asymmetry in my lower jaw :(

[samham99]

Hi all, I'm so happy I stumbled upon this forum.
I'm a 22 year old woman and have had problems with my jaw my entire life. from a young age it was always clicky, and difficult to chew food, and as I grew older my orthodontist pointed out that the right side of my jaw is growing faster than the left.
I absolutely hate the asymmetry of my face and have agonised over it literally for years. it makes me utterly miserable and i believe that corrective surgery (as has been recommended by my orthodontist) would help so much.
I have spent years just trying to accept my face the way it is and I just can't.
I'm just wondering what are your experiences with asymmetry in the lower jaw? what is usually done to fix it and how successful is it usually? and how do you deal with the issue of surgical expenses?
thanks so much

[Tiny]

From what I've seen it is usually fixed via BSSO

The mandible has two parts - the ramus (vertical bit) and the mandibular body (horizontal bit).  Does your asymmetry affect both parts of your jaw, only the ramus or only the body?

People in the US with bad enough function issues usually get it done on insurance.  People in the UK sometimes get it on the NHS.  The rest of us pay for it ourselves

[samham99]

thanks so much for your response!
from what i can see, if i draw a line straight down the centre of my face, my chin is angled to the left, and i think its the right side of the mandibular body which is the longer side if that makes sense? so in other words im pretty sure the asymmetry only affects the body.
In Australia I think Medicare covers a percentage of costs from what I've read, but yeah for the bulk of it i'm considering taking out a bank loan of some sort.
Getting X-rays done again soon and seeing the orthodontist in a month and a half so will have more info then.