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1. • CommentAuthorStaciBugz
   • CommentTimeJun 27th 2009

    
   I'm a full 7 months post-op and show barely any teeth when I smile now. My facial features look almost unnatural and just not right. I got a second opinion about what was done to me from a very established maxilla facial surgeon in downtown Chicago. He confirmed my suspicious that a number of things were not done right. How do I proceed??... He says he can fix it and showed me a computer simulation of my face (something my previous doctor did not) as well as explained a number of things to me that I wasn't informed of before my surgery. My grandma suggested I talk to a lawyer. Has anyone ever had or heard of anyone who has experienced I guess what you would call a "bad" surgery?? Your advice would be greatly appreciated. I've been struggling with this for quite some time now.
2. • CommentAuthorarik
   • CommentTimeApr 19th 2010

    
   I feel sorry for you when I read your comments.
   I myself had a Leforte I 23 years ago (I am 37 now, I was 14 when I had surgery).
   At the time I was told I had a good outcome.
   
   My own experience was dissapointment with my surgery because I felt I did not look better. At the time I felt that there was nothing I could do, what's done is done, and I had to live with it. I didn't talk about it then much but I do remember one or two friends telling me I didn't look much different or better so what was the point? My parents went through a divorce the year after my surgery and I felt there wasn't time or money to take me back to doctors and that I could live with it.
   
   I had a long face and a gummy smile, but that really didn't bother me much, and I think I had unrealistic expectations that the surgery would make me better looking. Now I feel my nose sticks out too far at the tip, my cheeks are too baggy, the left side of my face sort of droops, my upper teeth don't show at all while my lower teeth still show too much, and my face is too short (it sounds terrible when I describe it and I recognise I am hyperaware of the details). I also think my maxilla got advanced too far forward and worry it isn't stable. Sometimes I feel a weird numbness not really pain in my face above my upper lip by my nose which I imagine is the wires in my jaw. Since then I have discussed my dissatisfaction with friends and family and psychotherapists a few times and everyone seems to laugh it off and tell me I look fine. So I I interpret this as objectively it is ok, but I also imagine other people don't want to be honest with me. I feel like it was an unnecessary procedure and I wish I never had it. I would have rather had a gummy smile and felt like a whole person than have a postop smile and feel damaged.
   
   I still think about it, and worry something is wrong with my face or that my maxilla is unstable or something. I mentioned it to my dentist sort of casually during a routine dental check up who told me everything is stable.
   I have not sought out a second opinion from an orthodontist or oral surgeon, basically I am embarrassed and concerned they will think I am crazy. Plus I really don't think I could go through more surgery, I would worry too much about complications. But I guess just hearing that everything is ok might help me to seek out the appropriate treatment (a therapist for adjustment problems rather than a surgeon). I think it's sort of weird that I still obsess about it. My life has gone on.
   
   I admire you that you had the strength to get a second opinion, and in a way I am sorry that the second opinion confirmed your concerns (it would be nice in a way to hear everything is ok). I am not really comfortable giving you advice but I hope things work out well for you. One of my friends from childhood also had jaw surgery around the same age (from a different surgeon) and she is now in the process of having braces, a palate expander, and more surgery to fix complications (she says "all that work I had done has collapsed.") I worry about her having complications from the additional surgery.