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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1739 Comments

  1. Day 4 Post-op, and I feel like I went 12 rounds in a fight. I woke up with braces, bite plate/splint and the recovery nurse hitting on my husband. (Grrrrrr) I had several complications I’ve vomited for four hours, I couldn’t breathe and a great amount of bleeding. I was supposed to go home yesterday but due to the complications and a slight infection I’m here until Tuesday. My swelling has officially hit its peak. My kids call me a chipmunk. The bruising has taking over having my face. Outside of the inconvenience of not being able to talk, and no feeling to my face, I feel okay. Added bonus is I haven’t cried as much as I thought I might.

  2. Devin, I had an abscess under a tooth that led to two screws being infected and one actually coming loose. I knew there was something wrong as like you I had a hard lump and when I tried to stretch my mouth open it would really hurt and almost feel like there was something pulling. My surgeon took an X-ray and could see the loose screw. He had to go in and take the plate and four screws out because the two screws that were infected were on the same side of the plate so it all had to come out. It put my recovery back about a month.

  3. Tomorrow is my D day and I am so scared! I have issues with my jaw for years and finally it’s being corrected. Thank you for letting me know what to expect, each story is have given me a since of inspiration! I have a few questions: will I receive the braces during the surgery? Did anyone experience bruising to face? How often will I cry? LOL

    • Xochitl, if you don’t have braces already, chances are you won’t be wearing them at all. They’re generally put on to move your teeth around before the surgery. You may experience some bruising on your face and neck, but it will go away within the first month, so you need not worry about it. As for crying, you won’t cry at all because you’re going to do amazing today! =)

  4. did you ever have any infections or a absessed tooth after the surgery. i have pain in my right cheek and feels like i have a lump or something bulging out

    • Devin, I never had any infections, but I did have quite a few canker sores and sensitive areas on my gums. If you feel you have an infection, it’s best to get it checked out by either your surgeon or orthodontist.

  5. after having a double jaw surgery how long did it take you guys for the pain in your cheeks to go away.

    and how long did it take you to be able to open your mouth all the way to eat more.

    after about 4 weeks im still only able to eat ramen and easy mac

    • Devin, most of my pain went away after the first month. Opening my mouth all the way, however, took 3–4 months. You can speed this up by chewing gum and whistling to help break up the scar tissue in your face.

  6. Surgery for me is happening on November 14 which is 14 days away and I’m really scared and I am happy I found this on the computer to read what to expect. I thought I would be all good in two weeks to a month.

    • Shilo, it’s definitely good to have honest expectations. Surgeons suggest varying recovery times, but 3 months seems to be the most common. You’ll get through this, though, no worries!

  7. I had this surgery almost 10 years ago, when I was 18. This info is very accurate but I wanted to chime in with a few of my experiences. Expect extreme weight loss when jaw is rubber-banded shut, I looked like a bobble head. You will regain weight very quickly and you must be careful to keep food issues in check. After not eating solids for 6 weeks, I became a bit food obsessed the year post surgery. You will look so swollen the first 2-3 weeks after surgery you will frighten small children and I recommend bringing back the retro head scarf look if you are female, as if you are righting in a 1960 Porsche. If you are a man, maybe a turtle neck or a ski mask, well you might just want to stay at home for a while. Your vanity will be tested and while you might have never fancied yourself a vain person, you will feel like a monster. Expect permanent nerve damage. I never got full feeling back in my chin and lower lip. It really isn’t a big deal at all, strange at first but nothing now. I do wipe my face multiple times during a meal because I don’t feel food or water on my chin. I also tell loved ones so they know to tell me if I have something on my chin or lip.

  8. Graham,
    Just want to say thank you for all the advice and experience you shared here. I had double jaw surgery and my chin done on oct 2, and I am going back to work tomorrow. I found your blog my 2nd week into recovery, and I was extremely depressed until I saw how many people had gone through what I was. I think it’s cool you still are doing this 3 years later!! Thanks again!

  9. i had a double jaw surgery 3 weeks ago and realised when i drink different liquids it taste awful. will i ever get my normal taste back?

    • Devin, your taste buds will recover by the time you’re all healed up. They’re likely just a little numb from scratching against all of the hardware still in your mouth.

  10. I had jaw surgery about four weeks ago now. Oringally I was planned to have double jaw surgery but they changed it as I went into theatre. I’m very stubborn when it comes to recovery. I have to wear my bands till next year but I take them off because the pain becomes unbearable.I have to be on a liquid diet till the doctor gives mem the okay to but I’ve always ready start cause liquid food doesn’t fill me up but soft foods hurt to eat. I seem to talk better when my bands are in than I do with them out, is that normal? Also I can feel my lips, nose or cheeks. Im worried about that I’ll never feel them again. I got tingles for the first two weeks but they have stopped since them. I pinch my top lip to see if I can feel anything but I cant so I try the bottom lip and I can. Have you had this problem?

    • Cass, feeling can take up to 6 months to return. I regained most of my feeling within the first month, but residual feeling was still returning by the 3rd month. I honestly wouldn’t worry about it until at least another month has gone by.

