I have horrible jaw pain that my dentist said I may need surgery to correct. He doesn’t think I would need double jaw surgery, just single jaw surgery – my lower jaw is pretty wack (slight overbite but it’s asymmetrical as well). Currently waiting for a consult with the surgeon until after this quarantine is lifted. I’m in a lot of pain daily and getting migraines from my jaw pain so it’s pretty important I get this fixed, but I’m also a nursing student so I can’t just take off for like three months to recover lol. The pain keeps me up at night.

Most people seem to have double jaw surgery so I can’t really find a lot of info on the internet about this one… So my questions are:

1. Do I need braces for single jaw surgery?

2. What’s recovery like for this type of procedure? Should I expect the whole mouth wired shut thing?

3. Are there alternatives to correcting overbites and asymmetrical jaws in adults (I’m 24) besides surgery?

4. My jaw hadn’t given me any problems until my wisdom teeth came in about a year ago. It’s been about a month since their removal and I’m still having daily pain. What could cause the sudden change, if it wasn’t the wisdom teeth? Or did my wisdom teeth cause permanent damage that only surgery can fix?

5. My dentist said to take up to 800mg of ibuprofen when I’m having pain… but I’m always in pain. I have ulcer disease so this is very unsustainable for me. Are there any other pharmacological interventions I can use until this gets sorted? I’m also on triptans and topamax for migraines but they don’t really help when I get the kind of migraines that stem from jaw pain. It’s been confirmed I have no infection where I’m having jaw pain.

This sub has been super helpful as I battle my dental anxiety, so thank you all!

ETA; I can’t change the title but I do know I spelled orthognathic wrong lol