Jaw surgery underbite for my daughter

[EllyChen]

My daughter wants to have surgery for her underbite, and I am worried about it. Anyone has any recommendations on how to find a reliable jaw surgeon in the UK?

Do also bear in mind that it's not just appearance. My daughter was told that if she lost any back teeth (not unlikely as I was ill while pregnant with her and her teeth haven't all formed properly), the underbite would mean that she'd be unable to chew much food.

So it isn't just the way they look, it can affect their health too.

You poor thing. My DD really didn't suffer from any pain once the operation was over (she was on morphine for 12 hours following). She had both sides realigned and metal plates inserted to push her jaw forward and keep it there, plus removal of all four wisdom teeth (not yet erupted) and I was astonished at the lack of pain she suffered! She was horribly swollen for quite a while (I cried when I saw her in hospital, particularly as it was an 'elective' surgery, and all I could think was 'I told them to do this',) Now we are fifteen years past surgery and she has absolutely no ill effects whatsoever. I do hope the pain soon subsides for you and you make a full recovery!

I would advise your daughter to see a good orthodontist who will likely recommend braces and then jaw surgery. They also need to do panoramic X-rays to look at her full jaw, teeth and jaw joints.

Don't just leave it.

My parents did nothing to correct my awful underbite, deviated jaw and crowded/crooked teeth (although the deformation was obvious and dentists told my mother I needed to see a specialist) and it has such a negative impact on my life...

I was bullied because of it when I was young and ended up with TMJ, limited mouth opening and chronic pain. The issue also affected my breathing and damage my teeth and degeneration of the cartilage in one of my jaw joints.

I had to wear braces and having jaw surgery as an adult which is much more difficult than doing this as a teen...

I am still dealing with some chronic pain.

So please advise your daughter to have this addressed now.

Can you ask your dentist/GP to again refer you to an NHS maxillofacial consultant to get a second opinion?

It is not just the aesthetic aspect, it is the fact that it can lead to other health issues as my story shows.

Thank you very much for sharing.

DS had this - on the nhs. His teeth didn’t meet so he couldn’t bite or chew.
It was a long road.
First his top jaw was widened with an expander - we had to turn a screw nightly and his front teeth developed a gap you could drive a bus through.
Then he had some teeth removed.
Then he had braces to save the space created.
Then surgery - his top jaw was unhinged from the skull, a section at the front was cut away and it was rejoined (front teeth now side by side) and it was moved forward in the skull and wired into place.
Bottom jaw had sections at the side cut away and rejoined.
Recovery took six months.
His face has changed shape - his top lip and nose are slightly pushed upwards due to bringing everything forward.
He still (5 years on) has mild numbness to his upper lip.

Is your dd sure this is what she wants?

@vroom thank you for your kind words. I'm day 10 and finally off codeine. I'm glad your daughter had such a good recovery and is happy she had it done. Despite the pain, I am also happy! :) go for it op and daughter

How bad is it? Because a slight underbite can also be disguised really well with expertly placed lip filler (done by a qualified medic e.g. someone trained as a dentist or dental surgeon). Do not ever use a beautician for filler.

I went through this and had double jaw and chin surgery for an overbite when I was 23. I can honestly say that going ahead with it was one of the best decisions I ever made and I'm incredibly happy with the results. I'd definitely do it again. Yes, the first few weeks post-op were rough, but it was completely worth it. Mine was on the NHS even though I didn't have any pain or difficulty chewing, it was just simply because of the level of malocclusion and how big my overbite was.

Maxillofacial surgeons are very highly trained, they have to go through dental school as well as medical school. I understand your concern, but they really do know what they're doing, and so do orthodontists.

My ds had an operation because of his lower jaw overbite which sadly didn't go as planned. He has ended up with a slightly improved overbite and nerve damage in his face and no gaps for the planned implants, which he felt wasn't worth all the pain and issues he had after the operation. We all had huge faith in his consultant.

May i know how to find reliable surgon? We plan to go ahead.

I'm having double jaw surgery on the NHS to fix my underbite this winter. I'm not worried at all (and I'm a worrier!). It is a routine op for the surgeon after all. I'm expecting the recovery to be tough and not to feel myself for a few months. I think at 18 it would have been easier, but I'm so glad I'm finally doing it as it has bothered me all my life (37 now). Obvs this has no bearing on whether your daughter should do it or not, just sharing my story.

If you're on Facebook there is a very helpful group called 'Jaw Surgery in the UK'.

I had this operation when I was 21, like others said I had to wear braces for years beforehand until the jaw stopped growing. Annoying really because my teeth were always straight! When I was about 12 my lower jaw just seemed to overtake my upper. They said it would worsen as I got older too.

I was very skinny at that age so had to drink shakes to stop myself losing too much weight after as couldn’t eat properly for a couple of weeks. But other than that it was fine. And I’ve felt so much more confident (I smile showing my teeth now!) I never used to. And every single dentist I’ve seen since having the op has commented how beautiful my teeth are, so I’ll take that 😂 Weirdly when I was younger I used to get told I looked like Cameron Diaz but since the op I never get that any more, maybe she has a bit of an underbite?? Or maybe the surgeon did something else to my face lol.

It was painful with swelling etc but for me not a patch on the pain of childbirth! And both had their benefits after 😄

The surgeon will clearly spell out the risks - the main one is numbness in the lips, especially if they move the bottom jaw. And of course there are the general risks involved in any general anaesthetic. It really depends how much the underbite affects a person's quality of life.

I still have that slight tingling numbness (over a decade later) but honestly it doesn’t affect my life negatively at all.

Hi op. My nephew had this. N H S so presumably a bit worse than your daughter. He was about 19 when it was done, fully grown and had been wearing braces for a couple of years to get things correctly positioned for the operation. It was a big operation with a painful recovery - he missed so much uni work that he ended up taking a year off. Then braces again afterwards for a bit. He was told the operation could result in long term facial numbness in parts, even to the extent of poor lip closure and drooling.
But he was fine long-term and actually now is much better looking, sorry to be so shallow. It has really improved his appearance.

I'm not a medic OP but have read a ton of people's stories by now - there are a lot of blogs and videos online. Most people did not report significant pain. The hardest bit seems to be the first few weeks after the op - having to try and clean your teeth, living on a liquid diet, and generally feeling miserable which is to be expected. I believe the recovery is much quicker if only the upper jaw is being moved. There can also be complications eg infection (my surgeon said it's 1 in 20) which might require another hospital stay and antibiotics. There is a lot of helpful material online that will give you an idea of what it's like.

Don't worry OP - I've had this, and it really isn't an issue. I barely had any painkillers after and was fine. As someone else said, it's much better to just get it done while she's young and heals fast - mine was left till my 30s; eventually my upper teeth were forcing food into the gaps between my gums and teeth and giving me infections that would have resulted in tooth loss if left. You look a bit of a fright after, thanks to the swelling, but it goes down quickly.

May I know who has done your op? Or how did you find one that could have done a superb op on you? Has your sugery moved your lower jaw?

Thank you so much for sharing. Please update me with your progress.

Thought I'd update to my previous comment op, had my op in June, double jaw. Unfortunately I wasn't one of these no issues people and had more issues than vogue magazine. That being said I was well taken care of. I only just look normal and had swelling and pain for a longggg time! That being said I'd go through it again. I still have braces and am expecting them off early new year. If you take anything from this thread it's that everyone heals so differently. Some barely had pain, some (like me) had agony and constant infections
I found teeth cleaning and the diet the easy parts...
Either way it'll be worth it!

Thank you for sharing. And you've been very brave. I'm glad to see that you feel the operation was worth doing.