insist on getting what you want out your surgery

[Guest guest]

This is my advice to anyone scheduled for orthognathic surgery.

Be absolutely certain that you are getting the degree of correction

you are hoping for. This is particularly true in the areas of

genioplasty and correcting lip incompetence. I'm increasingly

convinced that some oral surgeons and orthodontists are

focused almost entirely on the functionality of the jaws and teeth

but overlook the aesthetics surrounding that structure. I had

lower jaw advancement and genioplasty ten years ago, and

although it certainly corrected my bite problem, my lip

incompetence was ignored as it could have been corrected with

the upper jaw being moved back, and the genioplasty must have

been done by a second grader on a hospital field trip. My side

profile improved from terrible to crummy. It was still well over a

centimeter short of having a chin and my lips hang open a

quarter inch at rest. Now, ten years later I'm taking the bull by the

horns and fixing these problems. I just got a chin implant and I

can't believe how much better I look. The before pictures and

after pictures hardly look like the same person. I know there's

some implant " bashing " in certain circles, but good grief, I

already had jaw advancement and genioplasty and still looked

terrible. Besides, I had a corrective chest surgery several years

ago that repaired a huge chest deformity structurally and then

finished it with a large implant... maybe I'll just break right in two

someday from the bone erosion from that implant which is fifty

times larger than any chin implant. I'm also going to tackle the

lip incompetence issue too, might even require another jaw

surgery. But the bottom line here is not to scare anyone away

from having corrections done. Just be sure you make it clear

what you want to see as the final outcome. I'll post some photos

soon and you can see what I have dealt with.

[Guest guest]

This is my advice to anyone scheduled for orthognathic surgery.

Be absolutely certain that you are getting the degree of correction

you are hoping for. This is particularly true in the areas of

genioplasty and correcting lip incompetence. I'm increasingly

convinced that some oral surgeons and orthodontists are

focused almost entirely on the functionality of the jaws and teeth

but overlook the aesthetics surrounding that structure. I had

lower jaw advancement and genioplasty ten years ago, and

although it certainly corrected my bite problem, my lip

incompetence was ignored as it could have been corrected with

the upper jaw being moved back, and the genioplasty must have

been done by a second grader on a hospital field trip. My side

profile improved from terrible to crummy. It was still well over a

centimeter short of having a chin and my lips hang open a

quarter inch at rest. Now, ten years later I'm taking the bull by the

horns and fixing these problems. I just got a chin implant and I

can't believe how much better I look. The before pictures and

after pictures hardly look like the same person. I know there's

some implant " bashing " in certain circles, but good grief, I

already had jaw advancement and genioplasty and still looked

terrible. Besides, I had a corrective chest surgery several years

ago that repaired a huge chest deformity structurally and then

finished it with a large implant... maybe I'll just break right in two

someday from the bone erosion from that implant which is fifty

times larger than any chin implant. I'm also going to tackle the

lip incompetence issue too, might even require another jaw

surgery. But the bottom line here is not to scare anyone away

from having corrections done. Just be sure you make it clear

what you want to see as the final outcome. I'll post some photos

soon and you can see what I have dealt with.

[Guest guest]

Ditto to what says. Plus I'd add that anyone considering this

surgery get a second opinion from another OS. I think this is

especially true if you are not caucasion and have a caucasion OS, as

there are issues with racially-appropriate facial proportions that

not all surgeons might be sensitive to.

I spoke to two different OS's who had very different ideas on the

relative amount of correction necessary for my upper and lower.

Actually the opinion from the 2nd surgeon prompted a more detailed

explanation from the 1st surgeon (the OS I used), so even though I

used my original OS, the 2nd opinion was very helpful for discussion

purposes.

--Neil

> This is my advice to anyone scheduled for orthognathic surgery.

> Be absolutely certain that you are getting the degree of

correction

> you are hoping for. This is particularly true in the areas of

> genioplasty and correcting lip incompetence. I'm increasingly

> convinced that some oral surgeons and orthodontists are

> focused almost entirely on the functionality of the jaws and teeth

> but overlook the aesthetics surrounding that structure. I had

> lower jaw advancement and genioplasty ten years ago, and

> although it certainly corrected my bite problem, my lip

> incompetence was ignored as it could have been corrected with

> the upper jaw being moved back, and the genioplasty must have

> been done by a second grader on a hospital field trip. My side

> profile improved from terrible to crummy. It was still well over

a

> centimeter short of having a chin and my lips hang open a

> quarter inch at rest. Now, ten years later I'm taking the bull by

the

> horns and fixing these problems. I just got a chin implant and I

> can't believe how much better I look. The before pictures and

> after pictures hardly look like the same person. I know there's

> some implant " bashing " in certain circles, but good grief, I

> already had jaw advancement and genioplasty and still looked

> terrible. Besides, I had a corrective chest surgery several years

> ago that repaired a huge chest deformity structurally and then

> finished it with a large implant... maybe I'll just break right in

two

> someday from the bone erosion from that implant which is fifty

> times larger than any chin implant. I'm also going to tackle the

> lip incompetence issue too, might even require another jaw

> surgery. But the bottom line here is not to scare anyone away

> from having corrections done. Just be sure you make it clear

> what you want to see as the final outcome. I'll post some photos

> soon and you can see what I have dealt with.

[Guest guest]

Ditto to what says. Plus I'd add that anyone considering this

surgery get a second opinion from another OS. I think this is

especially true if you are not caucasion and have a caucasion OS, as

there are issues with racially-appropriate facial proportions that

not all surgeons might be sensitive to.

I spoke to two different OS's who had very different ideas on the

relative amount of correction necessary for my upper and lower.

Actually the opinion from the 2nd surgeon prompted a more detailed

explanation from the 1st surgeon (the OS I used), so even though I

used my original OS, the 2nd opinion was very helpful for discussion

purposes.

--Neil

> This is my advice to anyone scheduled for orthognathic surgery.

> Be absolutely certain that you are getting the degree of

correction

> you are hoping for. This is particularly true in the areas of

> genioplasty and correcting lip incompetence. I'm increasingly

> convinced that some oral surgeons and orthodontists are

> focused almost entirely on the functionality of the jaws and teeth

> but overlook the aesthetics surrounding that structure. I had

> lower jaw advancement and genioplasty ten years ago, and

> although it certainly corrected my bite problem, my lip

> incompetence was ignored as it could have been corrected with

> the upper jaw being moved back, and the genioplasty must have

> been done by a second grader on a hospital field trip. My side

> profile improved from terrible to crummy. It was still well over

a

> centimeter short of having a chin and my lips hang open a

> quarter inch at rest. Now, ten years later I'm taking the bull by

the

> horns and fixing these problems. I just got a chin implant and I

> can't believe how much better I look. The before pictures and

> after pictures hardly look like the same person. I know there's

> some implant " bashing " in certain circles, but good grief, I

> already had jaw advancement and genioplasty and still looked

> terrible. Besides, I had a corrective chest surgery several years

> ago that repaired a huge chest deformity structurally and then

> finished it with a large implant... maybe I'll just break right in

two

> someday from the bone erosion from that implant which is fifty

> times larger than any chin implant. I'm also going to tackle the

> lip incompetence issue too, might even require another jaw

> surgery. But the bottom line here is not to scare anyone away

> from having corrections done. Just be sure you make it clear

> what you want to see as the final outcome. I'll post some photos

> soon and you can see what I have dealt with.