Advice needed please - Retrognathia and jaw surgery

[Arkyfox]

I'm looking for advice please. I'm 37 with Juvenile Arthritis and I need both of my jaw joints replaced. Has anyone else here had this surgery please and can you give me any advice? How long do they last?

I've also been diagnosed recently with retrognathia even though its a problem I've had for years. The surgeon is talking about moving my top jaw to help with sleep apnoea, I am more nervous about this than the jaw joint replacements 😕

Many thanks

[SamChangingFaces Partner]

Hello Arkyfox. Welcome the the Changing Faces Community and thank you for posting your thoughts on here. It sounds like you've got a lot coming up in terms of treatment and understandably you're feeling a bit nervous about it all. Could you say a bit more about what you are worrying about?

[Crystal246]

Hey 😁. I had my top jaw removed due to having cancer there and to be honest it was fine. Other then having my face looking unusual and having a little dip to it in place of where the jaw could be I can still swollow and stuff.

(but because my face was swollen for 2 weeks I couldn't eat or drink and had to have a feeding tube) but the end result is worth it.

THIS took me about 12 hours I think? Because they had to remove it, put screws and plates in and put the muscle from my back on my cheek, but I'm aware this is entirely different situation.

Are they talking about replacing and putting things in place?

[4mum]

Hi Arkyfox I’ve had my top jaw moved up and forward due to severely misaligned jaws. This is a big surgery (moving the top jaw)

In my case it was the cause of my facial disfigurement and led to years of surgeons trying to surgically undo their misjudgment/mistake. If I had my time over I would never have done it, and the results have lead to years of ptsd, anxiety and confidence issues. Having said that however, my friend went through this operation with no complications and had a great result. She did find it an invasive operation though. I guess it’s a case of weighing up pros and cons and what’s right for you. I’m sorry I don’t know how long jaw joints last but I’d imagine they would be near lifetime x