Is there a risk of face drooping?

[loralei]

I'm meeting with a surgeon soon and will ask all my questions, but I was watching something on TV about somebody getting a jaw reduction and they said one of the adverse outcomes was total lip droopage like a stroke patient might have. I realize it's not the same procedure, but is this a risk on orthognathic surgery? I would most likely be having lower jaw surgery to address a class III malocclusion. I apologize if this is a dumb question. I was just diagnosed with OCD so it's been hard for me to not worry about this. Thanks!

[sirwired]

The most common lower-jaw surgery is the BSSO. The cut that needs to be made is right along the nerve trunk that "powers" your lower face, including your lower lips and chin. The nerve is moved out of the way prior to the cut being made (it's yellow color is easy to spot in surgery videos.) This manipulation of the nerve results in, at the least, "bruising" it. You will almost certainly have some numbness after the operation. Rarely, you'll permanently lose some sensation in your chin (most common) or lower lip (less common.) I've never personally heard of anybody permanently losing all sensation; I'd think that would require cutting the nerve, but that's so easy to avoid, I don't know why it would ever happen.