Hi all!
I'm a 28 year old female undergoing treatment on the NHS. After being in braces since September 2013 I've finally had a BSSO to correct what I believe was originally an 11mm overjet, reduced to 8mm by the time I was finally listed for surgery. The original plan (way back when the braces first went on) had been for upper & lower +\- genioplasty but in the (long) time my braces were on my care was transferred to another consultant who decided to just to do lower +\- genio (to be decided intraoperatively) and I woke up to learn I'd just had a BSSO advancing my mandible my 6mm (according to my discharge letter).
I'm now 2.5 weeks post op and had a few questions. Sadly I don't have any X-rays or photos to share although I will try to get copies at my next orthodontist appointment.
Anyway, my first worry is that my bite is now open on the left hand side by a couple of mm (this was not the case preoperatively). I noticed it almost right away and when the registrar visited me the morning following surgery I brought it up but he seemed unconcerned. I brought it up again at a joint clinic with my surgeon and orthodontist and was assured it could be corrected with orthodontics (I was given elastics that day to start this). I'm still a little worried about it though so my question is is this something that others have experienced and what was the end result?
Secondly, I feel that my mandible may have been advanced further than it should've been - my lower teeth now sit 1 or 2mm in front of my top. Could this just be down to swelling or am I right to be concerned?
Thirdly, I still have altered sensation on my lower lip and chin, although I'm slightly less worried about this as I'm given to understand it's still early days to be concerned that this is permanent - indeed almost immediately I began to have burning/itching sensations which I gather are promising signs that things will come back. However I also don't seem to have motor control over my lower lip meaning that I can't smile properly (when I try to it's pretty painful) and this was something I wasn't warned about pre-op. Is this normal and am I likely to regain control? Admittedly things do seem to be improving day on day so like I say I'm slightly less concerned about these things but I also don't want to be torn-faced for the rest of my life
I'm also still experiencing an extremely dry and swollen lower lip despite piling on the Vaseline like there's no tomorrow so if anyone has recommendations for a lip balm that gave them relief I'd love to hear them. Likewise the hooks on my braces are ripping the inside of my mouth to shreds (in the past the soft tissue has seemed to form sort of a callous to any new metalwork rubbing inside my face but this time the wounds seem to be staying fresh).
The last question I have is, has anyone else had their surgical plan changed so dramatically from the start of their orthodontic treatment? I didn't really question it at the time (I made the mistake of going to all my appointments alone and really could've used someone to remind me of all the questions I planned to ask - I work in orthopaedics myself so really should know better!) and it's only now that I've had (lots of) time to think (and think and think) about it all that I'm just starting to question everything.
Anyway sorry for the essay - in hindsight having written all this I feel like maybe I should've put it in the "emotional support" section so feel free to move it if it's better suited to there! My orthodontist did warn me that in the first few weeks following the surgery I'd be feeling miserable and regretting it all so I suspect it's just the fear due to lack of work distraction kicking in and I suppose it would just be nice to hear from others who've gone through similar and come out the other side with a good result (or whether I really should be worried about any of this and if so what I should do about it).
I'm also just really missing cheeseburgers so there's that too.
