Hi guys,
so the check went in the mail to Arnett's office today. I'm hoping to get a late sept/Oct date. It's kind of an unstoppable train now and I've decided to just trust him and be positive. I posted on the other jaw surgery blog ages ago when I was trying to decide, but if you didn't see that then here is the story of my jaw woes (sorry it's long):
Aged 7 I broke my mandible on the left side. No one, including me, seemed to realize how my face became asymmetrical after this. I just recently found childhood photos of just before and after the accident and my god, the difference is so clear. I'd post them right now but I don't think I can from an ipad (??If I can, does anyone know how?)
At age 11 I had two upper molars extracted, plus a single tooth from the front of my lower. I also had braces, headgear, wisdom teeth extractions and a palate expander as my incisors were way up high with nowhere to go in my narrow jaw. A mixture of genetics and the accident really conspired against me here, as my narrow jaw got narrower, and my mouth breathing worsened.
My regular dentist said I technically had an underbite although my teeth had been bent inwards to fit by then. He said I would benefit from surgery. My mum and I said that sounded horrible and it wasn't mentioned again.
At 28 my teeth had all moved sideways and I got invisalign, even though they warned me my midline would still be 'off' afterwards. I was also told at this point that mouth-breathing can lead to a load of other issues later in life and is generally not good news for the soft tissues of your mouth and throat.
At 33 I asked my dentist why I still looked so asymmetrical (this got worse as my teeth were straightened since I lost lip support). She said my teeth were canted but not my jaw. I got lingual braces.
At 35 my ortho left and a new guy arrived. Finally an expert! He said I needed surgery. I was insulted initially, then releived to be offered a solution to my long, asymmetrical, narrow face that I have always covered with my hand. My whole life I have had comments from people about my unusual face shape. My cheeks are flat, even though the cheek bones are visibly there at the sides. I have a gummy smile, prominent lower jaw. The whole bit. I HATE taking photos.
So now after consulting with a couple of different people, I am going with Arnett. His plan is as follows:
3-piece le fort, upper impacted 5mm with CCW rotation, moved forward 2mm, BSSO (auto-rotated up and moved back, not sure how far yet) and genio with Hydroxy whatsit bone grafts to my cheeks and lower jaw to widen it. I'm almost ready orthodontically - just need my lower arch restored to pre-ortho shape and one incisor brought down a bit. Can't wait as I currently look awful and am convinced the latest round of ortho has really aged me.
Thanks for listening everyone. I guess I just wanted to share with you all that the final decision was made today. I'm happy to post pictures if someone will tell me how...might have to wait to use my normal computer.
