Common Questions
Following is a list of the most common questions I’ve received about double jaw surgery. If your question is not answered below, feel free to ask about it in the comments and I’d be happy to respond there.
Before the surgery:
- Why should I get jaw surgery?
- Is jaw surgery painful?
- How long does it take to recover from jaw surgery?
- How much does jaw surgery cost?
- What should I buy to prepare for recovery?
After the surgery:
- Will I look different after jaw surgery?
- How much weight will I lose after jaw surgery?
- Will I experience numbness after jaw surgery?
- Will I get all of my feeling back after jaw surgery?
- What can I eat after jaw surgery?
Cries for help:
- Help, I’m experiencing pain!
- Help, my breath is terrible!
- Help, my teeth are no longer touching!
- Help, my jaw movement is not returning!
- Help, I don’t look like myself anymore!
Why should I get jaw surgery?
There are several reasons to undergo jaw surgery:
- To be able to chew with all your teeth
- To speak without a lisp
- To speak without spitting
- To stop your mouth from hanging open
- To stop breathing through your mouth and start breathing through your nose
- To change your appearance (side profile)
These reasons are all explained on the Reasons to Get Jaw Surgery page.
Is jaw surgery painful?
Jaw surgery is usually not painful. This may be difficult to believe, but since your nerves become bruised and numb during the surgery, you don’t actually feel any of the pain. By the time feeling returns to your face, most of the pain is gone.
Granted, you’ll experience a bit of pain when you yawn, sneeze and cough. It’ll also hurt when your jaw spasms (and it will spasm for the first month), but for the most part, you should not experience much pain at all.
How long does it take to recover from jaw surgery?
It will take 90 days (3 months) for a full recovery after jaw surgery. Most of your feeling and energy will be back after 2 months, but it takes a full 90 days for your bone to fuse back together. A full range of motion in your jaw will return depending on how much you’re moving it around, so make sure you follow the exercises your surgeon gives you.
How much does jaw surgery cost?
Jaw surgery costs roughly $5000 in Canada, but that price may differ significantly in other provinces and countries. If your surgery is deemed cosmetic (instead of “medically necessary”), the cost will be higher because you’ll be required to cover the hospital bills. Sadly, patients in the US have seen jaw surgery bills in excess of $50,000.
What should I buy to prepare for recovery?
You can find a full list of items that with help you through the recovery at the Must-Have Recovery Products page.
Will I look different after jaw surgery?
You will notice subtle changes in your appearance following jaw surgery. Your overbite/underbite will no longer be present and your cheeks, nose, and chin may take on a different shape as well. My cheeks filled out a lot as a result of my surgery.
How much weight will I lose after jaw surgery?
Most people lose between 5–10 pounds during the first month of their recovery. The general rule of thumb is that you will lose weight until you reach your natural body weight.
Will I experience numbness after jaw surgery?
Yes, you will experience extreme numbness following jaw surgery. During the operation, several nerves in your face and chin have to be moved around. When you move a nerve, it becomes bruised, and when a nerve is bruised, it stops providing sensations, thus giving you that numb feeling (more on this in my Day 20 post).
Will I get all of my feeling back after jaw surgery?
70% of patients regain full feeling, while 30% may experience slightly numb areas in their cheeks, chin and lower lip for the rest of their lives. The feeling you have after 6 months post-op is likely what you’ll live with for the rest of your life.
What can I eat after jaw surgery?
You’ll be on a strict liquid diet following jaw surgery. Buy lots of Boost, Ensure or Carnation supplements and learn to make smoothies, because these will be your staple foods for at least the first 2 weeks. I had to eat them for 8 weeks, but my surgery was a bit more invasive than most. You’ll probably have to administer your food through a syringe for the first week as well.
Once your surgeon gives you permission to start chewing again, you can begin to eat soft foods such as pasta and mashed potatoes. During the weeks following your re-entry into the realm of chewing, you’ll be able to eat whatever is comfortable. Don’t expect to tear into a steak as soon as you’re allowed to chew again, though.
If you have the following implements, you should survive perfectly fine:
- A reliable blender (this is extremely important, as you’ll be blending almost everything)
- Smoothie materials (ice cream, yogurt, milk, bananas, strawberries, granola, peanut butter, honey, etc.) — Recipe
- Soup (you’ll have to blend everything except tomato soup)
- Ensure, Boost or Carnation (I drank 3 of these per day during my liquid diet phase)
- Prune juice (you’ll need the fiber in it)
- Whole milk (you’ll need all the calcium you can get so your bones heal back just as strong as they were before)
- Water (make sure you drink at least 1 L of water per day; drinking 2 L per day is a much better option)
The most important item on that list is water. If you don’t drink enough water each day, you’ll become dehydrated and sick, and your bowel movements won’t feel good because none of the fiber you’re eating will dissolve into your body.
Help, I’m experiencing pain!
