Not that anyone cares, but just thought I'd update as mentioned. So I actually saw an oral surgeon and he told me that I look normal/fine. Was pretty shocked. He asked me if I had any bite problems, I said no. He asked me why I wanted jaw surgery and I told him my concerns. I said that my face is too long, my chin is weak and I have noticeable mouth protrusion. He told me it is all normal and that I don't need surgery, that he honestly couldn't see anything wrong with my face. I mentioned sleep apnea, and he said even if it were possible that I have sleep apnea, that surgery wouldn't address my aesthetic concerns because he would move my jaw forward, not backwards. Because my jaw is not recessed it would look worse as far as appearance goes, since my jaw is pushed out already. So since I didn't have any functional problems, he told me that he didn't want to xray me, and that if I wanted this surgery then I would have to pay out of pocket because insurance won't cover. There's no way IN HELL that I could afford what they charge in the US.
I was really bummed and even had to stop myself from crying in his office (pathetic I know). He dismissed anything about steep occlusal plane, and said there's no correlation between sleep disorders and a long jaw. Truthfully, I have been having breathing problems at night for the past few years, but was told it was just allergies so I take allergy meds, which don't really do much. I sleep on my side, never on my back. My mom IS a mouth breather, snores loud at night (has been for the past few years tho), and sleeps on her back. I have seen her breathing pause while she snores. I started observing her for the last two weeks and noticed this. She is a diabetic, suffers from daytime sleepiness and grinds teeth at night. That seems to match up with sleep apnea kinda, even though I'm not entirely sure yet. She is still very active during the day, though she's just tired and says she needs to get more rest. She did tell me her mother (my grandma) slept with her mouth open also.. My mouth hangs open when I rest at night, but only because my jaws are not lined up properly.
But even if this was a sure thing, that if my mom had sleep apnea and maybe it was being passed down, it still wouldn't help me surgery wise. If we both had it, we'd probably just get the cpap machine I guess.
Everybody seems to think that my face looks fine... except for my mom. At least she thinks it's not all in my head. When I post pictures of my profile online people say it looks not good, but in person people say I look good. I dislike how my face looks though. Nobody has the type of face that I do, my features are ok, just stretched out. And I would look sooooo much better if my mouth protrusion was non-existent. I obsess over it a lot. I'm not trying to become no supermodel....just want to look normal like other people. I want a face like my moms.
Anyway, I decided to look into traveling somewhere else outside of the United States. I already spoke with a South Korean surgeon (with quite good reviews). He reviewed my pictures, said I definitely need double jaw...although I could get ASO and just genioplasty but it wouldn't fix the long bone structure...and said the price for two-jaw surgery + genioplasty would be $11,000. Not bad. I'm not rich by any means but it's not impossible. I read something about jaw surgery in Costa Rica for a cheaper price, and I'm looking into that, plus other options.
I could go to a training center but there's only one that I know of in NYC, and this jaw surgeon has mixed reviews. I don't trust him based on what I read. Apparently he ruined someone's face, refused to fix it and they had to get it corrected by 3 other surgeons paying out of pocket. Yeah...no...not gonna happen to me. I know there may be training centers in other states but that would be a hassle to travel back and forth by train/bus/plane just to get this all done. I want a quick option...something that can be done fast. No back and forth, back and forth. Hopefully it can become reality eventually.
Just wanted to say thanks for your help. If I do somehow end up getting jaw surgery (even if it's a long time from now) I'll come back and post my after pictures.
