Pre-Surgery

I'm a 27 year old female who has always had an underbite.  My bottom jaw was forward 3-4mm and shifted 2mm to the right.  I've definitely been self-conscious about my smile ever since I can remember, but it didn't bother me enough that I felt obligated to go and get jaw surgery.  Countless oral and maxillofacial surgeons tried to make me feel horrible about myself, and at the time I felt like I wanted to prove them wrong more than anything.  They told me my face was a "grade D" and I would "never have a boyfriend". I wanted to prove to them that I'm a beautiful person just like everyone else, and my "messed up jaw" wouldn't stop me from doing anything.  I went to prom, college, graduated, had a steady boyfriend, and continued living my life just like everyone else!  I was really happy that I didn't go through with the surgery at a younger age because now I feel that I was going through with the surgery for all the right reasons.

Two years ago, I started having pains in my jaw.  It affected my breathing and my throat.  I went to see an ear, throat, & nose doctor who suggested nonchalantly while looking at my throat, that I should look into jaw surgery. I hadn't even thought about it for a few years so it really startled me.  I researched a few orthodontists in my area and found one.  During the consultation, everything just felt right for the first time.  It really felt like they wanted to help me, not fix me...if that makes any sense.  I had already started working so I opted to get Invisalign for a year, and then metal braces in preparation for jaw surgery.  On a side note, I would only recommend Invisalign to those who don't have major shifts in their teeth.  It was nice that I didn't have metal brackets, but overall, I felt that it didn't move my teeth properly.  I ended up having to have metal braces on for almost 14 months after the Invisalign.

By January 2015, I was finally ready to be scheduled for surgery.  My surgery date was April 6th, 2015.  A month before, I had my pre-op appointment with my surgeon.  they took 3 molds of my top and bottom teeth.  Because my top jaw was in the proper place, my surgeon told me I would only need a bottom jaw surgery, which would take about an hour, and it would be outpatient.  A week before the surgery, I visited my orthodontist who put in special wire hooks for the surgeon.  They are little metal hoops on each of the brackets.  This appointment did take a really long time because it was tedious.

Leading up to the surgery, I read everything available online.  I watched a ton of youtube videos of others and read blogs about jaw surgery.  I felt prepared enough that I wasn't too nervous.  The only thing that worried me was taking off time from work.  The surgeon gave me paperwork for time off for 3 weeks.  Typically you will have weekly appointments with the surgeon post surgery, so that is an additional amount of time you will need to take off.

The day before the surgery, my mom slept over because someone had to be there during the surgery the whole time and needed to drive me home. I planned to pick up my prescription at the pharmacy the morning of my surgery, but before you do that make sure none of your prescriptions are liquid penicillin because that needs to be refrigerated.  I found out the hard way and had to ask my mom to pick it up after my surgery.

I thought I knew what I was up against, at the best of my ability anyway, but it was obviously a lot more than I expected.  Please keep reading if you are interested in my story and ask me questions if you have any!  I'm writing this as I am recovering so I won't be able to answer any future questions or obstacles I haven't dealt with yet :)

Take-Away:
1) Get surgery for the right reasons - for YOU.
2) Braces will take time (1-3 years depending on your teeth).
3) You need metal brackets for surgery.
4) You need to get molds of your teeth before surgery.
5) Schedule surgery around a time you can take off work or school.
6) Pick up prescription before your surgery day.
7) You need someone to drive you home.