New here, have anxiety/doubts about my surgery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sarahorsomeone]

Hi sarahorsomeone!

Did you notice your face "shrink" in terms of height? I want to keep my long-like face, because it matches my tallness. Also, did you notice your lower check area more "full", because they say I have somewhat of a flat face there. Finally, did you get any chin work done?

Thanks for your time to post!

Yes, my face is a little shorter; but I had my upper jaw impacted by about six millimetres (I had a very gummy smile and severe lip-incompetence) aswell as having a "one-sided" open-bite corrected; so it would be surprising if it wasn't. It's not that dramatic.. I look a lot different post-surgery but I don't think anyone but myself would notice the difference in face height without analysing two pictures side by side.

My lower cheek area is a tiny bit more full, but I'm told that's the last area to fully stop being swollen, so I can't say if that's permanent.

No, I didn't have a genioplasty (chin-work) or anything; my chin was left as it came.

[Van'braces]

I just had sarpe surgery and wisdom tooth removal. I was scared silly for the preceding 3 months; I'd never experienced surgery before. Honestly pain/discomfort wise it was totally fine, the only issue I had was with severe nausea, and there are amazing anti nausea meds out there! I cant believe how different my bite is now, 8 weeks after surgery and the only minor inconvenience is cleaning the palatal expander, my gap is nearly closed and Im so glad I did this! I cant comment on the lower jaw surgery but Id say if you're risking having a ton of dental work in later years because of cracking/weak teeth from an incorrect bite, it may be worth having the surgery. One thing I would say is having confidence in your Surgeon is important,I had no doubts about my surgeon as my surgery was a relatively "minor op" for him as he deals with a lot of complex cleft palate cases and facial reconstruction much more involved than mine.

Van'braces, where did the nausea come from? the Anesthetic? Congratulations on your fast progression with the closing of the gap! I take it you're not doing the lower jaw surgery?

Also, I don't think I'm at risk with lots of dental work in the later years, simply because I'm so cautious nowadays that my teeth hardly ever hit each other. But, with that low risk, would you still go through with it?

Thanks for your time to post!

Hi, the nausea initially came from the anesthetic, but then was caused by an allergy to codeine and swallowing blood (not a lot, but I have a very sensitive stomach!) Gravol was not working so I ended up on an anti nausea med they normally give to chemo' patients, it worked very well!
No lower jaw surgery for me, all my problems came from a narrow upper jaw.
I would definitely have still gone through with the surgery, I needed my wisdom teeth pulling anyway, and this was a way for me to get those pulled under a general, and get rid of my narrow "rat-like" (in my opinion!) teeth which came to a V-shape at the front, all at the same time! I also only paid a nominal amount for the jaw surgery as it was covered by my Province's health care (I guess they considered it a deformity worthy of free surgery, in reality I don't think it was that bad...) Oh, just one more point, my narrow jaw had hidden the gum recession (from me anyways, my dentist knew) I had on my canine and first premolars as I couldnt see them easily, I know that this gum recession was caused by bad brushing technique due to how my teeth were angled in my mouth, now this shouldnt get any worse as my bite is a lot better.

[Tuxkeeper]

Nathaniel, I'm 35. I got the braces on my teeth in Aug '09 (when I was 33, almost 34). I can understand your concerns since you've never had a surgery before and have never been "put under". While it's different for everyone, I can say that being put under for me has never been a problem. The surgical procedure will be over before you know it! I've been put under twice (once for wisdom teeth extractions & once for an appendectomy). You literally wake up thinking you were never even out in the first place. Some people wake up crying or nauseous, but I was fortunate to not have that happen to me at all. I've also had a C-section (which they didn't put me under for, just a general anesthetic), so it's slightly funny that I'm so nervous about this oral surgery, considering that I've had a few different surgical procedures done in the past. Anyway, I hope everything goes well for you! Good luck & keep us posted Btw, I'm still waiting for my surgery date because my oral surgeon still hasn't received the approval letter from my insurance company, so we're waiting on that. I got my copy of the letter this week, so I'm assuming they'll get a copy very soon. There does seem to be a question about how much my insurance is going to cover though, so we'll see where that goes...

[sarahorsomeone]

This operation was my fifth under general anesthetic and it's still the "being put under" that scares me. In reality it was fine.

[/quote]Some people wake up crying or nauseous, but I was fortunate to not have that happen to me at all.[quote]

Apparently I woke up laughing! Although that wasn't such a good thing because it pulled on some of the stitches in my mouth and caused some bleeding.

[Tuxkeeper]

Oh no, sarahorsomeone! That's kind of funny though (waking up laughing, I mean ) Not so funny that you pulled some stitches...

Both times I've been put under, I wake up feeling very confused & I told the nurses who were in the room something to the effect of "Hold on! I'm still awake, don't start yet!". And both times the nurses have informed me that the procedure was done like a half hour ago, lol.

[35ksmile]

well i woke up laughing, too.

and apparently i was hitting on the nurses.

dont worry about it, its not really a big deal. dont go into it expecting to come out looking like brad pitt - go in with the attitude that you want a perfect smile and you're okay with the trip. once you get used to it it's not so bad.

[chipmunkcheeks]

i had ALL the same procedures done as you, down to 8mm expansion through SARPE. followed by 1 year later BSSO, lefort I, and genio. search my name and you will find some info and before/after pix. it will be worth it in the end!