So, ONE YEAR AGO today I voluntarily had my jaw broken to bits, then put back together better.
First, the cons: my lower left side of my bottom lip is still numb/tingly. All the way down to the bottom of my chin. Sometimes I can feel hot/cold and sometimes tingly pain - which still gives me hope that ALL the feeling will return someday. My doctor said he's never had a patient NOT regain full-feeling so I hope I'm not the first! The right tip of my tongue has just the slightest amount of tingling to it. It was also numb up until about a month ago - so I know things are still healing back together! Also a "con" - my face is not symmetrical. I really thought it would be. I'm disappointed it's not. My midlines do not match up. I thought they would. I have "divots" in the side of my jaw - where it must've been broken and shifted so the bone no longer matches up. I wear my hair down a lot because of this. Will the bone fill back in, eventually? Will I need to get "fillers" there to make it look normal? Also, my skin was stretched so much during the procedure (and I'm not so young anymore) that I feel that the skin on my face sags slightly- something that I wasn't aware of before surgery. I still have questions. I need to call my doctor.
Now, the pros: Previous to surgery, I only had THREE teeth line up that I could use to mash my food. Now, they ALL do, so eating is much easier. Also, my jaw has moved slightly back into the correct position. Not totally - but still an improvement. It no longer pops, clicks or gives me headaches. Yay!
I know the "con" list is longer, but the "pro" list is more important for overall heath. Bottom line is - Would I do it again? Emphatically I answer, "YES!"
Here are some recent pictures that shows the difference.
I LOVE before/after pictures! :)
First, this shows the "divot" or indentation now in my jaw bone (in the after shot).
First, the cons: my lower left side of my bottom lip is still numb/tingly. All the way down to the bottom of my chin. Sometimes I can feel hot/cold and sometimes tingly pain - which still gives me hope that ALL the feeling will return someday. My doctor said he's never had a patient NOT regain full-feeling so I hope I'm not the first! The right tip of my tongue has just the slightest amount of tingling to it. It was also numb up until about a month ago - so I know things are still healing back together! Also a "con" - my face is not symmetrical. I really thought it would be. I'm disappointed it's not. My midlines do not match up. I thought they would. I have "divots" in the side of my jaw - where it must've been broken and shifted so the bone no longer matches up. I wear my hair down a lot because of this. Will the bone fill back in, eventually? Will I need to get "fillers" there to make it look normal? Also, my skin was stretched so much during the procedure (and I'm not so young anymore) that I feel that the skin on my face sags slightly- something that I wasn't aware of before surgery. I still have questions. I need to call my doctor.
Now, the pros: Previous to surgery, I only had THREE teeth line up that I could use to mash my food. Now, they ALL do, so eating is much easier. Also, my jaw has moved slightly back into the correct position. Not totally - but still an improvement. It no longer pops, clicks or gives me headaches. Yay!
I know the "con" list is longer, but the "pro" list is more important for overall heath. Bottom line is - Would I do it again? Emphatically I answer, "YES!"
Here are some recent pictures that shows the difference.
I LOVE before/after pictures! :)
First, this shows the "divot" or indentation now in my jaw bone (in the after shot).
Here is my "Before" and "1 year after"
You can see it's DEFINITELY not perfect. But it is much better than it was!
Before braces and surgery - and 1 year later!
So, I will always be the girl with the "crooked" smile.
But I can usually work the camera angles to allow for a good "shot" here and there....
....and as long as I didn't pass it on to my kids....
...and my family loves me the way I am.....
Then I'm ok with the results!
If/when the numbness in my bottom lip goes away - I will post again. Otherwise, this is
Tamara's Double Jaw Surgery signing off.
THREE YEAR UPDATE!
This is regarding the divot in my jaw. It's still there, but I've had Radiesse (dermal filler) injected into that spot to smooth it out. One side of my face still looks smooth, but on the other side the divot is coming back, which means it's time for more Radiesse. Small price to pay for the overall benefits!
beautiful smile. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's already been one year!
ReplyDeleteThat's strange about your "divot". I notice in when you point it out in the picture, but do you think people notice it in person? I doubt it!
And your smile might be slightly crooked but your teeth look beautiful! White and straight! And honestly Tam, I didn't ever notice your smile not being "perfect" before your surgery nor would I notice anything now if you didn't point it out. You are the whole package of beauty and that's what people see. :)
Thank you - both of you. You made my night! ♥
ReplyDeleteOnly just found you on here, and I'm glad I did, your results are wonderful, you had such a captivating smile before, but now you can almost see the confidence oozing out of you!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna head back to your first posts for a quick read! xxxx
That divot is that something you had before? I notice I have something like that, but I haven't had surgery yet. My doctor says it was because of the way my muscles pulled on my face that changed the bone shape over many years. Now, I'm wondering after surgery if mine will appear more visible too.
ReplyDeleteHi there.... I just had my 3rd opinion by a 3rd doctor since 2004 when I was first made aware that I have a bigger problem then, simply needing braces. Can u tell me what your doctor said the problems were? And the need for this procedure?
ReplyDeleteI'm being told no wiring shut and only 3-4wk turn around. Thanks! Lynda vacationsbylynda@yahoo.com
Hi Lynda,
ReplyDeleteThere are many reasons for this surgery, so what my doctors reasons were for me may not be the same for you. I had a very noticeable cross-bite and my top palette was quite a bit more narrow then my bottom jaw. They broke both, widened the top, took out a piece of my lower jaw bone on the left and rotated it over. They put in 4 titanium plates and 20 screws total to hold everything in place, then wired me shut with a splint to keep everything status-quo until I healed. I only had 3 teeth touching before the surgery! It was deemed medically necessary by my insurance company, as it was progressively getting worse with age. There are always risk - such as the numbness lingering (I am still numb on my lower left side of my lip all the way down to my chin and the right tip of my tongue that will never go away) but it was still worth it! Good luck!
Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for supplying these details.
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Hi Tamara
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your fantastic blog. It's really kept me going! I'm "Day 10" today post surgery and it's all getting a bit better day by day but the first week was horrendous!
A quick question for you if you don't mind, I saw my surgeon and orthodontist this week who were both really happy with my double jaw surgery, however my surgeon mentioned he hit a nerve during the op and as a result there may be permanent numbness in the right hand side of by bottom lip and chin area. He thinks it "might" come back, but can't guarantee. I was gutted when I heard this and have been on a real low mood since that meeting. My husband was with me and is desperately trying to get me to focus on all the other positives, but I can't!!! At the moment I'm going with worse case scenario. There is a little tingling in that area, I don't know if that's good or bad. Because my whole face is still very, very swollen and numb it's difficult for me to imagine if life would be so bad with just a bit of numbness around my lip/chin area. At the moment I'm not really jumping up and down punching the air saying the whole thing was worth it! Is it a real pain and hindrance having the numbness or would you say it was a small price to pay for looking so fantastic (as you do!)Thanks in advance, and thanks too for your very informative and inspiring blog. Regards, Suzie Brown (London)
Hi Suzie,
ReplyDeleteI completely understand! At least your surgeon admitted as much! Mine just said he had NEVER had someone with continued nerve loss, blah blah. But guess what - he has at least ONE! Yes, I am still a little numb. Mine is the bottom left side of my lip/chin and a little tip of the right side of my tongue. Mine tingles constantly - like novocaine wearing off - but it's such a normal part of my life now, I don't notice. It doesn't interfere with my eating/chewing or kissing my hubby or children. I do have to be careful if I'm eating at a restaurant because I can't feel if I've dripped something on that side - I don't have hardly any temperature sensitivity at all. But I am so happy with the rest of the results that it is still worth it! My jaw isn't totally corrected, and still lists to the right a bit - and that has seriously depressed me for a while - but I just have to remember that before my surgery I only had THREE teeth that even touched - so I am very blessed now. Have you heard of cranial sachral therapy? A cranial sachral therapist is very in tune with the "frequency" of your body, and is very in tune with problems of the head. I went to my therapist to see if I could get some feeling back in the numb area. After one hour-long session, I started feeling a burning/tingling sensation in my lower molars just behind and back from where I'm numb. It's just fleeing moments of it - but I have another session on Monday where she'll actually work on the inside of my mouth! It's a therapy where the therapist very subtly (and I mean you can barely feel them touch you) is able to help/change/balance the flow of fluids in your head to help a myriad of things. I will keep you posted (if you'd like) on how my appointment goes on Monday. I have hope again for the first time in 2 years! But even if nothing changes - I really am happy with the results. The numbness is something that only I can feel - and nothing that "shows" anywhere on my face. Of course I'm happy that I can chew normally - but I am THRILLED that I look better! It is a minor nuisance in the grand scheme of things. I hope you'll take heart and recover quickly and YES - tingling is a good sign! Please feel free to email me personally - tamarasimon@gmail.com. Take care - it DOES get better much more quickly after the first week! Thinking of you in London....
Hi there! I was wondering if you ever got the divet to go away? I had extensive double jaw surgery 10 years ago and still have a divet.
ReplyDeleteHI there, I posted a comment but don't see it?? Ill try it again..I have a divet too..I had double jaw surgery 10 years ago and still have a divet and would love to get rid of it.Please let me know if you have it!
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle, I'm sorry I didn't see this before. All the comments that come to my site need to be approved and they were all going to my spam folder! No, the divot has not gone away, but I have since discovered dermal fillers...specifically, Radiesse. It's thicker than Juvederm and I just got a little bit of it injected right where the divots were and I haven't seen them now in over a year! I'm thrilled! :)The good thing about Radiesse is that it promotes your own collagen growing. I'm hoping that my body will kick into gear and produce what is needed to hide them for good, without having to get further injections. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Tamara, thank you for your blog. I am going to be having the exact same surgery as you in the next month. Just waiting for the exact date. I have had braces for almost a year now. My bite is actually worse with whatever they have done with the braces so far but they warned me that would happen. I am scared to death of the surgery and aftermath. Is there anything I can do to prepare or things you would strongly recommend to purchase to have on hand after surgery? Any advice you can give is really much appreciated! Thanks, Susan Adams
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DeleteHi Susan! I'm excited for you!! Things to have on hand....a good support system! For me, the first couple of nights after coming home were the hardest. My husband helped me calm down when I felt like I couldn't breathe. He called the doctor late at night and asked what he could do to help me and that really made all the difference. I don't know if you've read my posts about the first night at home, but that night was the worst. That post is here: http://tamarasdoublejawsurgery.blogspot.com/2010/08/2nd-night-3rd-day.html I'm so grateful that my doctor let me take off a couple of bands so I could feel like I was suffocating. This post is from Day 5: http://tamarasdoublejawsurgery.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-08-10T18:08:00-06:00&max-results=30
DeleteI don't mean to scare you (or anyone reading this) but I wanted to be as brutally honest as possible. It is a difficult recovery - but I would make the decision to do it all over again. The recovery is lingering, the results - lasting. Please let me know if you have any other questions and GOOD LUCK! Here is my latest post from this morning:
http://tamarasdoublejawsurgery.blogspot.com/2014/01/tingling-at-almost-35-years-post-op.html
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