Re: upper jaw surgery concerened is it worth it???

[Guest guest]

Hi . If you read back through the posts on this site and on

site 2, you'll see lots of different and disparate opinions on

having this surgery for aesthetic reasons alone. I have to admit

that one of the " bonuses " to the surgery for me was reducing my chin

(I was not quite Kerry/Jay Leno, but I definitely had a more

elongated chin than I would have liked). Now, nine months post-op,

I like the change to my face but it is very slight and would

certainly not have been worth the risks and discomfort of the

surgery in the absence of medical reasons for the surgery. The

surgery (especially upper, which I think is what you were

considering)is no cake walk--it's bearable, but I for one would not

do it just to have a bigger smile or to age better. I guess it

depends on how important those factors are to you, but it's an awful

lot of pain/discomfort/risk/expense to go through for a bigger

smile. Plus, once you change that, I'm sure you'll find something

else that you don't like about your face--changing one thing tends

to make other things look different. Just some things to

consider....

>

>

> The reason I started considering upper jaw surgery was mostly for

> esthetic reasons, In my teenage years I had realy crooked teeth

and

> through out the orthodontic treatment found out my teeth had a

class

> 3 relationship they suggested surgery to push the lower jaw back

> which i decided against. (which is a good thing because now they

> said that that would have been wrong and would had made me look

like

> i had no chin)So instead they pulled 1 first molar on my botton

jaw

> 1 on the left 1 on the right......But anyways ten years later I

was

> getting my teeth whitened and the dentist brought up vaneers, but

> also said she thought I was a perfectionist and not to do vaneers

if

> I may ever consider jaw surgery......

> As it stands today my bite feels fine and with the lower teeth

> slightly leaned in they fit inside my upper teeth even with room

to

> spare, I have no functional problems, I can breath fine too.....

> Here are the reasons for considering the surgery

> 1. I don't have that big toothy smile all the actresses have and

> when ever I see other girls with " big out smiles " I always wish I

> had that kinda smile.

> 2.The od and os said if that area above my upper jaw was forward I

> would age better that my face would look fuller and my top lip

would

> be more out.

> 3.the orthodontist said I could go either way surgery or not..he

> said i was a pretty girl and he would not want to make me look

> different but not better.

> Insurance will not cover it it's considered cosmetic in my case

> they want to do a 3 peice upper and widen and move forward 2-4

> millimeters and they talk about a bone graft from my hip.

>

> The main thing I dont like is not having that big out smile and

> when i tip my head back the area above my upper jaw and by my nose

> seem a little flat. My profile looks very slightly flat in that

area

> but in the past I'v gotton collegen injections in my lip and that

> always seemed to balance everything out to where I liked the way

my

> face looked. I'm 27 and I wonder if I should accept the way I am

> now and move forward or strive for perfection go through with the

> surgery and risk looking different but not better I've read the

> stories about the asymetrical lips from the stiches being

different

> and about having the nose tipped up.I don't know if I could deal

> with results like that.....

> stressed out.

> anybody have any thoughts or experience with the same type of

> situation? Is it worth it for my reasons?

>

> thanks,

>