Hi,
Does Le fort I in the upper jaw, where there is an open bite and the upper teeth not showing that much when smiling (so the surgeon will have to cut few bones in order to make the jaw go a bit downward), change the nose much? in what way? wider or narrower? my surgeon said it will make it a bit tippy which is good in my case because it is already a bit wide and flat. however from reading this site it seems that all jaw surgeries makes the nose a bit wider which will make it worse in my case unfortunately.
any opinions?
thanks
Does Le fort I in the upper jaw change the nose?
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Re: Does Le fort I in the upper jaw change the nose?
I had a lefort 1, but I had the opposite problem as you (I was showing a whole LOT of gum when smiling pre-surgery and lots of teeth at rest). In my case, the surgeon had to rotate the upper jaw forward, advance it a few mm and cut it down a bit in length. I don't know how much of a difference it'll be for you considering our surgeries aren't exactly the same, but my nose did get a bit wider, the tip of it goes up a bit more, and it brought the nostrils up a tiny bit when you look from the profile. It's not a HUGE change, although to be honest, at first I thought my nose was GIGANTIC just because I wasn't used to it. It doesn't bother me at all anymore, so don't be freaked out if you feel like your nose takes up your entire face for like a month after surgery; we all go through something like that. Every little change feels like a monstruous, 10x bigger thing than it really is. Thanks, brain!
I posted a few before/after pics on my blog (I feel like I keep linking it, but it's just so much easier to share the link rather than re-explain everything and upload new pics; sorry guys!):
http://jawbreak.blogspot.com/2016/12/day-10.html
It's towards the second half of the post. Mind you, this was only day 10, and I feel like it decreased slightly in size since then (probably swelling), so feel free to check out the newer pics. I'm 2 months post-op.
I posted a few before/after pics on my blog (I feel like I keep linking it, but it's just so much easier to share the link rather than re-explain everything and upload new pics; sorry guys!):
http://jawbreak.blogspot.com/2016/12/day-10.html
It's towards the second half of the post. Mind you, this was only day 10, and I feel like it decreased slightly in size since then (probably swelling), so feel free to check out the newer pics. I'm 2 months post-op.
Re: Does Le fort I in the upper jaw change the nose?
I don't see that much of a difference in your nose to be honest, in fact it looks even better post your OP, so now i'm wondering if all the nose thing is in our head, or at least that what i'm hoping for.
Congrats on your successful operation.
Congrats on your successful operation.
Re: Does Le fort I in the upper jaw change the nose?
Thank you!
Every tiny little change definitely feels HUGE to us because we're so used to our pre-surgery face. You should expect to think it looks terrible after surgery, but I think for most of us, it gets better as you get used to it. I'm 2 months post-op and I'm still struggling with loving my new face, even though I can clearly see that it enhanced my profile and my smile a lot, and even though literally no one notices any difference at all compared to pre-surgery haha.
But yeah, there will probably be some changes to your nose, as your surgeon told you (my surgeon said the same thing to me), but if it's anything like in my case, it will be a small change and nobody else with notice it. The key thing will be to remind yourself that your brain is tricking you into thinking it looks 10x bigger than it really is just because it's different and it's all you can see.
I've also heard of some surgeons use stitches to keep the nostrils from widening too much, but my surgeon didn't do that, and I didn't really ask about it, so I'm not exactly sure how it works. Hopefully someone else can chime in, but if not, bring it up with your surgeon and see what he thinks.
Every tiny little change definitely feels HUGE to us because we're so used to our pre-surgery face. You should expect to think it looks terrible after surgery, but I think for most of us, it gets better as you get used to it. I'm 2 months post-op and I'm still struggling with loving my new face, even though I can clearly see that it enhanced my profile and my smile a lot, and even though literally no one notices any difference at all compared to pre-surgery haha.
But yeah, there will probably be some changes to your nose, as your surgeon told you (my surgeon said the same thing to me), but if it's anything like in my case, it will be a small change and nobody else with notice it. The key thing will be to remind yourself that your brain is tricking you into thinking it looks 10x bigger than it really is just because it's different and it's all you can see.
I've also heard of some surgeons use stitches to keep the nostrils from widening too much, but my surgeon didn't do that, and I didn't really ask about it, so I'm not exactly sure how it works. Hopefully someone else can chime in, but if not, bring it up with your surgeon and see what he thinks.
Procedure: Bilateral maxillary and mandibular osteotomy (Lefort I; single piece) & septoplasty
Date of surgery: Nov 30th, 2017
Recovery blog: http://jawbreak.blogspot.com/
Date of surgery: Nov 30th, 2017
Recovery blog: http://jawbreak.blogspot.com/
Re: Does Le fort I in the upper jaw change the nose?
I had the same surgery as jawbreaker, and feel the same way as her. I am just over 6 weeks post op and am finally just beginning to come to terms with my nose. It is bigger, but not as big as my brain tricked me to think. All I could see for the longest time was my "MASSIVE" nose, and it really really got me down.
My nose turns up either less than it had in the past or exactly the same? (Its hard to tell and sadly I don't have a great before picture to compare it to ATM) but it has gotten wider. The septum part of my nose used to hang down a bit more. When I pull it down with my fingers I see much of my old nose emerge. Not only does the septum part look more like it used to but by pulling it down the width also slims down.
My surgeon did use the stitch in my nose but she said she didn't make it very tight to avoid too much of an upturn (pig nose). From what I understand, the tighter the stitch the more upturned your nose will be. But, also the tighter the stitch the less width you'll gain. I am still swollen, so I hope the width will diminish more in time, but for now I am slowly getting used to it, and as my face settles perhaps my wider nose will end up fitting my face better.
My nose turns up either less than it had in the past or exactly the same? (Its hard to tell and sadly I don't have a great before picture to compare it to ATM) but it has gotten wider. The septum part of my nose used to hang down a bit more. When I pull it down with my fingers I see much of my old nose emerge. Not only does the septum part look more like it used to but by pulling it down the width also slims down.
My surgeon did use the stitch in my nose but she said she didn't make it very tight to avoid too much of an upturn (pig nose). From what I understand, the tighter the stitch the more upturned your nose will be. But, also the tighter the stitch the less width you'll gain. I am still swollen, so I hope the width will diminish more in time, but for now I am slowly getting used to it, and as my face settles perhaps my wider nose will end up fitting my face better.