      I also recommend following your surgeon’s instructions with regards to recovery. The bands keep your jaw aligned, so it’s very important that you keep them in during these initial weeks. This will all be in your past soon and you’ll be glad you went through with it. Stay strong and keep busy with movies, books, and walks. =)

  11. Hello, I was just wondering, how does the top jaw heal if it is moving during the first few months? Doesn’t it have to be in one place, like a broken arm in a cast?

    • Jenny, while your jaw will be screwed into place, it may still float around a tiny bit. However, if it appears to be moving drastically, it’s actually because your swelling is going down. Swelling creates something of an illusion during the first couple of months.

  12. Hello, i’m supposed to get my braces off in a month or two and i had upper jaw surgery. Is it normal that my teeth are not aligned perfectly, because the third tooth on the right side (bottom and top) touch first, until i bite down a little harder.

    • Scott, this is perfectly normal. My bite didn’t line up and “feel right” until 4–5 months after surgery. It takes a while for your teeth to shift around into their new position. Nothing to worry about. =)

  13. Thanks guys <3

  14. Mary, I was concerned just like you, i’m my 4th month of recovery and my upper jaw still moves a bit (gotta ask my surgeon about that, even though he said it’s normal a month ago) and my gums also have no feeling still. I’m no expert, but i think your situation is normal. Graham knows more about this 🙂

  15. K, I’m kinda freaking out. I understand that each person recovers differently. Thankfully, I didn’t have to go long without food. But I’m at 6 weeks and my gums have absulolutely no feeling and my teeth really hurt. I thought this might be normal considering the few elastic I have on (As you have braces for this surgery you would understand that elastics cause your teeth to be sore), the new bite (I’m kind of clenching) and the numb gums. Also, my lower lip and chin have absolutely no feeling. This recovery timeline is a huge help for many I’m sure.. But should I be concerned?

    • Mary, what you’re experiencing at the 6 week mark certainly isn’t an exact hint at what you’ll feel like when you’re fully recovered, but you should have at least some feeling back in your face at this point. I suggest giving your surgeon a call and asking if they have any special notes from your operation. It’s possible they bruised a nerve a bit more than usual and expect it to take longer to heal. In any case, they may have some insight for you.

  16. Well my surgeon was prof. paulus and he created/invented plates that he has been using on patients for a while, as well as on me. So maybe the time it takes for my upper jaw to fuse back with the bone is longer than by some others. But i was able to open my mouth right after surgery and eat.

  17. How long does it take for the upper jaw to heal so it does not move in any direction, no matter how hard you push or pull? About 3 months after my surgery, my jaw still is not 100% stable. I can move it down 1 millimeter or 2 when i pull my front teeth down.

    • Daryl, I don’t think your jaw should be moving after 3 months of recovery. It generally takes about 3 months for the bone to fuse back together. I’d call your surgeon and go in for an x-ray to make sure your bone reattached properly.

  18. Hi Graham,

    Iam very afraid of double jaw surgery also i have a job in which i need to talk to customers and i cannot have leave for more that 7 days. So you think i can back to work after 7 days or not? and will i be able to talk to customers ?

    • Sara, if you’re having double jaw surgery, you will not be able to speak with customers after 7 days, especially if you have a splint in. I’d recommend taking 3 weeks minimum off of work if you must talk with customers. I know this sounds incredibly inconvenient, but you’ll only need to do this once in a lifetime (literally). =)

  19. Garry Penchello

    October 6, 2013 at 2:46 pm

    I am seeing him this Friday so I suppose I’ll wait till then. Its just I accidentally tensed one day while it was out of line and heard a clicking noise. Could just still be a floating upper jaw, like I’ve seen in earlier posts. Just that girl who had to get her top jaw re-done has freaked me out because I couldn’t handle having another one. Probably just overthinking it anyway. Thanls

  20. Garry Penchello

    October 6, 2013 at 6:45 am

    Hi. I’ve just hit 5 weeks post op. I got my splint off about 2 weeks ago. Compared to some posts I have read, I must be a fast healer. Only a bit of swelling around the nose left, feeling back in almost every where expect along the top jaw where they cut and is now scaring. Nose is still abit blocked but I can breathe through it so it doesnt bother me. My only annoyance is sometimes my jaw doesnt line up as how it should. Its like my jaw is struggling to remember hows its meant to sit now then it really hurts (to the point i just want to go to sleep), goes numb, nose runs and blocks up again for a bit. Does this sound like a normal experience? because it was my orthodontist who took my splint out that early, not my surgeon (although he said they may do that). Because it seems most people have there splint on longer than 3 weeks. Thanks!!!

    • Garry, my teeth hit incorrectly for a few weeks after having my splint removed as well. Eventually, as I learned how to chew with my jaw in its new position, everything started to function the way I expected. If this is still bothering you a full 2 weeks after having your splint removed, I recommend asking your surgeon if your jaws are in proper alignment. Better to be safe than sorry! =)

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