Metal Mouth Message Board

I got double jaw surgery for a very severe posterior open bite 7 months ago. I’m super happy with the functional results as well as my face.

Prior to surgery, I had a very long face, but now it’s much more oval and proportionate. I have fuller lips, much fuller, prominent cheeks, and a stronger jawline, and of course, no more open bite!!

My surgeon was excellent and he fully understood my aesthetic concerns. I had inherited very flat, uneven cheeks from my dad’s side that left me very insecure that no amount makeup could camouflage/improve. (My only aesthetic concern) and I wanted just normal cheek projection (a slight enhancement, nothing major), and so I got bone grafts (I was getting a bone graft anyway for my upper jaw.) done as augmentation during surgery. My surgeon had first suggested conventional cheek implants, but after I said that I thought cheek implants look fake, he gave me the option of bone grafts instead. He showed me before and afters and results looked so natural, I was blown away. (He also showed my face after surgery with and without the bone grafts to help me decide.)

My surgeon applied bone grafts to my upper jaw, impacted it a bit (since my gums used to show a lot more when I smiled) and brought both jaw forward and rotated my lower jaw. (Forgot the specifics.) I was wired shut for a month, and recovery was so difficult, and was swollen for much longer than the average patient, but the results are SO worth it!!

I forgot to mention the only issue I have is tightness in my upper lip, but otherwise, everything is great!!

Awesome news! Do you mind sharing who your surgeon was?

Bone grafts in lieu of cheek implants?! I didn't even know that was a thing! I thought they typically placed the implants over the muscle so a graft wouldn't work, but apparently I was incorrect! That's awesome!

Bone grafts! Thanks for the info.

Thank you for posting and I’m absolutely thrilled for you! I’m terrified so reading stories like this really help.

Hope you continue to see the swelling go down and fall in love even more with your new face!

I'm happy your surgery went well! For the cheeks, was something like HA graft used? I heard that for surgeries with Gunson they apply HA which can augment only a couple mm at most if needed to reduce the 'chimp' look that jaw surgery sometimes brings. Sounds very interesting- I wonder if it would hold well over a long period of time after surgery.

I have very flat cheeks as well but have an overbite. Do you know by any chance does upper jaw surgery help with cheekbones or the additional work you had done (cheekbone graft) is what led to improvement. I am considering getting lower jaw surgery done as that can give the overbite I have, however that will do nothing for cheekbones.