Mom with questions

[Guest guest]

Our daughter will be having lower (maybe both) jaw surgery this

summer for class III underbite. Now that the teeth are

being " straightened " respective to the jaws with her braces, the

lowers are about 4-5 mm in front of the uppers (before the braces

went on, the incisors met end-to-end, and her molars didn't touch.)

It's hard to accept that she needs surgery to fix a problem we

didn't even realize she had till only 2 years ago.

We are trying to schedule it for the summer, so can be all done by

her return to senior year in high school in Sept., if the doctors

say her jaw (teeth/ortho) is ready enough for it, aiming for July.

For those of you who've been through this, about how long was it

till you:

-- thought you looked normal enough to go out in public?

-- got over being swollen or bruised?

-- any restrictions on flying?

-- how frequent were follow-up doctor appointments, post-op?

I'd love to hear from other moms, on how you handle your anxieties

and apprehensions. Thanks.

[Guest guest]

Hello..

How old is your daughter, first of all? Ask your docs whether they

are certain that her growth is over. If not, surgery before that

point can prove unenduring.

It is not at all unusual for the bite to become much worse during the

prep period for surgery. Hard to deal with for the patient, but often

true.

Hard for everyone (including me) to accept the need for surgery. But

not if you have had ortho as a youngster (as I did), thought all was

well for four decades, then discover that your bite (in my case, an

overbite and crossbite) are destroying your teeth, in addition to the

aches in the jaws and headaches. Some even find that mismatched jaws

contribute to sleep apnea.

Scheduling is sort of a sweet dream, all too often, in such things.

The teeth and their own patterns of movement can delay even the most

expert of orthodontists, and for sure, you don't want to arrange your

daughter's surgery too soon. (it can wait, on hold, for a while, but

i would bet she would not like that much.)

The determinant is when she's ready, and when the doc can schedule

it. (The folks in Toronto had nightmare troubles when SARS closed

down some of the hospitals. There were already multi-month waits, in

some cases, and one person who posts on this site, if i'm not

mistaken, had to reschedule twice, having been through all the ortho

prep. So if it works out easily for you, as it did for me and does

for many, send your offerings of fragrances and spices to the fates

that decree such things.)

My troubles were different, I was older, and I was not the least self-

conscious about being seen at any point after I left the hospital.

(My face was heavily bruised, to the great embarrassment of my sweet

surgeon, and I did worry about leaving the hospital because I was on

a pediatric ward, his custom, and did not want to frighten any

children. This was the day after surgery.) Your youngster will be

helped greatly by approaching this whole process with a sense of

humor, if that is possible. It isn't really important how you look

for a couple of weeks -- or, for that matter, a couple of months,

should it come to that. Most people find the big-time swelling gone

within a couple of weeks, but the residual stuff can linger (and

alter the appearance, although usually not in major ways) for months,

or a year.

I didn't have a lot of swelling. The bruising went away within a

week. I do bruise badly any time I bump, and do not blame my doc for

what happened. I lost very little blood in the procedure, and

overall, had a really easy ride in the recovery. I was neither wired

nor tightly banded, but the splint is a real nuisance.

Talk with your surgeon about flying.

Something you didn't mention was numbness, and you need to talk with

your doc -- or better put, you and your child need to talk with her

doc -- about that. I had none, but most have some. It can dissipate,

or some can remain. Occasionally, a lot remains.

I saw the surgeon's partner within the week, then the surgeon a week

or so later. Then every two weeks a couple of times. Then, I'm

thinking (maybe mistakenly) after three weeks, after one more week

(to get the splint out, at last!) and after that, monthly, and then

maybe after a three or four month interval, and one more, and then I

was out of his office for good.

You're a swell mom to be going at helping your child. Some deny this

whole problem, especially with adult offspring, and that makes it

awfully hard for the one who's going under the blades. Read the posts

and see. I'm sure it's hard to see your child go through this, but if

it helps any, I can tell you that my periodontist told me that the

little bit I did, at an advanced age, saved my teeth.

Please encourage her to post here, or at least read the posts,

herself. She's the principal figure in all this, and she will need

you as her support and caretaker.

C.

