Plastic surgeon recommended orthognathic surgery

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

Well, when I went to the plastic surgeon (a highly reputed, top-notch

NYC plastic surgeon) to talk to him about rhinoplasty, he ended up

telling me that my problem wasn't that my nose was big, but that my

lower face was too small, and told me I needed some Lefort procedure

(and really, after looking at myself a way that I never did before -

thanks to Dr. Fifth Avenue - I noticed he was right). I went to the

oral surgeon after consulting with my dentist (who thought I was

crazy), and while the oral surgeon said that there would be a cosmetic

improvement (I have a long face and have a hard time closing my lips

together without causing a lot of puckering on my chin due to the

strain, so I've always been a mouth-breather), he recommended against

the procedure because my bite had been corrected when I was a teenager

though orthodontics. I went to see another doctor, this time in LA,

who is top in his field (craniofacial and plastics) and he absolutely

refused to do the surgery.

Now, I would love to be able to not walk around looking silly because

my mouth is always open when I'm not thinking about holding it closed,

and I always look like I'm frowning (unless I'm making a conscious

effort to smile), but since I don't suffer from pain like a lot of OS

candidates do, I wonder if OS is worth having if the effect would

basically be cosmetic. I have one little problem with my jaw popping

on one side when I yawn too widely, but that alone doesn't seem alone

to be justification to undergo the risk of this surgery.

Will someone out there please give me some advice? I know that some

posts say they wouldn't ever have OS for cosmetic purposes, but is

there anyone whose primary goal was a cosmetic improvement? I think

it would make a big difference in my appearance, especially from the

profile, and also allow me to close my mouth comfortably, but is that

a reason to have both my upper and lower jaws moved forward?

Thanks,

Deb