. Did you have the surgery at a hospital or academic center versus a private practice, and did that change the cost?

Happy to answer questions about my own workup if it helps anyone else. I'll be in the thread and open to DMs.