[Guest guest]

hello, i wasnt ashamed to go out in public.. the drooling, and icky

bloody snot in my nose although.. totally gross. but actually after

spending my 4 days in the hospital, going through the pain, having

nurses, my mom.. change my clothes, wash my hair.. i became quick to

be comfortable with ANYTHING.. going out in public was easier than

all that actually haha. i had no brusing, i did have a few light

yellow spots so i guess i cant say no brusing at all... i had an

extremely gentle surgeon (well as gentle as the surgery can be,(my

dentist told my grandma not to tell me, but if one was to peek into

the OR during a surgery like mine, they would think he was hacking

the crap out of a bloody steak.. Gee, thanks Larry) and i know

everything depends on the surgeon.. highly recomended is good, but if

i was going through it again, i would try to find someone as

compassionate as mine was) i did have a LOT of swelling on and off

for a year, but then again i was a very " extreme " case.. i am

actually good friends with my dentist.. hes like a part of my family,

he said that at a state dental meeting, i was a BIG topic.. WOW! my

surgey time was anticipated to be 5 hours.. i guess thats a normal

time for upper and lower surgeries.. from what i have heard. mine

actually turned out to be 8 1/2 hours. i had an underbite (due to

over grown lower , and an under grown top) and due to a tumor when i

was little, i had this horrible cross bite thing goin on. if youre

interested in seeing before/after pictures i have them, if you go to

files (on the left here.. my pictures are in the folder called

Surgery Pictures or something like that) i didnt have flying issues,

and i was scheduled to go in a week after surgery.. then a day after

because when they cut the upper out the piece that is attatched to

ones nose gets " loose " mine shifted over so far during my surgery due

to tubes over my head, ect. so i had to go back for him to adjust it.

nose surgery sucks.. sometimes even still my nose will get little

shooting pains. then i saw him 2 weeks, a month, 2 months, 4 months,

and now i dont have to go back for a year. there are TONS and TONS of

pre op appointments though. and yes, like cammie said, there is

numbness and tingling. pretty much all my face was numb, the upper

part gradually went away, and even now my lower lip and chin are

numb, yet tingly, the best way to describe it .. is it hurts.. it

feels like little electric shocks everytime i touch it. and it is

super cold sensative. its been a little over a year now though, i am

used to it. my surgeon said that those feelings generally go away

after about 7 months- but then again what two people are totally the

same? well, i hope my little reminesance (i cannot spell tonight) has

answered your questions!.

amanda

> Our daughter will be having lower (maybe both) jaw surgery this

> summer for class III underbite. Now that the teeth are

> being " straightened " respective to the jaws with her braces, the

> lowers are about 4-5 mm in front of the uppers (before the braces

> went on, the incisors met end-to-end, and her molars didn't

touch.)

>

> It's hard to accept that she needs surgery to fix a problem we

> didn't even realize she had till only 2 years ago.

>

> We are trying to schedule it for the summer, so can be all done by

> her return to senior year in high school in Sept., if the doctors

> say her jaw (teeth/ortho) is ready enough for it, aiming for July.

>

> For those of you who've been through this, about how long was it

> till you:

> -- thought you looked normal enough to go out in public?

> -- got over being swollen or bruised?

> -- any restrictions on flying?

> -- how frequent were follow-up doctor appointments, post-op?

>

> I'd love to hear from other moms, on how you handle your anxieties

> and apprehensions. Thanks.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Our daughter was 16, in her junior year of high school and had upper surgery

on Dec 10th of 03. The following is our perspective of your questions:

1) At 7 1/2 weeks, she still doesn't think she looks normal. She went back

to school at the 5 week mark. She says she looks 'ugly.' She definitely does

not look like her old self but she does look beautiful.

2) She is still swollen some (cheeks, nose, upper lip). OS said it could

take 6 months for all noticeable swelling (to her) to dissipate.

3) OS said at 6 weeks she could do anything she would normally do before

the surgery (ha - except eat pizza!).

4) Our follow-up appointments with the OS have been twice a week for first

week, then weekly thereafter. At 7 weeks, he said he would see her at 8 weeks

and then not again until the braces come off (if she doesn't have any problems).

The ortho saw her at 5 weeks and did some fine tuning and then we see him at 9

weeks.

This site has great answers to all of our questions. Look on the main site

for topics. All our questions, fears, concerns were answered well except the

psychological side of the change -- mainly, because we didn't think to ask those

type of questions.

Mom with questions

Our daughter will be having lower (maybe both) jaw surgery this

summer for class III underbite. Now that the teeth are

being " straightened " respective to the jaws with her braces, the

lowers are about 4-5 mm in front of the uppers (before the braces

went on, the incisors met end-to-end, and her molars didn't touch.)

It's hard to accept that she needs surgery to fix a problem we

didn't even realize she had till only 2 years ago.

We are trying to schedule it for the summer, so can be all done by

her return to senior year in high school in Sept., if the doctors

say her jaw (teeth/ortho) is ready enough for it, aiming for July.

For those of you who've been through this, about how long was it

till you:

-- thought you looked normal enough to go out in public?

-- got over being swollen or bruised?

-- any restrictions on flying?

-- how frequent were follow-up doctor appointments, post-op?

I'd love to hear from other moms, on how you handle your anxieties

and apprehensions. Thanks.