Archive for the "Maxillofacial Surgery" Category

I am finally coming to the end of my amazing journey.

I had a minor jaw surgery on 4 May 2011 to remove the titanium plates and screws on my upper jaw and excess jaw bone on my lower jaw. This was an optional procedure but I thought it would be best if they were dealt with one and for all.

These titanium plates and screws were installed on my upper jaw to keep my upper jaw in place after my double jaw surgery in August 2010. They were in me for close to 9 months and they still looks rather clean and new, don’t they?

The swelling on my upper jaw area is not as bad as I thought. I don’t feel much pain at all and I am glad I had these titanium bits removed.

My jaw bone bumps has been well documented over the months leading up … Read more…

I will be undergoing a second jaw surgery later today for 2 reasons.

Firstly, the titanium plates and screws that were installed on my upper jaw after my double jaw surgery in August 2010 will be removed. This is an optional procedure but I have decided to remove it because they may cause complications in the future.

Secondly, my jaw bone bumps will be “contoured” or smoothened. It is rather unfortunate that they did not flatten out naturally after almost 9 months. Maybe it will flatten in the next 3 months or so but there is no guarantee that it will completely heal the way I want it to so the best thing would be to surgically remove them.

I am feeling a bit nervous about my jaw surgery but I am hopeful that it will be a lot easier to deal with than the first one because I will … Read more…

I created a jaw surgery before and after page, which will be the place where I update my before and after photos. I have also added jaw surgery photos of week 6 to 8.

Can you believe it? I had double jaw surgery exactly 9 weeks ago. That 2 months and 1 week ago. It feels like a distant memory now. I am very glad that I did the surgery and got through the initial 6 week recovery process.… Read more…

I have stopped taking daily photographs since my wires got debanded. I now take photos once a week during the weekends. I will post whatever information I left out about my whole journey over time. I should be able to make one or more posts every week.

The muscles around my face still feel tight. I have to try to restrain myself from laughing too hard because it strains the area below my nose. The right side is still more swollen than the left side. It feels bigger and tighter too. I can feel a spot on the right side of my mouth that hurts when I press on it. I need to get this checked by my doctor next week. I hope it is nothing serious.

I have some pimples on the left and right side of my face where the swelling and numbness persists. This is annoying but … Read more…

Today is the 6th week. I noticed that my jaw bone is protruding on the sides. It looks kind of unnatural and I hope it will balance itself out after some time.

My oral/maxillofacial surgeon told me that the jaw bone will be protruding for a while but it will go down after 6 months or so. I hope that is the case because it looks weird!

I am enjoying my food once again but it takes a very long time for me to chew and swallow my food. The cool thing is my digestion is fantastic at the moment because of the way I am eating.

Post-Jaw Surgery Photos: Day 42

My right side is still more swollen than the left side. I wonder when this puffiness will go away completely.

This is the maximum gap I can make in between my teeth at the moment. My upper lip … Read more…

I had my wires removed 4 days ago so I just regained my ability to chew. I still find it difficult to chew because my jaw muscles are still tight and inflexible at the moment. I can only make enough space in between my teeth to fit my index finger.

I take a very long time to finish my food and it has to be cut up into tiny bits and pieces before I can eat them. If it is too big, I can’t even squeeze it into my mouth. Because of this, I find it quite a hassle to eat but life is a lot easier today than it was in the past 5 weeks or so.

I feel pretty good now that I have been eating more. I don’t feel so weak and tired any more. I can speak properly now and I don’t look too puffy.

Some … Read more…

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I went to the supermarket to stock up on my favourite salt and vinegar potato chips today. I now have a total of 7 packets waiting for me to finish them all. I also bought my favourite breakfast cereal along with pasta sauce, vegetables and other goodies.

I hope I will be able to eat without too much fuss. I have seen videos of people after jaw surgery on Youtube and some of them can’t open very wide. Nonetheless, I think it should feel better than having my teeth wired shut.

I know I have not been eating enough but I simply do not have the motivation to eat a lot when my teeth are wired shut. It is too much work and suffering so I would rather eat less and deal with the problem of feeling weaker.

Post-Jaw Surgery Photos: Day 36

I look kind of stoned in these … Read more…

Today is my 5th week or 35th day. Wow! My double jaw surgery seems like a distant memory now. I remember wondering to myself how I was going to endure up to 6 weeks of this dreadful recovery process but here I am, alive and kicking. My surgeon is going to remove the wires that are keeping my teeth wired shut in 2 more days!

I’m supposed to see my orthodontist 1 week after I get my wires off. My oral/maxillofacial surgeon will remove the wires but I am not sure if he will remove the surgical hooks on my braces because they were installed by my orthodontist.

My orthodontist isn’t free next week and the earliest date I can see him is 1 month from now, which isn’t good. I don’t want those ugly surgical hooks to be in my mouth for that long and I want to start … Read more…

Tomorrow will be my 5th week! I’m really excited about getting my wires removed 3 days from now. At the same time, I’m feeling a bit nervous about it. Will I be able to chew properly? Will I get a relapse of my misaligned jaws?

I really hope I can eat normally. I am afraid it might hurt when I chew on food. I wonder if I will be able to open my mouth wide enough. I used to get this awful feeling like my lower jaw was dropping during the first 2 weeks of my recovery. Let’s hope I don’t get that feeling when my wires come off.

I had a tummy ache and felt generally weak and unwell today. I didn’t even eat much so I don’t know what caused it. I wonder if it was the grape juice I had yesterday? I only had mushroom soup, Horlicks … Read more…