If your pain is chronic (ie. consistent and throbbing), you may have an infection and should schedule a visit with your surgeon just to be safe.
On the other hand, if your pain comes in small bouts, it’s likely your nerves reawakening or your teeth being pulled by the elastics. In this case, just be patient and the pain will subside in due time. If you were prescribed pain medication, that may help as well.
Help, my breath is terrible!
At times, your breath may be indicative of the fact that you are not allowed to brush your teeth or floss during the first several weeks of recovery. To aid in freshening your breath, try gurgling with warm salt water a few times each day. Soon enough, you’ll be given the go-ahead to brush and floss again.
Help, my teeth are no longer touching!
An open bite is a common problem following jaw surgery. Fear not, however, because your teeth will naturally grow until they encounter opposition (in the form of your other jaw), so this problem will slowly correct itself over time.
Help, my jaw movement is not returning!
If you have been given the green light to resume eating regular food, but the movement in your jaw doesn’t seem to be returning, try whistling and chewing gum each day. Whistling will help to break up scar tissue, while chewing gum will stretch the muscles in your jaw.
Help, I don’t look like myself anymore!
This is perhaps the most common fear people have following jaw surgery. Remember that swelling takes a minimum of 3 months to go away, so try to avoid judging your appearance until that point.
Also, keep in mind that you are your own worst critic because you’ve been seeing your face in the mirror every single day for most of your life. While the subtle changes in your appearance seem drastic to you, most people will not even notice that your face changed shape.
March 23, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Hi Daryl,
It’s different for every person. It took me about 3 weeks after my splint came out before I could eat an actual soft meal again. Some people say they can eat that same night.
Just let your pain be your guide. If chewing something hurts, chances are you should switch to a softer food.
Best of luck in your upcoming eating adventures!
March 23, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Hi, my name is Daryl I am 20 years old. I actually was wired shut and i am currently 4 days from being unwired. About how long after will i be able to eat normal again?
March 21, 2011 at 11:42 pm
That’s good advice, man. It’s true, most of the pain we complain about, jaw surgery or not, is in our head. Despite not being able to eat, drink or breathe, life is still pretty grand.
My friend back home had his splint taken out after 3 weeks, but he only had his upper jaw operated on. For double jaw surgery patients, ~6 weeks of splintdom seems to be the standard practice.
March 21, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Wow! What a great site! I am nearly three weeks into my recovery now after double jaw surgery on 3/2. My recovery has been extremely fast and I expect it to continue to be so. I will suggest a couple of things for anyone who is going to have jaw surgery:
1) Realize that most of your discomfort is in your head. The most important example I can give is that you will feel VERY claustrophobic for the first few days. If you have upper jaw, you won’t be able to breathe through your nose very well and you’ll wonder if you’re getting enough air. Don’t worry, you are, so settle down. Just relax and settle in.
2) Don’t rush yourself too much. This is something I’ve been and am still fighting with, because I want to be healed right now (I’m not that patient). I speak for a living (sales), and I still have a splint in my mouth which poses some pretty big speaking problems (it’s pretty much impossible to sound normal with a splint in your mouth). Just do what you can without overdoing it (I’m typing this to help myself follow my own advice).
Lastly, a question:
1) What is the soonest you’ve heard of someone getting their splint out?
Thanks for all,
Nathan
March 18, 2011 at 11:35 am
I had braces on for a year and a half before surgery and then for 9 months afterwards as well.
March 18, 2011 at 9:55 am
Hi, how long did you have your braces on before the surgery?
March 9, 2011 at 7:09 pm
Wow, Blake, your story certainly trumps mine. I’m glad that life is beginning to look up for you again.
I’m not sure how strong your jaw will be with or without elastics. Depending on when you had surgery, you should be regaining a lot of your strength about a month post-op.
Best of luck in your recovery, pal. You’re a trooper!
March 9, 2011 at 3:16 pm
I broke my jaw in a horrible car accident also my neck nose and other bones in my face and spent 3 days on life support and 4 days in a coma. They say that on the 17th i will be switched from the wires to the elastics and maybe no elastics depending on the strength that i still have if i do have on elastics do you know how much strength I will have. and with elastics what will i be able to eat.
February 12, 2011 at 6:35 pm
I don’t think there’s anything you can do to help the numbness, terriahall. You just need to hope for the best. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you adjust to have a few numb spots in your face, though. I don’t even notice anymore.
February 12, 2011 at 12:32 pm
i have had lower jaw surgery 17 days ago. i am 61 years old and the swelling is almost gone i am just worried about the numbness from the lower lip chin and teeth. is there anything i can do to help the the chin and lip to recover the the numbness?
February 11, 2011 at 8:43 am
Hi Diana!
That’s great to hear that you’re plowing through the soft food already. It’s humorous how excited we get over these baby steps, hey? It’s almost like being a child and learning to eat all over again.
I couldn’t open my mouth all too wide until past the 3-month mark. My movement is all back to normal now, but it was definitely an ongoing battle until about the 4th month (from what I can remember).
