Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi Everyone, I'm currently in the preliminary stages of Orthognathic Surgery primarily for "vertical maxillary excess". I've seen 2 surgeons and my former orthodontist (I've had braces before and he referred me to the surgery).

Surgeon #1 has been in contact with my orthodontist and if I choose this surgeon, I'd be looking at double jaw surgery with genioplasty. My orthodontist says that he could get me ready for surgery in 6-9 months and they're pretty much awaiting my decision here.

Surgeon #2 has a completely different opinion. He says upper only. He has not talked to my orthodontist but he referred me to one of his colleagues in the same university/health system. Unfortunately, I can't get an appointment with his orthodontist until mid-May, so I won't know what his estimated timeframe is until then.

I equally like both surgeons, but I trust #2 a little more. But their opinions on my treatment are so different. So while I await my Mid-May appointment, I've scheduled yet another consultation with a surgeon here, who happens to be the department chair of the university he teaches at.

So I was wondering how many surgeon consultations do most people go through? Has anyone had this situation where the doctors' opinions were vastly different? How did you decide which surgeon was the right one for you? I wouldn't have these questions if the treatments were somewhat similar, but right now they're so far apart I don't really know what to do.

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Have you asked your current ortho if he'd be willing to work with surgeon #2? I would be surprised if he wouldn't...

I found my ortho and liked him. He referred me to 2 surgeons and I didn't care for either. I ended up picking a surgeon that my ortho did not refer (that I found through a friend) but my ortho was more than happy to work with him. In fact, he is now referring my surgeon to other patients.

I also have vertical maxillary excess and the treatment I am going with is upper, lower, and genioplasty. From what I was told, when having upper jaw surgery, doing to lower as well allows for a "more stable bite".

2 consultations. But both came to the same recommendation independently -- lower jaw only.

Double jaw surgery with genioplasty is a lot of surgery. I would seek out a few more opinions.

I did two consults.

The first consult though I would need both an upper and lower and I wasn't too sure about him when he said he had only done for of them the previous year; this (and insurance) are the reasons I went to consult number two.

Consult number two was actually with a doctor at University of Iowa hospitals where they do 4 of these surgeries a week per surgical team (since it generally requires two surgeons). I was MUCH more comfortable with the surgeon and resident I met with there (and it was a lot cheaper for me). Plus, they did the surgery with just upper jaw movement (5.5 mm forward).

Hope that helps ya! All about finding someone that is proficient at the surgery aspect and easy to work with.

Rick

The thing about going on what the surgeon expects to do, is that that may change as the surgery gets closer. We went to three consults - two of them with different doctors at our local teaching hospital, and one with another surgeon (who actually also teaches at the hospital, although we didn't meet him there.)

The surgeon we went with was going to do double jaw and genioplasty, but changed his mind on the pre-op visit and just went with upper jaw and genioplasty. My sense was that for another patient it could have gone the other way - that they thought they'd do one jaw and end up doing two. So, I wouldn't base too much on what they think they're going to do, unless you're almost ready to have surgery.

Everyone we met with had done tons of these surgeries - I'd be very hesitant to go with a surgeon who hadn't done many.

I had two consults, one a few months before the surgery, and one a week before. I also had a visit a week after the first consult so they could take X-rays and molds. I also had a pre-op visit (a week before surgery) with my ortho to make sure everything was ready with the braces and expander.

Thanks for all of the replies. One of the surgeons that I visited thought that 3 opinions was "a lot", so I figured I'd ask. I'll continue on to my 3rd consultation .

SLiM2590 wrote:Thanks for all of the replies. One of the surgeons that I visited thought that 3 opinions was "a lot", so I figured I'd ask. I'll continue on to my 3rd consultation .

Yea, I think 2 consults is pretty normal, but if you haven't had a good feeling about either of the first 2, why not a 3rd or 4th? You have to look out for yourself!

Did two and now I wish I had done more. Everyone Please please consult as many surgeons as possible.