Pre-op front view Pre-op side view Post-op front view Post-op side view Post-op 45-degree view [Before surgery] When I was little, I went to the dentist to get braces for buck teeth, and through the doctor’s diagnosis I found out that I had an underbite. But I hesitated because of the surgery cost and treatment period, and ended up missing the right timing, so I only had my front teeth aligned. My front teeth were corrected properly, but because my lower teeth covered my upper teeth, it became a malocclusion, and by the time I was an adult my jaw had kept growing, to the point that it was very obvious even from the outside. As many of you probably know, in my case the protruding jaw meant I could not chew properly, and I often had indigestion. When I was in school, I was teased a lot for looking like various characters and people with protruding jaws, and when taking photos I was always busy covering my face with my hand or a mask, and I became really afraid of taking pictures. People around me always saw that my jaw stuck out, so even when I had a normal expression, many asked if I was angry. Also, when I smiled, the even more noticeable Joker-like expression was something I really disliked. To people with a severe underbite, it may look manageable, but my own complex just kept growing. After becoming an adult and a long period of deliberation, I decided to have surgery to solve my frequent indigestion and my insecurity.
After deciding on surgery, I live in the provinces, but since this was still a major operation, I wanted to choose the hospital carefully. At first I consulted a plastic surgery clinic with contouring in mind, but 3 out of the 4 hospitals told me it was a double-jaw case, so I changed my mind and started looking into an oral and maxillofacial specialty hospital. After searching, I ended up visiting two places. Among them, W Oral and Maxillofacial Dental Clinic, which I visited last, had more than one thing I liked.
1. The director's career and extensive surgical experience 2. The kind manager and nurses 3. The neat hospital and facilities 4. An accurate understanding of my needs and a realistic surgical direction Because I often saw the director on YouTube, I already felt a sense of familiarity, but when I met him for the consultation, I was a little nervous. Still, I felt that actually increased my trust in him. The way he clearly explained exactly the surgery I needed and the solutions made me decide on the hospital without much hesitation.
[Before surgery] During the first consultation, the manager explained everything through KakaoTalk so comfortably that I did not even need to write things down separately, and whenever I had questions, even if it might have been bothersome, she replied kindly and quickly, which I really appreciated. After the surgery was confirmed and I visited the hospital for the first time, I had the wafer, photos, and CT taken. People say you eat everything you want before surgery, but I think I did try to manage my weight a bit because the director said that the more weight you gain, the more swelling you get.
[Day of surgery (2/10)] As someone living in the provinces, I took the train and quickly went to the hospital. For surgery preparation, I recommend arriving about 30 to 40 minutes early. (I was a little late... so it was a bit hectic.) I had watched YouTube reviews from people who had gone through it before, so I packed my suitcase accordingly, but... I’ll just list what I personally think are the essentials.
1. Things to bring - Power strip: There are not many places to plug things in at the hospital, so I recommend bringing one. - Tissue, wet wipes: The hospital has some, but I recommend bringing a soft pack of each. - Charger: You will be incredibly bored at the hospital, so a charger is essential. - Hoodie or bucket hat: These were useful for going home. - Sleep socks: I did not use them because I tend to feel hot, but they may be good if you have cold hands and feet. - Extra underwear: Since I stayed in the hospital for two nights, I think it would be good to bring one. - Mental strength: Sleeping while sitting was quite hard, so I think this was the most important thing.
2. Things you do not need to bring - Humidifier: The hospital already has a large humidifier. - Paper cups: The hospital provides them, so if you bring a couple while going to get water, that is enough. - Daiso sauce container: I found it more convenient to fold one side of a paper cup, so I did not need this. - Donut cushion: The hospital already has one. - Neck pillow: The hospital has this as well.
3. Things to prepare at home - Donut cushion: You have to sleep sitting up for a while at home too, and my tailbone really hurt. - Baby toothbrush: This was really necessary and useful. Since my mouth would not open much, the small size was great. - Baby spoon: If you do not have a small spoon, a silicone one is very useful when eating. - Humidifier: It seems needed when nasal congestion lasts for a while. - Triangle cushion: If you do not have a recliner, I strongly recommend this. It is very useful for sleeping while sitting. - Cotton swabs: They were great for gently cleaning around the nose while changing the gauze when I was congested. - Folding mirror: It helps to be able to see your mouth while eating. - Warm compress pack: If you buy one from Coupang, it is very useful.
