Just thought I'd let everyone know how I got on as a thank you for their contributions to the forum, especially those I have exchanged private messages with.
Anyway, I had chin-wing surgery with Ramin Zarrinbal. I am class 2, and didn't want to undergo BSSO because of the time to wait in braces, I didn't want to mess with my bite, and the fact that the proposed advancement wouldn't have been that significant (probably below 5mm). I also had a weak chin.
I'm a few weeks after surgery now, and my chin and lower lip is still probably 20% numb but getting better every day. By shortening my chin, my lower lip incompetence has improved, but for some reason, I have acquired a mild lisp and I have to speak by pushing my tongue to the front of my mouth. In relation to this aspect of the surgery only, I regret not getting a BSSO (because it would have created more room for my tongue).
Aesthetically, it has been a big improvement. Zarrinbal says he prefers to decide the movements during surgery and subscribes to the facial thirds theory as well as the idea that the chin should be around 85 degrees from the lower lip. But I told him that I wanted a big chin advancement, and was worried about shortening my face too much, and consequently, I think my chin was advanced about 7mm and shortened by 2mm. Though I'm still on the fence about the shortening, I think my chin has been advanced a perfect amount, and I am extremely satisfied with the outcome. Also, there is no issue with sublabial fold, and I think that, for men at least, having no sublabial fold is as bad as having huge sublabial fold.
My jaw angles have also improved significantly, but there is a limit to how much they can be improved without breaking the jaw. It isn't a case of being able to design your perfect jawline and asking the surgeon to recreate it. You are, to a certain extent, limited by what you've already got. But again, I'd probably score my satisfaction as an 8/10 in relation to the angular changes.
My jaw has also widened, but I think it looked better when I had a small amount of swelling. He also made me aware of the potential for the bone graft to recede over time, and for the jaw to get gradually narrower.
My lower lip is still behind my upper lip and, in that sense, the procedure has not completely camouflaged my class 2 skull. So while I haven't achieved the perfect jaw with the surgery (and possibly still require a BSSO to do so), I am at the stage where I am satisfied with my jaw, aesthetically at least, and cannot really foresee me spending any more money or time worrying about it. Because of my chin advancement, I have stopped posturing my jaw because I look worse if I do (chin looks too big even though lips align).
I asked Zarrinbal whether he is happy to take on overseas patients, but he said that he would be reluctant to take on those patients that want to fly out the next day, and he says that he is very busy at the moment but agrees that being busy is better than the alternative. He seems very caring, and I cannot recommend him enough, but I would be very cautious about using him for traditional orthognathic surgery (or any other overseas surgeon) due to the delay in responding to emails.
As for those on the forum considering Triaca, Zarrinbal was very positive about him and told me that he learnt the technique amongst others at Lake Constance (I think) around 10 years ago. But if you cannot afford Triaca, I would certainly recommend Zarrinbal.
I'll have to be brusk now, but my hip is fully healed (took 1 week) and overall I'd rate aesthetic improvement as 8/10. Also, I am not going to share photos (sorry) but there are photos already out there of post chin-wing patients.
