Sleep study results state that I have no issues,should I not even consider bimax

[TheDancingQueen]

I had a sleep study done after a few people on here told me that my airway looked extremely narrow based on my ceph. However the results of the study didn't indicate any problem at all.

So now my question is if I should still pursue surgery like bimax or a sliding genioplasty? Or should I just consider jaw/chin implants if there is no functional issue?

I have attached a picture of my ceph.

[Kadath]

did the sleep study say anything else? i also was not diagnosed with sleep apnea despite a narrow airway. it really sucks because our bodies learn to compensate for lack of airway by twisting us in different positions. for example, i can't sleep at all laying on my back and wake up due to lack of air, but i can sleep just fine on my stomach with my head to the side. the problem is obviously stomach sleeping is considered the worst position for sleep.

maybe your mouth is wide enough, your tongue is on the thinner side, or your tonsils are small, hence the airway though it might be narrow, is sufficient for breathing.

[TheDancingQueen]

The doctor said he saw nothing of concern in the sleep study. Also when I got the ceph the orthodontist didn't tell me about my narrow airway, I also went to see an oral surgeon and he didn't mention anything about a narrow airway, however this was all before I posted here and had people point out that my airway was narrow?
Should I see another oral surgeon for a 2nd opinion?

[Dutcherhatcher]

Hey, let me share with you my own experience. I was found to have an extremely narrow airways, however my sleep study came back fine. The surgeons I consulted believe that due to my young age an good fitness there is no sleep apnea yet. However I am at a very leg risk to develop it in 10~20 years. You might be the same

[Kadath]

Hey, let me share with you my own experience. I was found to have an extremely narrow airways, however my sleep study came back fine. The surgeons I consulted believe that due to my young age an good fitness there is no sleep apnea yet. However I am at a very leg risk to develop it in 10~20 years. You might be the same

yes, unfortunately this is the biggest obstacle for a lot of people. so i'm sure when i was younger, i also didn't have anything wrong with my sleep. but now at my age, i have upper airway resistance syndrome. and likely, if it left untreated, that will become obstructive sleep apnea.

i think for insurance purposes you'll probably have to wait at least until u get something like uars

[TheDancingQueen]

Hey, let me share with you my own experience. I was found to have an extremely narrow airways, however my sleep study came back fine. The surgeons I consulted believe that due to my young age an good fitness there is no sleep apnea yet. However I am at a very leg risk to develop it in 10~20 years. You might be the same

What should I do? Should I just get a chin implant right now for my cosmetic concerns and then get jaw surgery when I'm older?

[Post bimax]

What should I do? Should I just get a chin implant right now for my cosmetic concerns and then get jaw surgery when I'm older?

The risks of jaw surgery only increase with age.

[dammit_daniel]

I used to sleep extremely badly and I had a sleep study which came back negative, but with lots of arousals. My airway was really narrow so I had double jaw advancement. My sleep was still poor though, so I had a genioglossus advancement and a epiglottopexy,  which sleep endscopy helped diagnose the need for.

[GJ]

My sleep was still poor though, so I had a genioglossus advancement and a epiglottopexy,  which sleep endscopy helped diagnose the need for.

Did those fix the issue?
I've read tongue surgery is super risky...

[dammit_daniel]

Yes after the most recent epiglottopexy operation it fixed the issues ( sorry i wasnt clear). The operations i had weren't directly on the tongue. I think my recessed jaw caused everything to grow in the wrong place. The epiglottis flap was closing off my airways.

[TheDancingQueen]

I contacted a few oral surgeons in my area and they all said I need a referral from a respirologist, which I can't get because my sleep study results were fine. Seems like my only option is to wait until I'm older and start having problems.

[XXRyanXXL]

I'm just curious, when I had my consult with A&G, they gave me this like xray of my skull and my airway, and it mapped out a cross sectional area of my airway and gave the area in square inches of the smallest diamater. Have you considered having one of those done?
Other than that, are you trying to get a surgery just for cosmetic reasons?

[TheDancingQueen]

I'm just curious, when I had my consult with A&G, they gave me this like xray of my skull and my airway, and it mapped out a cross sectional area of my airway and gave the area in square inches of the smallest diamater. Have you considered having one of those done?
Other than that, are you trying to get a surgery just for cosmetic reasons?

At first I just wanted surgery for cosmetic reasons, but after posting my ceph here a lot of people pointed out that my airway was extremely narrow, which is why I went to get a sleep study done. I will talk to my family doctor to try and get a referral to a place that can measure my airway in square inches like you mentioned. If my airway is fine then I will just get a chin implant. However I doubt my airway is fine because of how narrow it looks in the ceph, I don't even know how I'm alive right now with such a narrow airway lol.

[sventory]

I'm wearing braces now and going to get bi-max once they are done.

Let me tell you, I had the same issues. Very poor sleep, recessed lower jaw, sleep study was fine, no apneas. But still slept poorly for reasons they could not explain. Fast forward 12 years, with 2 more sleep studies. Oh now I have apnea but it's mild, got CPAP, another sleep study with CPAP a few years later. Okay no apneas again, but 170 arousals a night. I'm going to go ahead with the surgery because it appears to be my last chance of hope. Hopefully I can end up like daniel. I think there is a lot of bulls**t around sleep studies done for insurance purposes. example: an apnea is ONLY defined as a certain % of flow limitation for at least 10 seconds. So if you had a breathing issue for 9 seconds, won't show up. I set custom flags on my CPAP sleepy head data for 5 second duration in flow reductions and I had a lot of those. UARS is a thing and I think (as with most things related to neuro/sleep/brain) we just have poor understanding of things. There seem to be plenty of people out there like you and I, which I think is explained as easily as arousals are much more easy for us even if we are dead tired when our brain detects any kind of resistance of difficulty breathing. And yeah, surgery only gets harder the older you get so.

[TheDancingQueen]

I'm wearing braces now and going to get bi-max once they are done.

Let me tell you, I had the same issues. Very poor sleep, recessed lower jaw, sleep study was fine, no apneas. But still slept poorly for reasons they could not explain. Fast forward 12 years, with 2 more sleep studies. Oh now I have apnea but it's mild, got CPAP, another sleep study with CPAP a few years later. Okay no apneas again, but 170 arousals a night. I'm going to go ahead with the surgery because it appears to be my last chance of hope. Hopefully I can end up like daniel. I think there is a lot of bulls**t around sleep studies done for insurance purposes. example: an apnea is ONLY defined as a certain % of flow limitation for at least 10 seconds. So if you had a breathing issue for 9 seconds, won't show up. I set custom flags on my CPAP sleepy head data for 5 second duration in flow reductions and I had a lot of those. UARS is a thing and I think (as with most things related to neuro/sleep/brain) we just have poor understanding of things. There seem to be plenty of people out there like you and I, which I think is explained as easily as arousals are much more easy for us even if we are dead tired when our brain detects any kind of resistance of difficulty breathing. And yeah, surgery only gets harder the older you get so.

How long will you have to wear braces for? And how difficult was it for you to convince doctors/surgeons that you had a problem? Are you paying for the full cost of surgery?


Also if for some reason no surgeon will perform a bsso on me in Canada could I just go to a random orthodontist here and then get jaw surgery in the US or Europe?