I had upper jaw surgery but should have had double
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 5:51 am
Hello there,
Just to put things into perspective, a year ago I opened up a thread (http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=50407) with my original username, in case anyone wants to read it. I've lost my password for that account ever since and for some unknown reason I am unable to recover it (I guess it might have to do with my having too few posts), so I've just created another one.
Anyway, long story short: a year ago I had a Le Fort 1 procedure done to fix my underbite. I wasn't really sure that was the exact procedure I needed, but my surgeon and orthodontist somehow convinced me that my imbalance problem didn't come as much from having a large mandible as it came from having a receded maxilla. I trusted them and went ahead with everything, but deep inside I continued to feel somewhat insecure about how much the aesthetic result would please me. Prior to wearing braces, I actually expressed my concern openly quite a few times and told them how I felt that the right surgery for me would be bimax. But the thing is, I just felt it. Instead, they knew. I was just projecting my fears while they were stating an objective opinion, untarnished by my insecurities and backed up by their knowledge. I had to believe them. But, seriously, it was rather obvious. I have a very long, flat face. How do you fix that without cutting here and there?
And here I am now. A year post-op my surgeon goes ahead and tells me that the ideal solution for my case was double jaw surgery, but that they thought a pretty good result could also be achieved just by moving my maxilla forward. "It was a double jaw surgery case, but we camouflaged it with a Le Fort". Like that, literally. Errr... I don't know, man, I'm confused. I can't say for a fact that I would be enthused with my face had I had bimax surgery, but I feel like the whole truth was not said to me back then, which might have made me take another route. I suppose at this point he no longer remembers how I saw the whole thing three years ago, or else he wouldn't be saying those things to me. To top things off, he's also informed me that I'll have to wear my retainers for my whole life, unless I'm willing to see my teeth going back to their original position (he's complemented this lovely piece of news by saying that that wouldn't be necessary at all with bimax).
So my question is, how can something like this happen? This surgery is hard enough for us to go through on multiple levels that we don't want to end up with a result far from ideal. What's worse, I feel like my options to have a normal face have been completely removed now, since having a second surgery would probably be a crazy af thing to do.
Or wouldn't it?
Just to put things into perspective, a year ago I opened up a thread (http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=50407) with my original username, in case anyone wants to read it. I've lost my password for that account ever since and for some unknown reason I am unable to recover it (I guess it might have to do with my having too few posts), so I've just created another one.
Anyway, long story short: a year ago I had a Le Fort 1 procedure done to fix my underbite. I wasn't really sure that was the exact procedure I needed, but my surgeon and orthodontist somehow convinced me that my imbalance problem didn't come as much from having a large mandible as it came from having a receded maxilla. I trusted them and went ahead with everything, but deep inside I continued to feel somewhat insecure about how much the aesthetic result would please me. Prior to wearing braces, I actually expressed my concern openly quite a few times and told them how I felt that the right surgery for me would be bimax. But the thing is, I just felt it. Instead, they knew. I was just projecting my fears while they were stating an objective opinion, untarnished by my insecurities and backed up by their knowledge. I had to believe them. But, seriously, it was rather obvious. I have a very long, flat face. How do you fix that without cutting here and there?
And here I am now. A year post-op my surgeon goes ahead and tells me that the ideal solution for my case was double jaw surgery, but that they thought a pretty good result could also be achieved just by moving my maxilla forward. "It was a double jaw surgery case, but we camouflaged it with a Le Fort". Like that, literally. Errr... I don't know, man, I'm confused. I can't say for a fact that I would be enthused with my face had I had bimax surgery, but I feel like the whole truth was not said to me back then, which might have made me take another route. I suppose at this point he no longer remembers how I saw the whole thing three years ago, or else he wouldn't be saying those things to me. To top things off, he's also informed me that I'll have to wear my retainers for my whole life, unless I'm willing to see my teeth going back to their original position (he's complemented this lovely piece of news by saying that that wouldn't be necessary at all with bimax).
So my question is, how can something like this happen? This surgery is hard enough for us to go through on multiple levels that we don't want to end up with a result far from ideal. What's worse, I feel like my options to have a normal face have been completely removed now, since having a second surgery would probably be a crazy af thing to do.
Or wouldn't it?