Regretting Double-Jaw Surgery + Genioplasty

[alarum]

Hi all and thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm currently 9 months post-op and seriously considering going back to my surgeon and asking for my surgery to be reversed. The original reason for having surgery was to correct an open bite of the top front teeth and a slightly recessed lower jaw and chin that made it a bit of a conscious effort to keep my mouth closed at rest. My orthodontic treatment alone actually corrected my open bite though, so I was weary of surgery from the first consultation with my surgeon. I truly liked the way I looked before the operation and I only agreed to do both the upper and lower jaw because I thought I would look brutish with only the lower jaw advanced. I'm a 22-year-old, white, feminine gay man and actually liked that my jaws and chin were mildly recessed from an aesthetic standpoint and stressed this to my surgeon who assured me that I would not look masculine post-op. However, I feel like not only do I now look masculine, but that my face is too wide and short. My mid face looks too prominent for my cheekbones, my upper lip looks extremely far forward, my nose looks wider and my chin is very prominent and looks quite asymmetrical. My lower jaw also looks girthier and more prominent than my upper face which really adds to the masculinity. I only learned after my surgery that they had decided to move my upper jaw upward as well as forward to "correct my gummy smile" which I did NOT have. I now feel like I have to bare my fangs like an animal to smile normally. I'm really regretting the surgery because I feel like I've lost my identity more so than that I look bad per se. I do feel normalized (my dilemma prior to surgery was that I expected some of these results and had to decide if I valued femininity and authenticity or function and normality more). I've received a lot of compliments since the surgery as well--though to me they sound like insults: "you look more handsome; you look older; you look like a man" or when I voice my concerns: "you don't look that different; you've just got a bit more chin" etc.

I feel like everything that I said to my surgeon pre-op was ignored or forgotten. I feel like I was not kept in the loop with the plan of what was going to happen. I feel like I was changed to meet a more 'North American' standard of male beauty that I did not want or request. I feel completely blindsided and can't stand to catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror or photo since my surgery. And I just feel so sad because I really loved my face before the operation. Now, my real reason for this post (aside from to vent my frustrations):

Realistically, can my face be returned to the way it looked before? Or at least, something close to it. In hindsight I think I would've been okay with just a lower jaw advancement (no chin, no upper jaw). I don't know the measurements for how far everything was advanced--when I asked leading up to my surgery (including the day of) my surgeon couldn't give me an answer. But I do know that both jaws were rotated to "line up with the brow bone", my upper jaw was moved up and forward, my lower jaw was just moved forward, my chin was moved forward via sliding genioplasty. I realize now how naive it was to go into such an important surgery so blindly. But I'm hoping something can be done to regain the authenticity of my face that I lost nine months ago.

[korvitz]

Post Xrays otherwise we are walking blind so to speak

If you don't feel like your surgeon who did your surgery can fufill your aesthetic requests perhaps consult an different surgeon who has experience in feminizing faces for an 2nd opinion?

"Realistically, can my face be returned to the way it looked before? Or at least, something close to it."

Do you mean exactly how it looked pre-op or do you want to just feminize yor now masculine looking face?

[alarum]

Thanks so much for responding - I'll have to e-mail my orthodontist to get the X-rays but I will post them as soon as I can. At the time of my surgery he was the only maxillofacial surgeon in my province, so I would have to travel pretty far to consult with anyone else.

Ideally I'd like the upper jaw to return to exactly as it was before. As for the rest of my face, I'd be happy just bringing it in line with the upper jaw once moved back into its original position as well as feminizing the chin. If that isn't possible, though, I feel like I will need to consult with someone to at least feminize the chin and lower jaw.

[korvitz]

At the time of my surgery he was the only maxillofacial surgeon in my province, so I would have to travel pretty far to consult with anyone else.

What the? Where the hell do you live?

[Dogmatix]

Do you know what movements you had?

