Should I have had upper jaw done as well? (pics included)

[kjohnt]

You've got the correct mindset.  Take 2-3 months and reassess.  If you feel like you're willing to endure another surgery at that point, I recommend consulting with a top surgeon, even if you can't afford surgery with that surgeon.  You'll then be able to gauge the competence of other surgeons based their analyses in comparison to that initial analysis.

[stupidjaws]

i have a very pronounced maxilla. I'd much rather have it the other way around.

you look beautiful. not sure you would've looked better with a lefort 1 advancement

[PloskoPlus]

Thank you for being honest! I do agree with both of you. I think I would have gotten the BEST result if I had bimax. I feel like the easy way out was taken, just advancing lower jaw + chin to meet my upper jaw. If my upper jaw was brought down/forward a bit, I wouldn't have that pulling in look in the midface area. However, since I had taken the initial photos when I made this post, my bite has changed and it's beginning to feel a lot more natural and no pain at this point. The underbite look I had going on is gone as well, so I'm really starting to like my profile. But again a more aesthetically pleasing result would have been with a bimax in my opinion. I've never had much upper tooth show- mind you I used to grind my teeth so much so I have "short teeth" for which I will be getting veneers in the future. I'm finding that I used to grind a lot more pre-surgery, which was a surprising outcome of the surgery.

At this point I'm just waiting for the swelling to go down and judge after that. Physically, this is honestly one of the hardest things I've gone through 

Most surgeons are simply lazy.  As far as they are concerned their only obligation to the patient is a class I occlusion.  That's it.  So they will do to the simplest possible surgical plan to get there. 

My case is kind of the reverse of yours.  I had a class III - recessed maxilla.  I had a concave profile with my upper lip behind the lower, poor tooth show.  I had a simple linear advancement.  The result - I now have a convex profile with a borderline class II lip posture, and my tooth show while much better than before, is a good 2mm short of ideal.  The change form concave to convex is really troublesome to me.  All of a sudden it's like I have weak chin with a full dominant maxilla.  Another surgeon suggested that my steep occlusal plane is the cause of it all (again, not your case), and suggested a bi-max revision.  With all the nerve damage I got from the first surgery, I am not sure I can stomach this. 

My surgeon is unapologetic, even for the horrific nerve damage he caused.  As far as he's concerned, a class I occlusion means the surgery is a success. 

IMO, people who say "just wait 6-12 months till the swelling goes down" do not have your interest at heart.  Your bones are your face.  After 8 weeks 90% of the swelling is gone.  Even after 2 weeks you can gauge the result pretty well.  The only thing that can happen from now on is that you may simply get used to the way you look and accept it.  And once you're out of braces it's pretty hard to motivate yourself to go through this hell again.  Talk to your surgeon, but I'd wager he will not be cooperative. So make appointments with other surgeons.  The good ones may take forever to make an appointment with, and you can always cancel later.

[JimmyTheGent]

Most surgeons are simply lazy.  As far as they are concerned their only obligation to the patient is a class I occlusion.  That's it.  So they will do to the simplest possible surgical plan to get there. 

My case is kind of the reverse of yours.  I had a class III - recessed maxilla.  I had a concave profile with my upper lip behind the lower, poor tooth show.  I had a simple linear advancement.  The result - I now have a convex profile with a borderline class II lip posture, and my tooth show while much better than before, is a good 2mm short of ideal.  The change form concave to convex is really troublesome to me.  All of a sudden it's like I have weak chin with a full dominant maxilla.  Another surgeon suggested that my steep occlusal plane is the cause of it all (again, not your case), and suggested a bi-max revision.  With all the nerve damage I got from the first surgery, I am not sure I can stomach this. 

My surgeon is unapologetic, even for the horrific nerve damage he caused.  As far as he's concerned, a class I occlusion means the surgery is a success. 

IMO, people who say "just wait 6-12 months till the swelling goes down" do not have your interest at heart.  Your bones are your face.  After 8 weeks 90% of the swelling is gone.  Even after 2 weeks you can gauge the result pretty well.  The only thing that can happen from now on is that you may simply get used to the way you look and accept it.  And once you're out of braces it's pretty hard to motivate yourself to go through this hell again.  Talk to your surgeon, but I'd wager he will not be cooperative. So make appointments with other surgeons.  The good ones may take forever to make an appointment with, and you can always cancel later.

Wasnt your surgeon one of the best in NYC too?

[SJay]

For what it's worth, I think you look absolutely fine. I can see the issues the other posters are pointing out, your maxilla is a little off. Perhaps you would have looked better with an upper jaw advancement, but perhaps not. It would have also changed the nose, probably lifted the tip a little (not necessarily a bad thing) but also possibly flared the nostrils (which you probably wouldn't like). At this stage, more surgery would be a lot of additional time, money and more importantly emotional stress, it may improve some things whilst it may make others worse. Whether it's worth taking a chance or not is really up to you, but you sound content and this isn't currently causing you any major psychological issues, so I don't think more surgery would get you to a better place... I'm not sure it would make you much happier, and that's what really matters.