Before going into the operating room, I took one last face photo privately, rinsed my mouth, and went into the operating room. The nurses prepared me, and as soon as they talked about anesthesia, I think I lost consciousness. When I came to again, I think I could hear the nurses waking me up by touching my shoulder or calling out to me. I felt relieved when a nurse told me the surgery had finished safely. Everyone who goes through surgery alone, stay strong. For someone like me who had never gone through a major surgery before, the first 8 hours after surgery were extremely hard. Only one side of my nose was blocked, so breathing was somewhat okay. I had a bite block in my mouth and tubes in both nostrils. I had gauze on my philtrum, and it seemed to catch the mucus and blood that came out little by little from my nose, so I often changed the spare gauze the nurse gave me. When I was a bit more aware, I told close friends the surgery had gone well and also sent my family a survival check-in. I felt like the nurses had it much harder than I did. They checked my blood pressure and oxygen saturation every hour, looked after the IV, changed the ice pack often, and monitored my temperature. Overall, I thought the first night was the hardest part of the entire recovery. Sleeping while sitting was hard, but the pain gradually became noticeable, and when the ice pack warmed up, I could feel the heat. It was so painful when I opened my eyes thinking, “An hour must have passed,” only to see that only 20 minutes had gone by. At those times, I kept remembering what the earlier reviewers had said. Still, I endured it as much as I could, believing that pleasure comes after pain. All night long, the nurse emptied the drainage bottle and urine bag, and we communicated using the drawing notebook in the hospital, and before I knew it, morning came. I could not have been happier to see the director in the morning. Since he said the tubes would be removed, I was even happier.
[Hospital day 2 (2/11)] In the morning, they removed the urinary catheter and drainage bottle, so I was much more comfortable moving around. My whole body had stiffened from a day of sitting, so being able to walk around felt so wonderful. The director taught me how to bite down on the wafer for the occlusion, and at first it felt awkward and it was hard to close my mouth. There was a bathroom right next to my room, but they said walking around was good, so I tried to use the bathroom as far away as possible. Also, the bathroom in the hospital lobby was nice. As I spent time at the hospital using a pad and my phone, the nurse also brought me fresh supplies and something to rinse my mouth with. I tried to use the sauce container for a refill, but maybe I bought the wrong one, because it did not come out well even when I squeezed it, so I drank comfortably from a paper cup instead. Just being able to eat or drink something made me feel alive again. In the evening, the director said I was recovering well, and I slept a little longer than on the first day. Still, I woke up in the middle of the night, and the duty nurse explained my prescription and the discharge instructions so I could manage on my own after leaving. Since I would be alone after discharge, I listened carefully.
[Discharge day (2/12)] By then I was so uncomfortable that I just wanted to go home from the hospital as soon as possible. Before morning, they injected something into the IV, but everyone says it makes them nauseous, while I did not feel anything at all. After everything was done, around 9 a.m. they removed the IV. After taking out the IV, I changed clothes, packed my things again, and also received swelling laser treatment. I said goodbye to the director and nurses, took my prescription to the pharmacy, got my medicine, and went home. I had to take the train, subway, and bus to get home, but because it seemed a bit too much, I rested here and there while moving.
[Home day 1 (2/12)] After arriving home, I drank soy milk I had ordered in advance and kept drinking it often to stay alive. The prescribed medicine was not powder but tablets, and I managed to swallow them well by placing them through the narrow space in my mouth. I took the medicine one or two at a time, so I coughed a bit and had trouble swallowing, but I tried to take it carefully. Coughing really felt like an emergency, so I tried to avoid coughing, blowing my nose, and bending my head down as much as possible. When mucus came out, I changed the spare gauze I had been given and cleaned only the nose opening with a cotton swab. I also tried to go for walks morning and evening as much as possible. I diligently used the face band and ice compress too.
