Recovery Timeline

Following is a brief timeline of important events regarding recovery from double jaw surgery. If you only had a single jaw operated on, your recovery will be much quicker than this.

Keep in mind that every person recovers at a different pace, and also that every surgeon has their own agenda during the recovery process. This is simply the sequence of important events that took place during my personal recovery.

Day 0 (Surgery)

  • You’ll be eating/drinking through a syringe
  • You’ll be unable to sleep very much
  • You may be freezing all night long due to the ice packs wrapped around your face
  • You’ll feel extremely weak
  • You won’t be able to talk
  • You will drool constantly (but you’ll have the suction tube in the hospital to take care of that)
  • Lots of blood will be churning up inside your nose, mouth and throat
  • Your jaw will randomly spasm (and it will be painful)

Day 1

  • Swelling will begin

Day 3

  • Swelling will peak
  • Your bowels will start working again around this time

Day 5

  • Feeling will begin to return to parts of your face
  • Swelling will start to decrease

Day 7 (1 week)

  • You’ll be able to move your mouth a bit easier, so your talking will become more understandable
  • At your 1-week appointment, you’ll be able to brush your teeth, both inside and out (and it will feel amazing)

Day 10

  • Drooling won’t be as rampant any longer
  • You’ll regain slight control over your lips

Day 14 (2 weeks)

  • Most of the swelling will be gone
  • You’ll be able to start drinking from a cup (although it may be messy at first)
  • You can probably remove a few of the elastics clamping your teeth together, so talking will become infinitely more simple
  • Sleeping through the night should no longer be a problem

Day 15

  • Your elastics will start snapping daily, due to your rapid increase in speaking

Day 18

  • Your breath will become bearable again, due to the fact that you’ve been eating different foods and brushing more often

Day 21 (3 weeks)

  • Your energy will start to come back. Take advantage of it! Go for walks and take your bike out for a spin.

Day 22

  • You’ll be receiving substantial feeling back in your upper lip and cheeks. Your nose, lower lip and chin, however, will remain completely numb.

Day 28 (4 weeks)

  • Talking will hardly be an issue any longer. If you have a splint/bite plate in, you’ll sound ridiculous, but people will be able to understand you.
  • Your desire to be social and spend time with people will return in full force. Make sure you take advantage of it, and remember that your friends are not judging you.

Day 29

  • Feeling will begin to return to your lower lip and chin. That feeling will come in the form of pins and needles, but you’ll appreciate it regardless. If no feeling has returned to these parts yet, don’t worry. Surgeons say that it make take up to 90 days for feeling to begin coming back.

Day 31 (1 month)

  • If your elastics are off, you’ll be able to speak quite well by now
  • You won’t drool or spill any longer while eating

Day 32

  • You’ll have most of your normal energy back by now
  • You’ll begin to feel like you’re ready to take life on again. Be warned though: you’re not quite there yet. Give it another month before you go crazy.

Day 38

  • More patches of feeling will return to your chin and lower lip
  • You should no longer have to wear elastics during the day

Day 42 (6 weeks)

  • You should be able to drink through a straw quite easily by now

Day 45

  • Most of your stitches should have dissolved by now

Day 49 (7 weeks)

  • If you had a splint in, it should definitely be removed by now
  • Be prepared to readjust back into the world of orthodontics

Day 56 (8 weeks)

  • You should be able to eat with a small spoon or fork again
  • Licking your lips should be no problem at this point

Day 58

  • You’ll most likely be allowed to blow your nose again. Be gentle, though, because you don’t want to pop a blood vessel.

Day 70 (10 weeks)

  • If you haven’t been able to eat solid food yet, start now. Even if the task of eating involves mashing soft food up against the roof of your mouth, do it anyway. You’ll never gain your strength back on liquid alone.

Day 84 (12 weeks)

  • You should enjoy the freedom of eating just about anything you want by now
  • Consider practising whistling in order to break up the scar tissue that’s sure to be keeping your upper lip from enjoying its full range of motion

Day 90 (3 months)

  • Your three months have finally come to an end! Enjoy eating, breathing and smiling to their full effect.
  • Changes will be fairly slow from this point forward. The results you find yourself with at the 6-month mark will most likely be the results you’ll live with for the rest of your life.

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1740 Comments

  1. hi there
    im at 24 hours after surgery
    i have full feeling of my top lip but the perkisets i got make me dizzy after i come down from them
    im a smoker as well and im KIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLIIIIING for a smoke
    when can i have one cause i would absolutly die for one right now

  2. Cyrus, that’s really interesting that you’re training to perform surgeries very similar to the one you just had. I bet you understand the operation on a level most of us can’t quite attain.

    I’m confident you’ll be one of the finest oral surgeons out there considering you’ll be able to put yourself in the patients’ shoes with no trouble. Your future clientele is lucky!

  3. Hi Tori,

    Your comment made me smile (unfortunately at your own expense).

    Here’s to hoping your incisions heal up quickly so you can laugh to your heart’s content again! =)

  4. Hi Graham,

    I also wanted to thank you for such an informative blog. It is very comforting for those undergoing this surgery to understand they are not alone in their struggle. I have a interesting perspective on this surgery, as I will be graduating dental school in the next two months and had this surgery done a month ago. Furthermore I will be training in oral & maxillofacial surgery for the next six years here in the U.S. I also had a 3-piece LeFort osteotomy, BSSO, and genioplasty. My experience has been quite different from yours, yet surprisingly similar at the same time. Can’t wait for this splint to come out yet I have another 4 weeks! It is important for everyone to remember (as you always point out Graham), that everyone is different and every surgery is different. Do not expect to have the same results as anyone else, and by all means go by what your surgeon says. These surgeries are not “cookie cutter” and there are several ways to make almost every move. Most importantly, remember, time heals all wounds!

