Guest guest Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Hi All, I have been reading the posts on this list for a while now but never posted anything myself. Now that I actually have more of an understanding and surgery coming up, I'd like to get on here and write! I've had braces since November, and now my surgeon is telling me that I need to schedule a date for surgery. It appears that I am having wisdom teeth extraction and upper/lower jaw surgery to correct an overbite. I am getting nervous because the surgeon seems to be leaving some serious decision making to me. He says that if I decide not to get wired there is a 5% chance that I would need surgery again, which he basically left up to me. He is also leaving it up to me to decide whether I want lower jaw or both upper/lower jaw done. He says the jaw can be fixed either way, but the difference is cosmetic. I have an appointment this week to go over pictures of what it would look like under each scenario. This seems so odd to me to be making these kinds of decisions myself??! Has anyone else had to make these decisions?? Shouldn't the surgeon be telling YOU what you need to have done?? I am so worried that my jaw will be disjointed forever or my face will look messed up after going through this. He also didn't mention anything about genioplasty, so should I also be concerned that he hasn't mentioned having this either?? I did have confidence in my surgeon, but after the last time that I went in for a consultation I'm concered that I'll be making the wrong decisions! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 My surgeon sort of gave me the same choices you have. He said that it was true that wired jaws heal in the position they're supposed to, and that unwired jaws might shift. He felt that the psychological benefits to NOT being wired were worth the chance of shifting, which could probably be corrected with rubber bands. He said that if I wanted, he would wire me, so in that respect I suppose I had a choice. I opted as he suggested, to not be wired. He also gave me the option of upper only, or upper and lower. The upper only would completely fix the problem, but leave me with what he called a 'strong jaw for a woman'. He said the upper and lower would be as though he did the upper to correct the problem, then took the two jaws together, with the proper bite, and rotated them up slightly to soften my jaw. Purely cosmetic. I opted for the upper only. I like my strong jaw, and so does my hubby, so it seemed logical not to have more work done than necessary. My OS said that some people are very tied to the cosmetic and he lets everyone know what's possible and reasonable. He would be willing to do it either way, as long as the patient understands that with more surgery comes more risks. I can see how it might be frightening if you were given options but didn't understand the full ramifications of them, or how he, as a surgeon, felt about them. My OS had his opinions, but let me choose how cosmetic I wanted to go. Ask your doc specific questions - if I have this done vs this done, what does that mean as far as recovery, final results, risks, cost, etc? If you were his daughter/wife/mom, what would he feel would be best? His other patient who have done it this way or that way, how did things turn out for them? Tell him you want him to be specific, blunt, and detailed with you. You can't make an informed decision unless you're informed. It might also help to take someone along to your appointments. Perhaps they might understand things that you're not catching, and be able to offer a good opinion. I brought my husband, mother, and mother-in-law to my decision-making appointment, and we all decided together. It also helped to have their questions when I couldn't think of any, and it gave them a chance to understand what I was going to go through so they could be a better support team. Kris > Hi All, > > I have been reading the posts on this list for a while now but never > posted anything myself. Now that I actually have more of an > understanding and surgery coming up, I'd like to get on here and > write! > > I've had braces since November, and now my surgeon is telling me > that I need to schedule a date for surgery. It appears that I am > having wisdom teeth extraction and upper/lower jaw surgery to > correct an overbite. I am getting nervous because the surgeon seems > to be leaving some serious decision making to me. He says that if I > decide not to get wired there is a 5% chance that I would need > surgery again, which he basically left up to me. He is also leaving > it up to me to decide whether I want lower jaw or both upper/lower > jaw done. He says the jaw can be fixed either way, but the > difference is cosmetic. I have an appointment this week to go over > pictures of what it would look like under each scenario. This seems > so odd to me to be making these kinds of decisions myself??! Has > anyone else had to make these decisions?? Shouldn't the surgeon be > telling YOU what you need to have done?? I am so worried that my > jaw will be disjointed forever or my face will look messed up after > going through this. He also didn't mention anything about > genioplasty, so should I also be concerned that he hasn't mentioned > having this either?? > > I did have confidence in my surgeon, but after the last time that I > went in for a consultation I'm concered that I'll be making the > wrong decisions! > > Thanks! