About

I am an almost 40-year old Brit (living permanently in the US) who is having orthognathic surgery (aka, Jaw Surgery) in April 2012 to correct, among other things, a severe class II malocclusion. If you are preparing for surgery, you know what that means. For everyone else it means my upper jaw protrudes significantly over my lower jaw and causes misalignment of my jaw, teeth, etc.

The process started over a year ago with the medical diagnosis (see Why for further details) and the subsequent braces that I have proudly worn since that time. Originally the surgery was scheduled for November 2011 but my braces didn't move my teeth as fast as they needed to and so we rescheduled for April 2012. . .

The actual diagnosis (how many people actually understand this?):

• Severe class II dental malocclusion
• 18mm Overjet (average surgical movement is 5-7mm) with class II cuspid and molar relationship
• Maxillary midline shifting
• Sever mandibular retrognathia
• Maxillary transverse deficiency
• Maxillary asymmetry

In order to fix all of the above, the following will be performed:

• Bilateral sagittal osteotomy of the mandible
• Maxillary LeFort I osteotomy 
• Genioplasty to correct jaw once lower jaw moved forward
• Total movement: 18mm on ottom jaw and 12mm spacing apart of top jaw
 

The surgery will essentially move my lower jaw forward and my upper jaw will be spread apart and then aligned with my newly positioned lower jaw. Sounds invasive doesn’t it! Below is a clip demonstrating essentially what the surgery entails although in my case the lower jaw will be moved forward.

For more specifics on the surgery and what it entails, select the surgery tab above.

Am I looking forward to this surgery? Yes and no. I am looking forward to the results down the road (6+ months) but I seem to be getting evermore anxious about the actual surgery. However, after reading what seems like every blog there is to read about this type of surgery, it has introduced a level of anxiety that I previously have not experienced!

As to why I created this blog – truthfully I thought it would be cathartic for numerous reasons:

• Firstly, it will enable me to inform my friends and family who want to follow the process and see how I am holding up.

• Secondly, I want it to be informative to people who might be considering this type of surgery and want to understand more about the pre and post side of surgery (preparation, recovery, lessons learned, recommendations, etc.).

• Finally, I want to keep a record for myself and track my own progress, experience the before and after as it were.

I plan to update the blog daily after the surgery, at least for a few weeks and then we’ll see what makes sense in terms of update schedule.

Hopefully, you will find this blog useful, informative, helpful, and perhaps even humorous. Feel free to contact me, add a comment to the posts, etc.!

Back to top