Jaw Surgery Plate Removal: Getting the rest of my titanium plates taken out 1.5yrs after jaw surgery 

Thank you for the support as well, and congratulations on getting started on your journey!! That's very exciting, and I'm so glad to hear you found a team of people who are committed to helping you through this process :) Best of luck with everything, and please do keep us posted on how things are going as you move forward! Onward and upward 🙂

Thank you for watching, and I hope all goes well for you with the plate removal!

How did the plate removal go?

@alaura.444 - Did u notice your nose widened after the upper jaw plates were removed? Thanks

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the support 😊💕

You're welcome! Thank you for watching, and I wish you the best on your own journey :)

I'm so glad this was helpful! Thanks for the comment, and I hope all goes well for you with your plate removal :)

@ParisLoveblue - Did u notice your nose widening after your upper jaw plates were removed? Want to hear feedback from more people. Thanks.

@@ParisLoveBlue I'm going to get my lower jaw hardware removed and I'm not sure what I can eat after the surgery! How did you eat and what did you eat?

Thanks for watching, I'm so glad it was helpful! I hope all goes well with your plate removal and you have a quick recovery :)

Thank you for the support! And yes - good question about the different procedures: for the lower plates removal I was *not* sedated, just local anesthesia in the clinic. For the upper plates/chin, it was still in the clinic but with sedation - so I was totally unaware of what was happening, but it wasn't general anesthesia and I wasn't admitted to the hospital (this particular clinic is in a large hospital though - the only time I was actually admitted to the hospital was for the original jaw surgery when I had to have general anesthesia). I think the reason they do this is because the lower plates are pretty easy to get at through the gums, but those upper plates are pretty far up there, and I have to imagine it would be fairly uncomfortable to be awake while they are getting at those! If all the plates had been removed at one time, it would've been under sedation, but since I did the lower and upper ones separately, I got to experience it all lol. (And honestly, I might've preferred to be sedated when I had the lower plates removed - it was a little bit stressful to be aware of everything that first time around!)

@mareemazi5261 I had gone to Spain for my original surgery, so when I wanted the plates removed I decided to have the same surgeon do it (and thankfully they were totally willing to make it happen!) I'm so sorry you have titanium toxicity and your surgeon is not being helpful 😕 the clinic I went to in Barcelona is Instituto Maxilofacial, I'm not sure if they do removal for patients where they didn't so the initial surgery, but it's worth contacting them! www.institutomaxilofacial.com/en/ I hope you find someone who can remove the plates for you and you can begin healing! 🙏🏻

Thank you very much for the support! 🥰I'm so glad the video was helpful, and it's great that you already know you are sensitive to metal and can be prepared ahead of time if you do decide to have surgery. I hope all goes well for you moving forward! If you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out - happy to help if I can :)

Oh no, I'm so sorry you're feeling worse after your surgery! Removing the plates did not change my overall chronic fatigue situation, but it definitely did resolve the issues I was experiencing like facial pain, sinus inflammation, etc. that I was pretty sure were related to the metal... (I also had a metal plate removed from my wrist that was causing all sorts of pain and had immediate relief - so I'm pretty sure my body did not love the titanium!) I hope that helps, and that you are able to find some answers and get relief/recover!

I have had chronic fatigue since a facial reconstruction surgery many years ago. They finally diagnosed me as allergic to the nickel in the stainless steel pins in my chin. So I am getting them removed.

@@owensron1ful wow, I'm so glad you've finally found some answers! I hope your removal goes well you begin to heal and feel better!!

It's a good question, and I do think it's very possible that I was experiencing some kind of low level inflammation from the plates over time... And I agree that there are a lot of unkowns going into any surgery - thankfully I felt like I was very well informed of the potential negative consequences, and I went forward with it knowing that there would likely be *some* kind of side effect that I would have to deal with long-term. And I was willing to take that risk! That said, I agree that it would be helpful if there was more discussion from surgeons about all the challenges that come with this process - and also what the plan is to deal with anything that does come up for any individual.

Hi! I'm so sorry you weren't able to get all of the metal removed :( I was definitely worried that might be an issue for me as well, and my surgeon did mention that could be the case since it had been over a year from my original surgery, but I guess I was lucky that the bone hadn't grown over the plates and he was able to get everything out... When I was first thinking about the removal, I did read that it is preferable to have it done before the 1 year mark - I wish that had been more clear and/or patients were informed of that just in case they do need to have them removed! I certainly would have been more proactive about making the decision if I had realized it needed to be done within a certain timeline. I really hope you heal well, and it is still great that you got the majority of the metal removed! My guess would be that your body will be able to handle the small amount of metal that remains much more easily, and there are things you can do to support your immune system if needed or if you feel like it still could be an issue ❤

After the plate removal, it probably took about a 7-10 days for most of the swelling to subside, and I was pretty much able to eat normal food right away! My mouth was sore, and I ate softer foods in general, but I didn't have to modify my diet or normal life activities very much - this recovery was definitely faster/easier than the original jaw surgery :)

@@meganschall thanks for sharing.