[Dogmatix]

In general I think the questions you're asking are more complex than what a normal surgeon usually handles. I mean, to me a feminine face is not a recessed jaw. I think most beautiful women and models have sharp jaw lines, and also looking at good women surgery result tends to be in this direction. Of course if you know what you like and can communicate this to a surgeon, it should be possible to work with. But you are a male and will probably have male features, the task of feminizing a face is something transgender people do. There are probably surgeons who are good at that, but I'm not sure this is what you want. It can probably go over board on the other end.

As in previous post, it would be interesting to see your actual movements and also pictures of you to see what you're talking about.

[kavan]

You have what is called a 'locus of identity' issue which is a term that applies to someone who gets what would be considered a GOOD aesthetic result but 'identifies' with a lesser standard. What you have is an UNTOWARD response to an aesthetic improvement.

It just sounds like you had enough 'visual' info from liking your own face how it was after the open bite correction to just DECLINE the whole surgery altogether.

Also, it's common for BOTH jaws to be advanced because it's often the case that the upper jaw has to be moved IN ORDER TO move the lower jaw. Although you say you 'only agreed to have the upper jaw moved because you thought you would look brutish with only the lower jaw advanced', it was more likely than not that you didn't have the choice of just getting  just the lower jaw advanced and it was needed for you to agree to BOTH in order to have the lower jaw advanced. Hence, REVERSAL even IF accommodated would be reversal of ALL and NOT 'just' reversal of upper jaw. That is because the basic LOGIC (from the perspective of a maxfax) is/was a CONTINGENCY to move the upper jaw IN ORDER to move the lower one. So, here a request to move only one jaw back would be considered an irrational request from the perspective of a maxfax.

Basically, you have something--an ATTACHMENT-- to what would be considered a poor aesthetic. This is reflected in your post when you relay that the compliments you get are those which you perceive as 'insults'.

Consider that maxfax docs go by a standard of 'norms' and they try to balance things that are DEVIATIONS from the norms so the aesthetic outcome is closer to the norm. Objective being for the person to look better. So, your request pretty much resolves to asking a surgeon to reverse what would be considered an aesthetic IMPROVEMENT and he might not want to do that.

In terms of EMOTIONAL SUPPORT, we can say: 'We're sorry you are unhappy with your result.'But no one here can give a definitive answer as to whether or not 'realistically' your face can be returned to the way you looked before. You're asking this question WITHOUT photos. So, it's basically an IRRATIONAL question and resolves you're needing some kind of directive to accommodate possible further irrational decision making behavior.

My advice would be to do what you can do to adjust to having what could be considered a better aesthetic than you had before. So, my advice is to do the more rational thing which is to change your mind set in order to adjust to having an improved aesthetic.

[Lazlo]

Hi all and thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm currently 9 months post-op and seriously considering going back to my surgeon and asking for my surgery to be reversed. The original reason for having surgery was to correct an open bite of the top front teeth and a slightly recessed lower jaw and chin that made it a bit of a conscious effort to keep my mouth closed at rest. My orthodontic treatment alone actually corrected my open bite though, so I was weary of surgery from the first consultation with my surgeon. I truly liked the way I looked before the operation and I only agreed to do both the upper and lower jaw because I thought I would look brutish with only the lower jaw advanced. I'm a 22-year-old, white, feminine gay man and actually liked that my jaws and chin were mildly recessed from an aesthetic standpoint and stressed this to my surgeon who assured me that I would not look masculine post-op. However, I feel like not only do I now look masculine, but that my face is too wide and short. My mid face looks too prominent for my cheekbones, my upper lip looks extremely far forward, my nose looks wider and my chin is very prominent and looks quite asymmetrical. My lower jaw also looks girthier and more prominent than my upper face which really adds to the masculinity. I only learned after my surgery that they had decided to move my upper jaw upward as well as forward to "correct my gummy smile" which I did NOT have. I now feel like I have to bare my fangs like an animal to smile normally. I'm really regretting the surgery because I feel like I've lost my identity more so than that I look bad per se. I do feel normalized (my dilemma prior to surgery was that I expected some of these results and had to decide if I valued femininity and authenticity or function and normality more). I've received a lot of compliments since the surgery as well--though to me they sound like insults: "you look more handsome; you look older; you look like a man" or when I voice my concerns: "you don't look that different; you've just got a bit more chin" etc.