[Home day 2 (2/13)] I had been eating only soy milk, so I was getting tired of it, and on this day I ate pumpkin porridge. Since my nose was not blocked, I changed the spare gauze I had been given and carefully wiped away things like mucus and scabs with cotton swabs. Also, the hospital had told me to take my medicine properly, so I took the medicine well after meals. Because opening my mouth was hard, eating took almost an hour. It was also hard to find the right position for my mouth, so I ate while looking in the mirror.
[Home day 3 (2/14)] By morning, it looked like there was one big moon floating there. I had seen that swelling is worst on days 4 to 5 after surgery, so I wondered how much I would swell, and I swelled a lot. Still, when I went for a morning walk, I could see the facial swelling going down, so I did it often. When you walk often, you pass a lot of restaurants, and the smell of fried chicken oil felt extremely刺激. I was getting tired of only eating pumpkin porridge, so I even ordered porridge from Bonjuk and had it ground up halfway, and it was unbelievably good. At bedtime, even though I made up my mind before sleeping, I still slept sitting up, so I could not sleep straight through the night.
[Home day 4 (2/15)] When I woke up in the morning, my face felt tight, and because I must have lain down without realizing it, my face was even more swollen. While walking in the morning, I messaged the manager on KakaoTalk saying my face was swelling too much, and she told me it was normal for the face to swell as if it might burst, which both reassured me and made me laugh. The manager is the best!! Eating was difficult, so I did not eat often, and I found myself reaching for things I could drink. So I drank a lot of milk tea from Gong Cha without pearls. Because I had not slept through the night for several days, I also took naps often and tried to recover as quickly as possible.
[Home day 5 (2/16)] I did the same care as the day before going to the hospital. I was getting tired of eating porridge often, so on this day I ordered risotto, which is similar to porridge. It was definitely harder to swallow in my throat than porridge. So I only took one bite and left the rest. I took photos both when the swelling went down in between and when my face was very swollen, keeping them as memories. I am not someone who bruises easily, so I had no bruising. Food often got stuck in the wafer or teeth, but since I had a Waterpik at home, I rinsed my mouth as thoroughly as I could with it.
[Home, hospital visit day 6 (2/17)] After spending a week at home, this was my first hospital visit after surgery. When I went to the hospital, the director said I was healing well, which made me happy. He said I could now take the wafer out and put it back in, so I learned the method carefully and he checked it for me too. After the appointment, I ate kalguksu, and although I chopped it up carefully with scissors, it was much easier to eat and it tasted so good that I think I ate a lot. They also said I could brush with a baby toothbrush now, so I did that diligently.
[Home days 7 to 13 (2/18~23)] Even after visiting the hospital, daily life continued in the same way. I spent my time at home eating, rinsing my mouth, walking, and showering. By then, I was craving spicy food a lot. Maybe because I already liked it, I made and ate the bibim-myeon I had at home for the first time. Since I definitely had not eaten spicy food for a long time, I started sweating and it felt extremely spicy. During this time, I think I got by eating cup noodles, Jjapaghetti, kalguksu, porridge, and so on. Also, since I was originally on the heavier side, my weight had dropped by about 10 kg. It really felt like a rapid weight-loss sprint. I watched a lot of double-jaw surgery recovery videos on YouTube, so I spent time thinking about what I would eat around that stage. I also talked with friends on the phone, and I remember laughing when they said my face had become cute, and that I looked like a squirrel, a quokka, or Luffy from Pororo.
[Home, hospital visit day 14 (2/24)] Now that it was the second week, I visited the hospital. I got swelling laser treatment and had a consultation with the director. They said the stitches would be removed at the hospital, and I had heard from reviews that stitch removal hurts a lot, so I was very tense going in. As expected, removing the stitches hurt a lot, but I think it was still bearable. The director taught me mouth-shape practice and mouth-opening exercises, and I listened carefully.
[Post-op review] Now I am approaching the third week, but I really think this is not a light surgery. Everyone goes in mentally prepared, but it is an exhausting and lonely time. Still, I absolutely do not regret having the surgery. I am looking forward to and excited about how much better I will become from here. Once again, I am very grateful to the director for performing the surgery so beautifully, to the manager for the kind consultation, and to the nurses who kept taking care of me the whole time. Thank you for reading this long post, and I hope it helps even a little to anyone considering double-jaw surgery.