As for chewing, you’ll probably always have one side that’s stronger than the other. I think most people chew on one side of their mouth anyway.
Your smile is going to be great! Just give it a few more months!
February 11, 2011 at 7:52 am
Hi Graham my name is Diana I’m 18 and I’m on my 44th day of recovery! I was a very impatient person before this surgery so patience is definatly something I have learned throughout this brutal recovery. I had both jaws done on dec 29th they moved my lower jaw forward and to be honest I don’t know what they did wih my upper because I found out I needed that done a week before surgery it was very emotional lol! I got this surgery done because my smile and bite were off to one side completely my orthodontist asked how did i even chew! My lower jaw apparently stopped growing while my top jaw kept growing causing by bite to be uneven and a lot of pain plus I also had TMJ which caused more pain and i had a lot of migrane headahces I’d stay home from school for wks! Anyway like you I wasn’t wired shut just rubberbands (which are now off) and 6 metal plates so I know what you mean by calling yourself a robot haha. Lately I have been feeling a lot of discomfort my jaw aches a lot, but still trying to chew very soft foods like mac&cheese, mashed potatoes, and i try not to blend chunky soups as much as i used to. I find that my left side is stronger then my right when i chew because my right side one of my top molars aren’t hitting my bottom which my surgeon told me feels like a huge gap to me but it’s actually small. I’m just finding that my left side is easier to chew on then my right. I still can’t open up wide so it’s hard to chew but how long did it take for your mouth to open up completely?
Reading your blog definatly helped and I wish I found it before my surgery but it’s helping now so thank you so much and I hope you’re enjoying your new smile/bite!!
January 31, 2011 at 11:07 am
Hey Chantel,
1) I started going out with people again about 3-4 weeks after surgery. You’ll still be swollen, but you just have to learn to not worry about it. Your face will be back to normal eventually and people care about it less than you think (especially when they find out you just had jaw surgery).
2) I went back to work 2 weeks later. You won’t be able to talk for 3-4 weeks.
3) I chew gum all of the time. I love it! So yes, you can most definitely chew gum once you’re healed up.
4) You’ll feel like garbage for about the first 2 weeks. All should be alright after that.
Best of luck!
January 30, 2011 at 11:52 pm
hola graham 🙂
i’m 14, from alexandria mn. i am going to st.cloud. i have my meeting with my surgeon on wednesday, & the surgery on the 15th of february. a lot’s running thru my mind, but i’m trying so hard to stay positive about things. i have a few questions.
-i hate swelling. when will i finally wanna go out of the house?
-how long do you expect me to miss school for?
-are you able to chew gum after it’s all done with?
&- am i gonna feel horrible every day?
please respond, i’m nervous as heck!
January 29, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Hi junhee,
I have no idea if jaw surgery is the correct operation for your crossbite, but I know it’s helped others with a similar issue.
You’ll likely need braces both before and after the surgery because they like to make fine-tuned adjustments throughout the process.
Personally, I’d book a consultation with a surgeon and ask for their professional opinion. 🙂
Best of luck!
January 29, 2011 at 7:43 pm
Hi Graham,
I’m a 17 year old girl whose had a crossbite all her life. My teeth are perfect just for the couple of bottom teeth that are in front of my top teeth. To imagine what it looks like, from the bottom first canine tooth to the second canine tooth is the area that is over my top teeth. Does that make any sense? Anyways, I REALLY want to fix this because I can’t breathe right and it hurts to open my mouth, yawn or even smile! Would you recommend jaw surgery for this problem? Also would I have to have braces afterwards?
January 13, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Hey lindalou,
I see you just received all those fancy hooks from your orthodontist. Once you start eating again, you’re going to have quite a lot of fun picking fun out of them, hehe.
I hope you’re staying positive and finding a way to get some food down!
January 13, 2011 at 6:25 pm
Thank you for your words of encouragement!!!! I’ve started a blog- my first ever. Yours has helped me so much- maybe mine will help someone too. 🙂
Here’s the site if you want to check on my progress in the next couple weeks: http://beautifulbite.blog.com/
January 11, 2011 at 9:26 pm
Hi Lindalou!
Being wired shut is certainly a frustrating part of the surgery, but it’s over pretty quick. You’ll have your wires cut pretty early on and then you can being speaking and, ya’know, breathing again!
I’ll be thinking of you next Wednesday. Have a blissful sleep that day. 🙂
January 11, 2011 at 4:41 pm
hi!! your website is fantastic and you look fabulous!! I am having surgery on January 19th- upper and lower. I had an open bite, which is now more of an overbite due to the braces and removal of two bottom teeth but no upper teeth.
I am most worried about being wired shut, more than anything. What if you have to yawn, sneeze, cough….. did any of those situations cause pain? And I cannot even imagine what it’s going to be like not being able to blow my nose.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. I feel so much better reading all of your day to day updates.