I feel like everything that I said to my surgeon pre-op was ignored or forgotten. I feel like I was not kept in the loop with the plan of what was going to happen. I feel like I was changed to meet a more 'North American' standard of male beauty that I did not want or request. I feel completely blindsided and can't stand to catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror or photo since my surgery. And I just feel so sad because I really loved my face before the operation. Now, my real reason for this post (aside from to vent my frustrations):

Realistically, can my face be returned to the way it looked before? Or at least, something close to it. In hindsight I think I would've been okay with just a lower jaw advancement (no chin, no upper jaw). I don't know the measurements for how far everything was advanced--when I asked leading up to my surgery (including the day of) my surgeon couldn't give me an answer. But I do know that both jaws were rotated to "line up with the brow bone", my upper jaw was moved up and forward, my lower jaw was just moved forward, my chin was moved forward via sliding genioplasty. I realize now how naive it was to go into such an important surgery so blindly. But I'm hoping something can be done to regain the authenticity of my face that I lost nine months ago.

You're just experiencing latent buyer's remorse. Trust me, from what you describe you probably do look better and its just getting you a little used to the results. First, you probably don't look that different. Second, you're just experiencing a bit of body dysmorphia from the point of view of the chin and lip being more forward. The fact that they shortened the face is the only concern and yes a bit more of a gummy smile is considered attractive. But that too  may be more in your mind and you'll get used to it. I I would say you have to post pre and post-op pictures or send them to me privately to get a total honest response. Include pics from profile, 3/4, with lips at rest and smiling for your before and afters and I'll tell you exactly what you need to do (or not do).

[GJ]

Do you have a before and after so we can see what's going on?

You'll never unring the bell and go back to your former self, though, if that's your pressing question.

[ben from UK]

I totally believe the OP. If you are not comfortabele with the results, then the result is 99 percent of times not a good one, botched, or overdone etc. Your intuition is worth more than 1000 opinions.

I have been to the US for surgery and I will never go there again. Worst country for PS ever. Everything they do is overdone. They use silicone as well, which is extremely bad material for aestethics. AVOID the United States for PS. Never go there, trust me.

[kavan]

I totally believe the OP. If you are not comfortabele with the results, then the result is 99 percent of times not a good one, botched, or overdone etc. Your intuition is worth more than 1000 opinions.

I have been to the US for surgery and I will never go there again. Worst country for PS ever. Everything they do is overdone. They use silicone as well, which is extremely bad material for aestethics. AVOID the United States for PS. Never go there, trust me.

The OP had maxfax surgery. NOT PS (plastic surgery).

[Lefortitude]

I totally believe the OP. If you are not comfortabele with the results, then the result is 99 percent of times not a good one, botched, or overdone etc. Your intuition is worth more than 1000 opinions.

I have been to the US for surgery and I will never go there again. Worst country for PS ever. Everything they do is overdone. They use silicone as well, which is extremely bad material for aestethics. AVOID the United States for PS. Never go there, trust me.

im going to have to disagree here. The US is both the WORST place for surgery, and also the BEST place for surgery. It only depends on how much money you have and how much research you are willing to do.

[fresh-double-jaw]

Can you post pictures ?  Id like to see before and afters.

[ben from UK]

 

im going to have to disagree here. The US is both the WORST place for surgery, and also the BEST place for surgery. It only depends on how much money you have and how much research you are willing to do.

Money has nothing to do with good surgery. If that was the case, Hollywood actors that did PS wouldn't look like freaks.

[Lestat]

Generally speaking, hollywood actors are afraid of invasive procedures such as osteotomies and can not afford a longer downtime. Moreover, in the case of a bad result, such interventions can not simply be reversed and you look like you did before. Thats why they prefer PS. It has nothing to do with money.