Hi everyone,
I made a topic a couple of months ago, about my upcoming consultation with Dr. Triaca and promised I'd write about how it went down. But then I got caught up with work and didn't really get much time for myself in the last couple of months, had to put the surgery project on hold and forgot to tell you how that consultation went. But here it finally is!
Let's start with the most important informations first:
- I was quoted 12k CHF for the chin wing, and on top of that you have to pay the anesthesiologist, which was around 4k.
- The gap is filled with bone from you iliac crest. Triaca insisted that your own bone was the best filler material. Also, the "hole" in your hip grows back in less than 6 months.
- An interesting thing he said: the chin wing seems an obvious solution to a multitude of aesthetic problems, it's a wonder nobody thought of it before him; but the procedure wasn't really possible before the advent of 3d scanning technology.
And then, for those interested, some other thought and remarks in no particular order. For context, my problem is a very weak lower jaw. And the procedures I had in mind were either bite the bullet and get a bimax, or just get a chin wing and get it over with (before that I was seriously thinking about implants, thank god I didn't fall for this). So I went to Triaca and told him what I wanted (jaw angles down and out, chin forward), to which he answered "it's funny, everyone wants that!". Well duh, nobody wants a recessed chin...
Anyway, so I got a 3D scan taken by a nurse, and photos from all sides by the doctor himself. He then fired up Photoshop (not in front of me) and came back with 2 printed-out morphs of my face (side view only). Both were identical except for one detail which took me quite some time to find (since I wasn't looking in the right place) and almost slightly offended me: he gave me a nose job! I told him I wasn't interested, but with hindsight it might not be such a bad idea. And it might thwart off all people asking "you changed! did you get surgery?", since a nose job is much more acceptable than jaw surgery...
I tried to ask him if a bimax would be more appropriate, but he was quick to dismiss it. "Bimax is a heavy procedure, plus it will give you a monkey face, not worth it". He was all for the chin wing, as if it was a miracle. I tried asking him how much advancement is possible, how much width can be gained, and so on, but he just said "Anything is possible! That's what's so great with it!". But I'm sure if I go back with my own morphs he'll change his mind.
Overall Triaca seems like a competent surgeon obviously, but I didn't really like his personality, and I was quickly show the door. Towards the end I felt he was getting annoyed by my questions and said something along the lines of "Why don't you think about it for a while, and when you're ready, we'll discuss it in more detail?".
So that's about it for my consultation with Triaca. I'm sure I forgot a lot of things, but that's what I get for doing this so late...
Originally, I planned on going to Dr. Z to get a second opinion, but part of me wants to get it over with as quickly as possible, and since I live in Switzerland Triaca is very easy for me (2h train ride). How expensive is Dr. Z? Maybe if he's cheap enough I'll reconsider. Also how do you contact him? If you write him an e-mail, can you hope to get an answer? Or is calling him a safer bet?
