What is orthognathic surgery and what does it involve?
Orthognathic surgery is surgery that moves the bones of the face so that the teeth fit perfectly and, at the same time, we achieve that the face acquires adequate proportions, thus improving the aesthetic facial and dental appearance.
What are the advantages for the patient?
The most important advantage of orthognathic surgery is to achieve a perfect fit of the teeth in cases where orthodontic treatment would not be sufficient. By getting the teeth to fit perfectly, we improve the esthetics of the smile in a very important way, but we will also improve chewing and in many cases we will improve the pain that the patient may have at the temporomandibular joint level.
Another advantage of orthognathic surgery, as important as the first one, is that by repositioning the bones of the face we will achieve a more proportionate face, that is to say, we will improve facial esthetics in many cases.
What is the postoperative period like? Is it painful?
Although it may seem otherwise, the postoperative period after orthognathic surgery is very painless and can be perfectly controlled with oral anti-inflammatory drugs.
Orthognathic surgery has evolved a lot in recent years, not only in the technique, but also by means of the appearance of very sophisticated 3D planning programs, we have achieved very perfect planning, which shortens the surgical time tremendously. This translates into a short postoperative hospital stay, 24/48 hours, and a very fast recovery.
How long does recovery take?
The inflammation period of orthognathic surgery lasts about 7 to 10 days. And the recovery will depend a lot on whether we have operated only one of the jaws or we have operated both of them. If we have only operated on the upper or lower jaw, the recovery time to return to a practically normal life is between 15 and 20 days.
If we have operated both jaws we would be talking about a recovery to recover a practically normal life, in a period of about one month.
For more information about orthognathic surgery, its uses and advantages, contact a specialist in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.