surprise upper jaw surgery

[k2kassie]

today I had my surgical consult with my orthodontist. I've been in Invisalign for the past year for alignment. I will have braces put on at the end of July for a few months to get ready for surgery in the fall/winter.

at today's appointment, my orthodontist showed me my molds pre and post opp. the plan has been for a lower jaw advancement BSSO. but after looking at the models, he wants to do upper also to expand my upper jaw on the left side because of a crossbite?

I am REALLY nervous about upper jaw surgery. has anyone here had upper jaw for a crossbite? I didn't know I had one, or maybe I will have one once they move my jaw forward?

I am making a second consult with my surgeon to get more info. I am not sure if the upper jaw is necessary? my ortho said if I didn't want to do it, he could try to fine tune the crossbite post opp. should I just bite the bullet and do both jaws?

any input is appreciated, thank you

[notrain]

I was in the same boat, my upper jaw had to be expanded because the lower jaw (in its new position) would have caused a crossbite.

It's no big deal really, they will harvest some bone from the lower jaw during the surgery (some bone has to be taken away in the back anyway) and will be put in the upper jaw to stabilize the expansion.

I had a 5-6mm expansion this way (measured between the molars across the palate) and it is stable 10 months post op. Be sure to ask if positioning the upper jaw a bit anteriorly would yield a better profile and  - if it does - then have that done as well, since you are getting work done on the upper any way.

[k2kassie]

thank you! did you find your recovery to be very rough?