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 That's a good reply, Kris. I was also faced with a choice, to have only lower (as my ortho suggested) or upper/lower and possible genio (for my " strong " chin), even possible palate expansion (surgeon wouldn't know until after he'd done the mock surgery, so I went into surgery with this part uncertain). I didn't consider any of it cosmetic, not really the genio although you could argue it was. I just felt that if it was required, better to do it all at once than have to do a second surgery later. I did have some major problems with lip incompetence, among other things, which was resolved with the combination I had done. I was kind of freaked myself that there was a difference between ortho & surgeon's recommended, so I asked my ortho again, and he took some more xrays to show me where things were (actually, I asked him if surgery was absolutely necessary just 8 weeks prior to my date - I was really freaked at that point). My ortho said it was a decision between me and my surgeon, since " he does way more of these in a year than I do " . I did ask my surgeon if he still thought " the works " were needed, and he said yes. I won't go into all the detail, but he wasn't doing more than was necessary. I would suggest also asking the ortho what he/she thinks. If they are both pointing to the same procedures, then it's probably more likely they are needed. I think my ortho is a " surgery as a last resort " type of person, so he would prefer less than more. It's a tough decision, but I think it was best to leave it to the professional with the most experience, at least in my case. Yes, I'm involved in understanding and accepting the risks, but I don't really know what would be the best from experience - that's where I trusted my professionals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 > Hi All, > > I have been reading the posts on this list for a while now but never > posted anything myself. Now that I actually have more of an > understanding and surgery coming up, I'd like to get on here and > write! > > I've had braces since November, and now my surgeon is telling me > that I need to schedule a date for surgery. It appears that I am > having wisdom teeth extraction and upper/lower jaw surgery to > correct an overbite. I am getting nervous because the surgeon seems > to be leaving some serious decision making to me. He says that if I > decide not to get wired there is a 5% chance that I would need > surgery again, which he basically left up to me. He is also leaving > it up to me to decide whether I want lower jaw or both upper/lower > jaw done. He says the jaw can be fixed either way, but the > difference is cosmetic. I have an appointment this week to go over > pictures of what it would look like under each scenario. This seems > so odd to me to be making these kinds of decisions myself??! Has > anyone else had to make these decisions?? Shouldn't the surgeon be > telling YOU what you need to have done?? I am so worried that my > jaw will be disjointed forever or my face will look messed up after > going through this. He also didn't mention anything about > genioplasty, so should I also be concerned that he hasn't mentioned > having this either?? > > I did have confidence in my surgeon, but after the last time that I > went in for a consultation I'm concered that I'll be making the > wrong decisions! > > Thanks! > I had basically the same choices as you : banded or wired, lower only or lower + upper (and genio in my case), plus two external cuts or not. I discussed this with my ortho (he's saddistic, so he suggested the whole procedure), and since he cares a lot for me, more than I would expect from a health professional, I listened carefully to what he said. I talked with my generalist. He said the lesser is better, but when I explained why I was hoping to get the whole thing done (upper was for cosmetic reason at the time, but it changed after an extensive set of X-Rays were done some weeks ago), he went like this : I'm young (37), it's not exactly major dramatic surgery (like removing an organ), and it's not life treatning. So, I should do it if I want. The increased risks are minimal. I also talked with my old brother. He said he wouldn't do it, altogether, but he understands why I'm doing it and listened to all the pros and cons. He suggested to have the whole thing done. For more or less the same reasons as my generalist. My sister in law, who is also someone I look up for when I need advice, didn't hesistate an instant : GO FOR IT!, she said... ;-) Finally my friend said the same thing... I've been unable to smile for since I was 9. It's like a rough time to endure, for something I really wanted all my life. So, at the end, I decided to have the whole thing done because I knew the more I would get out of it, the less frustrated or tired I'd be when the things wouldn't go round. Except, I decided upon some options with the surgeon, like no cuts in my face. I already had to spend 18 months with a dermato to remove some things in my face, I wasn't about to add two new scars.. ! Also, I asked to be rubber banded as opposed to wired, but I also agreed not to use my jaws for a full 10 days, except in need (throwing up, say urgent things, stuff like that). Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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