I've been on here for a while but just hiding out and reading other posts. I really appreciate all the info on the site and all info Marisma has shared with me throughout his journey. As the title states I am having double jaw surgery with Dr. Gunson. I'll try to summarize my case from the beginning to now. Sorry this is long but it will give you the whole picture.
The best I can remember my issues started back in late 2006 when I was in my early 20's. I remember at one point my jaw started clicking and popping and I didn't think much of it until I woke one morning and my jaw was locked shut. I immediately got in to see my dentist and he referred me to see an oral surgeon. Well, over the course of a couple days my jaw opened up and all was normal again so I did not see the oral surgeon. After this, probably 1-2 years later I started to notice the asymmetry in my face but as before didn't think much of it.
Over the years I began to develop severe headaches along with killer neck, shoulder, and back pain on my left side. I finally reached a point in 2011 where living with the pain had become enough and I started to seek help. At first I went to a neurosurgeon to help with the back pain. In 2004 I had a traumatic injury that resulted in a compression fracture in T4, T5, and T6 between my shoulder blades and thought this may have never healed correctly and could be causing my shoulder, back, and neck pain. Well, MRI's catscans, and the neurosurgeon all ruled out any back issues and showed I had a complete recovery from my previous injury.
So on to an oral surgeon I went. I went to a local oral surgeon close to the small town where I live. We discussed all the past history of jaw popping, clicking, and the back pain. He took measurements, x-rays, and bite wings. The next thing he told me was a complete shock. He diagnosed me with condylar hyperplasia in my left jaw and told me that only double jaw surgery could fix my asymmetry and cant.
At this point I was thinking what does this small town quack know. I did some research and found out about Dr. Wolford in Dallas. Only living two hrs from Dallas I scheduled a consult with him in late 2011. At the appointment he confirmed the need for jaw surgery due to asymmetry and the cant. He diagnosed me with condylar hyperplasia in the left jaw as well. He sais I needed double jaw surgery and mitek anchors in my joints. He also told me of the need for braces, the worst news of all, I always had straight teeth and considered my self one of the lucky ones to never wear braces. Needless to say this was still overwhelming and I wasn't a big fan of surgery on my joints, especially to install metal anchors.
I finally decided at one point that I knew I need to have the surgery and the much feared braces, but I wasn't sure if I had found the right surgeon yet. I began doing more research and had a consult with Dr. Quaroni in Austin, Tx. His treatment plan consisted of mouth guards, splints, etc. and only surgery if those didn't work. I knew that I needed surgery so I did not consider this plan and kept looking. This is when I found Dr. Gunson.
I had my initial consult with Dr. Gunson was in January 2012. After that visit I knew he was the most capable surgeon I had been to and immediately decided that I wanted him to be my surgeon. My diagnosis changed from my previous consults. Dr. Gunson actually diagnosed me with mid face and condylar hypoplasia on my right side and said my left side had actually grown normally but my right stopped growing to soon and underdeveloped. He also confirmed the cant and the need for double jaw surgery.
I went to another surgeon closer to home just to be sure that I couldn't find someone as good as Dr. Gunson closer to home. He agreed with Dr. Gunsons diagnosis but wanted to do an IVRO instead of a BSSO and I didn't agree with this. Plus I was really impressed with how Dr. Gunson includes the whole face not just the bite.
Another interesting thing that came out of the consults was how small my airway was. Dr. wolford was the first to point it out to me. Normal is 11mm and mine is 5mm. This explained a lot of past issues such as my inability to get a good nights sleep, always feeling like I had sinus problems, and never being able to run. I spent years playing sports and never could run very well. I was never tired but I never could breathe no matter how much I trained to get better. It all made sense now.
So I had to wait to get braces as I transitioned from one employer to another this year. Switching employers turned out to be a blessing. My new employer has UHC which will pay for way more than the Aetna I had with my previous one. UHC has approved the surgery after one appeal. I finally got my braces on in late September and now have a scheduled surgery date for June 5th and my oral surgeon believes I may get the braces off six months after surgery. I will be having lower jaw surgery, lefort I on the upper jaw (possibly could be lefort III after final consult), and genio. I am nervous but mostly excited and can't wait to have this behind me and live pain free. Mostly can't wait to lose the braces.
If anyone has any questions I'll try to answer them and will try to keep you posted on progress.
