Before before before after after afterI had a Class III malocclusion since I was young, with my lower teeth protruding farther forward than my upper teeth. So when I was in elementary school, I wore a jaw orthopedic appliance and had orthodontic treatment, which moved my jaw back, but as puberty came, my jaw gradually started protruding again. Because my protruding jaw made it impossible to chew food with my front teeth and made my chin look long, I was stressed and eventually decided to have double-jaw surgery. While looking for a hospital for double-jaw surgery, I happened to see Y Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery on YouTube, and I thought the fact that they do one surgery a day was really good, so I chose Y Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. When I first went to the hospital for a consultation, the consultant in charge was very kind, and the director also briefly told me only what was necessary, so I trusted them. I decided to undergo 6 months of preoperative orthodontic treatment and then have surgery.
<Before surgery>
The day before surgery, I bought supplies I would need after surgery (New Care, sauce bottles, ion drinks, etc.), and before fasting began I ate plenty of foods I wouldn’t be able to eat for a long time after surgery (hamburgers, grilled meat).
<Day of surgery>
I arrived at the hospital 30 minutes before surgery, listened to the director’s explanation, then washed my face and gargled. When it was time, I went into the operating room and lay down, and I think I fell asleep as soon as they administered the anesthetic gas. My surgery started at around 10:20 and ended around 1:20? When I woke up from anesthesia, the first thing I did was check my face in the mirror, but there were many things on my face, so it was hard to see how my face had changed at that point. Maybe because it was the first day, there was slight pain, but more than that, my nose was swollen so I couldn’t breathe through it, and I could only breathe through my tied-up mouth, so breathing was extremely difficult.. Also, because of the urinary catheter, I couldn’t even stand up, so my buttocks hurt a lot. That day, I did nothing and only focused on breathing. So I barely slept and stayed up all night.
<Day 2>
At around 6 a.m., a nurse removed the hose in my nose and the urinary catheter. Once the hose in my nose was removed, breathing became much easier than before. Since the urinary catheter was also removed, I could now get up, so the pain in my buttocks improved a lot too. At around 10 a.m., the director removed the blood drains. Once the things that had been on my face the previous day were removed, I felt much more comfortable than the day before. I caught up on the sleep I hadn’t gotten the previous day and slept a lot that day.
<Day 3>
At around 10 a.m., I received my medication prescription and was discharged. It felt good to come home after a long time. Because I had to keep my mouth tied for 2 weeks, I could only consume liquids. So I had New Care for all three meals. I tried New Care for the first time that day, and it was better than I expected, so I enjoyed it. But since I had to put it in a sauce bottle and drink it, it took a long time to finish.. Since I couldn’t brush my teeth after eating, I gargled with the prescribed Hexamedine. After discharge, my face felt like it was swelling more and more. That day, my nose was blocked, so I couldn’t sleep well.
<Days 4-7>
From day 5, my nose cleared completely, so it became comfortable. But eating only New Care every day made me so sick of it that it was hard. Still, I had to take my medicine, so I kept drinking it diligently. Swelling was at its peak on day 6. I used ice packs until day 4, and after that I used warm compresses.
<Weeks 1-2>
Exactly one week after surgery, I visited the hospital, had the director check the condition of the surgical site, and received disinfection. After a week passed, the swelling started to go down faster and faster. Since breathing was now comfortable, the appetite I didn’t have before started coming back. So from then on, eating only New Care for all three meals was the hardest part. That’s why from then on, I only waited for week 2, when I could switch to larger elastics.
<Week 2>
Finally, it had been 2 weeks since the surgery I had been waiting for, so I visited the hospital. The director removed the stitches, and for me it only stung a little and did not hurt. And they changed me to larger elastics, but since I had to put the elastics on by myself at home, they taught me how to put them on. At first it was really hard to put them on, but now I’ve gotten the hang of it and can do it easily. Now I can remove the wafer when eating, so I can eat foods with solids in them. But I still can’t chew, so I ate foods that can melt in the mouth and be swallowed (castella, soup, porridge, etc.). The first thing I ate was beef and vegetable porridge, and after eating only New Care, it tasted really good. After that, I also ate soft tofu stew, and I cut noodles and udon into small pieces to eat them. My quality of life improved so much compared with living only on New Care. Now, at week 2, I think the hardest thing is not being able to chew food and having to swallow it.
I really think time is the medicine for double-jaw surgery. The period up to day 3 after surgery is the hardest, and if you endure just one week, it really becomes livable. As the swelling goes down, seeing my jaw, which used to be a complex for me, looking different now makes me feel that I really did the right thing by having double-jaw surgery. I hope my review helps people who are about to have double-jaw surgery or are considering it!
This review is a surgical review for a reconstructive goal.