Pt 1 - Research!

The first thing you have to do before anything else is to research!

Research exactly what is your condition. Get the scientific names right as there are a few types of bone deformities that require orthognathic surgery. Some just require moving one jaw, while some require 2 like in my case.

In my case I had a Class III skeletal profile which means I had an overdeveloped mandible (lower jaw) and underdeveloped maxilla (upper jaw). This had created a significant open bite, more than a centimeter of space between my upper and lower teeth.

I would require surgery comprising of Le Fort I and BSS Osteotomy under General Anesthesia.

Avoid the initial cost of early consultations by going online first and looking around. There is plenty and I mean PLENTY of information on the web about jaw conditions and this will save you a couple of MYR 100's going to a couple of orthodontists to enquire your condition. Look for jaw surgery blogs like mine, and youtube videos of people all around the world documenting their experiences.

The more information you are armed with the better. During my research phase I went to many different professionals and unfortunately there are a few who are not as professional as their credentials imply and may give you various different surgical options that may sound 'easier'. In my case a certain surgeon in TTDI  flippantly told me all I need is lower jaw surgery and no pre orthodontic braces! This is extremely dangerous and would create a very risky surgery with numerous complications.

Thankfully that was the only unprofessional surgeon throughout my journey and the rest have been extremely professional and fantastic and I am truly grateful to God for all the connections he has provided me!

Once you hunt around online it will also mentally prepare you for what you are about to go through. It may help you decide if you feel it's worth going all the way or not. Turning back after spending MYR 8000 on pre surgery braces treatment would not be the best thing ;)

 

'The procedure that I would be undergoing' (includes pre surgical braces treatment)

Once you have a general idea of your condition you will know who you need to apporach. In jaw surgery sometimes the braces can be done by one professional while the surgery itself by someone else entirely which is what happened for me. It will be a whole lot easier logistic wise if you can find a place that can do both as you will have a whole less lot of planning between the two of them. Much of the communication between orthodontist and surgeon depends on you so you really have to be prepared to do a lot of leg work.
So basically you are looking for 2 types of people:

• An orthodontist [for the pre op braces]
• An oral-maxillofacial surgeon [to do the actual cutting into your face!]

It is good to ensure your orthodontist has some experience working with jaw surgery cases as well as braces for surgery is very different to just braces only [more on this in Pre Surgery Prep!]

For me, since I reside in Kuala Lumpur, I hunted around and decided to do my pre surgical treatment at Imperial Dental Bangsar with Dr How Kim Chuan. Dr How is a very well known orthodontist with experience in jaw cases and his results are amazing (more on that later!)

'Imperial Dental previously known as Beverly Wilshire'

Once you find an orthodontist you need to find a surgeon. Here is a list of a few places I went to initially both of which have oral maxillofacial surgeons.

• Hospital Tunku Jaafar
• Hospital Selayang

After visiting these places I still did not have peace of mind and asked my orthodontist Dr How to refer me to anyone else he could recommend. He wrote me a letter to see Dr Winston Tan at The Oral Maxillofacial Practise in Mt Elizabeth, Singapore. I was initially worried about the logisitics of working between Malaysia and Singapore for this surgery but upon meeting Dr Tan I was grateful to be connected to him and felt comfortable and in good hands.

Dr Winston Tan is well known in the field of oral maxillofacial surgeon and his practise performs roughly 50 jaw surgeries a year, that's roughly 1 a week! He is a very friendly person and is known as the 'God father' of the industry.

I met Dr Winston in 2012 and once I had found the right surgeon it was time to begin my pre surgical braces!

* During research, it is good to be a part of a facebook group etc of people going through the same process, however, do your own research first and only ask questions in groups when you can't find the answers or require some support. There are some good fb support groups for jaw surgery but do remember everyone is busy with their own things so don't ask unnecessary questions. To start off, you can join the malaysian facebook support group which i created!