Smile recovery after Bimax Lefort 1

[Jordana1983]

The doctor had moved down the top right jaw 2mm down and the left 2mm up
And a slight rotation front for the right and a bit back for the left as a whole adjusting the bottom jaw accordingly
But I lost the occlusion on the left side and it seems the doctor overcorrected te top left side as now my teeth line seems inclined in the opposite way
He said he also had to do a genioplasty  as the decanting was not enough to make the chin cebteree

[Jordana1983]

What does impaction IMO mean please

[Post bimax]

The doctor had moved down the top right jaw 2mm down and the left 2mm up
And a slight rotation front for the right and a bit back for the left as a whole adjusting the bottom jaw accordingly
But I lost the occlusion on the left side and it seems the doctor overcorrected te top left side as now my teeth line seems inclined in the opposite way
He said he also had to do a genioplasty  as the decanting was not enough to make the chin cebteree

IMO means “in my opinion”. I’m saying in my opinion, you should not have been impacted at all. That is, you should not have had any ‘upward’ movement in the upper jaw.

It seems to me your surgeon could have achieved the same vertical differential by simply downgrafting your right side 4mm and thereby preserving tooth show.

To my eye, your post-op pictures are more drastic than a mere +\-2mm movement which means there’s probably something else going on. Likely swelling, muscle weakness, etc.

You need to give it at least a few months to see what the issue actually is. I know it’s *very* hard to wait when you feel like you’ve lost your face, but nobody (besides your surgeon) can confirm anything this early.

[Jordana1983]

Thank you Post Bimax for your precious answer
Sorry for stupid an IMO I am French
No he had to do it split 2mm vs 2mm he said to preserve the lip line and to fix the TMJ imbalance
I really hope it is a matter of swelling and muscles weakness because as you say when I look at myself I can see that the lack of teeth showing is drastic indeed
I will see the surgeon in 10days
But if I listen to him he said that nothing changed..so it s a bit difficult for me to speak and believe someone who is not honest about the pictures émane the reality
Same je says that he does not see the fact that the left top jawline has been deviated too much upwards..while I went to see another Maxillo surgeon to have a second opinion (and help me remove wires that were hurting me) and this doctor acknowledged the inclination and the loss Ldn occlusion on the left side

[Dogmatix]

Does someone who have had bimax can help me to know what happened with their smile and explain why I don’t see my teeth anymore

Yes I have and, and the response is still same. My smile was ridiculous and with a lot less teeth show first weeks. I can't know your case exactly, in case of impaction the teeth show decrease on final result as well, but in your case it sounds more like your jaw was levelled, up some on one side only. So please, just take it easy for a couple if weeks if this is your only problem.

[ghiggson90]

As someone who was overimpacted and required a second procedure I recommend:


1) Staying relaxed. If you were overimpacted, you can get that fixed. I know this is easier said than done.

2) Get pre and post-op cephalometric measurements. Don’t guess what happened. Measurements
do not lie.

I believe you were impacted, but some more time is necessary to assess the aesthetic outcome and determine whether you were overimpacted.

[Jordana1983]

Thank you both Dogmatix and Ghiggson
So for now I will try my best to continue to hope it will improve
I must look weak but I am usually a very brave and positive person
It s just so scary at the moment
I will stop looking at myself
I have to go back to work on Monday so I have to deal with life anyway..I cannot think of the impossible..I know it is wrong
Your answers are really helping me
I ll have some exams done so we can compare the measurements.
I really thought the incisive teeth level and the lip were not supposed to change as it was discussed in the plan.
Ghiggson I am sorry to hear you were over impacted
I can’t even imagine having to go though the same nightmare again
Plus the nerve damages associated.. as I still don’t feel my upper lip, my chin the right side of my nose and top right cheek ..do a second surgery sounds scary but at least as you say it gives hope that nothing is final
I hope you are happy now with the results
Thanks again you cannot imagine how precious your inputs are for me and are helping me in a moment of big emotional pain and despair
Just to finish on a positive note
Post bimax you confirmed that you were able to smile widely after few weeks and your teeth ended up showing well ?
Ghiggson how long have tu had to wait to diagnose you were over impacted and plan another surgery? I hope you are happy now with your smile ?

[PloskoPlus]

The smile is weak for about a month after lf1 because the muscles are actually cut and need to heal.  But after that what you have is what you'll always have.

[Kadath]

i agree with the consensus here, sounds like just swelling and muscle weakness. you need to give it time.

[Dogmatix]

I still don’t feel my upper lip, my chin the right side of my nose and top right cheek

You see. You can't even feel your lip yet, but you expect it to retract and act as normal. Hope you see the connection. This surgery is brutal, you have to understand how much damage that have been done and how much there is to repair.

[Jordana1983]

Yes i realise I was not well prepared or did not realise the extended damages, nerves muscles on top of the swelling.

Thank you all for your answers I will keep you posted
Since yesterday I decided to practice positive thinking and do more of the things I like to be able to Copenhagen with the emotional stress
I really hope the final result will be beautiful and that’s will be able to have a beautiful smile again and recognise myself
I think i was misled by a lot of videos on YouTube where people were looking almost fully recovered after two weeks with residual swelling but not much mention about the muzzle sensation and the nerves damage affecting the smile
Some of them were smiling widely and showing a lot of teeth, so comparing is not always a good thing but sharing like I did here with you was extremely valuable and helpful.

[ghiggson90]

Yes i realise I was not well prepared or did not realise the extended damages, nerves muscles on top of the swelling.

Thank you all for your answers I will keep you posted
Since yesterday I decided to practice positive thinking and do more of the things I like to be able to Copenhagen with the emotional stress
I really hope the final result will be beautiful and that’s will be able to have a beautiful smile again and recognise myself
I think i was misled by a lot of videos on YouTube where people were looking almost fully recovered after two weeks with residual swelling but not much mention about the muzzle sensation and the nerves damage affecting the smile
Some of them were smiling widely and showing a lot of teeth, so comparing is not always a good thing but sharing like I did here with you was extremely valuable and helpful.

You'll have to be patient. In one paper on this topic, Dr. Wolford writes: "in my experience, it frequently takes at least 12 months before all residual edema has dissipated and complete animation of the upper lip has returned." This has been my personal experience; at almost 12 months, lip movement is still noticeably recovering, but not yet 100%.

[ben from UK]

It can take several months up to a year before these kind of things recover. You need alot of patience.

[PloskoPlus]

It can take several months up to a year before these kind of things recover. You need alot of patience.

Tooth show at rest is pretty much it after a month or so, if not earlier. If there's no tooth show at rest, then the jaw was overimpacted, no ifs or buts.

[Post bimax]

Tooth show at rest is pretty much it after a month or so, if not earlier. If there's no tooth show at rest, then the jaw was overimpacted, no ifs or buts.

If this is the case then the surgeon failed to follow the plan. The tooth show in the afters is significantly less than what a 2mm +/- differential would have caused