  5. Hi Graham!
    I am on my 4th day after surgery and am enjoying your blog. Unfortunately my nose will not stop leaking blood so I am forced to type with one hand. Your blog always makes me want to smile, but as you know, it is painful, especially in my left nostril for some reason. Thank you for creating this!

  6. Thanks for the kind words, Sammy. I’m already excited for the sheer amount of smiling you’ll be doing in 2 months!

  7. Hi Graham

    Yes I ended up having the plates removed and feel so much better for it! My swelling has reduced rapidly, and my braces will be off in 2 months…! 🙂

    Im 5 months post op now, and have pretty much returned to normal apart from some numbness in my bottom lip.

    I’m so happy I had this surgery done…I would do it all over again if I had to,and would recommend it to anyone considering it. It’s truly changed my life.

    Your blog Graham has been phenominal to read, and has helped so many of us through this procedure. Thanks for still keeping up to date with it even 2 years post surgery! 🙂

  8. Hi Vince!

    I have indeed completely recovered from the surgery, yes. All of my movement has returned and everything feels completely natural.

    I have a numb patch on my bottom lip but it doesn’t affect my day-to-day life in any regard.

    Let me know when your surgery approaches. =)

  9. What a wonderful blog. You are a very very good writer. Nice combination of humour and writing seriously.
    I will get a double jaw surgery next year for my open bite. Next week I get my braces.

    But I really want to ask you something. It’s now (almost) exact 2 year ago you had your surgery. Are you fully recovered right now? I mean you don’t have any numbness in lips or skin etcetera. And did you fully adjusted to the jaws? Does it feel like it’s all natural?

    (I apologize myself for my really bad english. I’m Dutch haha.)

  10. Hi Aly,

    It is completely normal for your jaw to click for the first few months of recovery. It will take at least three months for your bone to fuse back together, so you may experience clicking up to that point.

    I hope you’re doing well. Good luck with the first few weeks!

  11. Hi Sammy,

    I apologize for taking so long to respond. I clearly missed your message!

    I’ve met a few other people who had their plates removed a few months after the surgery. It’s a rare occurrence, but it’s not unheard of.

    Did you end up having the plate taken out?

  12. Hi Graham,

    I just had upper surgery this past Wednesday (March 7th) and so far everything is going pretty well. The only thing that I am worried about it that my jaw joints occasionally will crack or click. Did you experience this? Or have you heard anyone else having this problem?

  13. Hi all

    Am 3 months post surgery and was recovering well until last week. One of the metal plates in my jaw has become exposed 🙁 Saw my surgeon today, he said the plate needs to be removed so that the area doesnt become infected and cause further complications. Has anyone else had this problem?

  14. alright, thanks graham i’ll post up here after i talk to my surgeon for anyone else that has the problem in future

  15. Hi Jordan,

    It sounds like you were healing up pretty impressively up until today.

    I’m not sure if your jaw popping is a problem or not. At 7 weeks, the bone has still not completely filled in, so your jaw may move around.

    You should give your surgeon a call and ask them. Their advice will serve you best in this situation.

    Don’t fret, though. It’s likely not a problem. =)

  16. Hello everyone,

    I had double jaw surgery and bone graph (on my top jaw) almost 7 weeks ago

    I have no numbness whatsoever any more, had no numbness in my lower jaw at all from 1 day after surgery.

    I’ve been healing fine and can eat all solids without issue and can chew etc no other pain

    today i jumped in a pool which was pretty stupid but at the time it completely slipped my mind

    I got hit in the lower jaw a bit roughly and now my jaw makes a tiny pop on the right side when i try to stretch it as much as i can, is this a TMJ issue?

    I hope i haven’t ruined the surgery or affected it’s outcome or the healing progress

    any information on this would be appreciated

  17. Thanks Graham

  18. Christine, I’d go with your surgeon’s advice on this one. Call them and see what they say. Despite being 2 years later, it’s still their duty to see the surgery through to its end result, and that result should be comfortable for you.

    I’ve heard of others who had their plates and screws removed due to allergic reactions or the fact that they shifted and made life uncomfortable, so it’s not an unheard of activity.

    Good luck with your decision. And remember, even if you end up going in for another surgery to have them removed, you’ll still heal and be in tip-top shape just a few months later. =)

  19. Hi Richard

    Best of luck with your genioplasty. Look forward to hearing how you went.

    Any opinions out there re whether to leave or takeout the titanium screws and plates?

  20. Christine,

    Ok, well it doesn’t sound like a lack of blood supply, as you thought before. If what Graham suggested is helping, then keep it up 🙂

    The next surgery is mainly for a genioplasty. I didn’t get my chin done during my initial surgery because she thought that it may not be nessessary. But now 5 months post-op I’m lacking in the chin department so I’m getting it done.

    Also, she won’t be taking out any plates or wearing down the bone if it’s not causing my puffy cheeks. I’ll be seeing her on Tuesday, so I’ll have an idea then whether we will be going ahead with that or not.

    The surgery will be under a general, but apparently I’ll be in and out in under an hour.

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