I would say yes, the swelling was very minimal by 2 weeks post removal - there may have still been a little bit of tightness or a tiny bit of discomfort to smile/chew etc., but the recovery was quite fast! (especially compared to the original surgery lol)

Oh no!! I'm so sorry that happened to you, that sounds *very* not fun :/ I hope all goes well for you and you heal/recovery quickly!

I did not notice any nose widening, although that was one of the potential side effects mentioned when I asked about removing the plates. I'm sorry you've been having those issues and that your surgeon is reluctant to remove them for you! Obviously there is always some risk involved in surgeries, and I was fortunate that my surgeon was confident he could remove the plates and minimize any potential side effects...maybe it would be worth consulting with other surgeons for a second opinion??

Thank you!

Hello, thanks for watching! When my front tooth died, the usual protocol would have been to have a root canal to remove the dead root and then bleach it from the inside to return it to it's normal color (it had turned gray). However, I preferred to remove the dead tooth and get a ceramic implant instead, so that's what I did! It's all complete now and everything is good :) That said, my understanding is that it is quite rare for a tooth to die during this surgery (like 1% of the time?), so although it *can* happen, it's probably pretty unlikely. But I'm sure your surgeon can give you more info about the risk and/or what the plan would be if it did occur. I hope all goes well for you with your upcoming surgery!

@@meganschall thank you for reply. This is reassuring. Spkoken to my surgeon today and he basically said exactly what said. Its rare, but can happen. Hope you are well and may heal fully from your surgery x

@@gabbysingh624 thank you for the support! Best of luck as you move forward!

I'm so sorry you had a jaw fracture and you've noticed an exposed plate now :( I notified my surgeon/team as soon as I found the exposed plate and they informed me what I needed to do, so I'd just suggest getting in touch with your surgeon if possible!

You're very welcome! Thank you for the support, and for sharing your story as well - and good for you for trusting your instincts about how the metal plates are affecting you. I definitely agree that some of us, like you and me perhaps, are more sensitive to these things...and that while many people may be able to tolerate the metal just fine, there are those of us who will be better off having them removed. I wish you the best on your journey and hope all goes well with your upcoming surgery!

I believe the cost to have all of the upper jaw and chin plates/screws removed was around $3500-4000, and the procedure took about 45 minutes! (This procedure was much more expensive than removing just the lower plates because it involved anesthesia...)

I think it's totally normal to have a bit of pain/swelling for at least a few days after that procedure! I'm not a doctor obviously, so I'd always recommend checking with your surgeon to get their recommended protocols, but I would imagine using ice and/or anti-inflamatory meds to help with the pain and swelling would be fine for a few days... If I remember correctly, I used ice packs the first day or two and took some ibuprofen for probably the first 3-5 days afterwards until the pain was manageable without meds. And I just tried to eat foods that wouldn't irritate my mouth or the stitches, and get lots of rest to help the healing process :) I hope you recovery well!

I do wear my retainer - and I'm also still discussing some further invisalign work with my orthodontist, so if things have shifted a bit, I'm not that worried about it :)

From what I have heard, it is *not* usual to remove plates - around 1% of plates are removed for one reason or another (according to the website of the clinic I went to), but it may be different for other surgeons...did he say why they "needed" to be removed? As for swelling, it took probably at least 6 months before I felt like I was close to "normal," and even from 6-12 months there were subtle changes. If you go back and look at some of my videos from earlier on, I am definitely still quite swollen at the 2-3 month mark! I hope all goes well for you as you continue to recover and heal :)

I am not sure I understand the first part of the question? I did have a plate and screws on my chin that were also removed!

As far as I know, they should be completely healed by now. I believe it takes about 3-4 months for bones to heal, and when I did a recent CBCT scan I didn't notice any areas that looked like they hadn't filled in! I guess I can't say with 100% certainty, but I would venture that they are healed/filled by now.

Hi! I have not noticed any changes to my nose since removing the plates :)

Thanks. With the surgery my nose change a lot, and I’m not happy with this change

Thanks. With the surgery my nose change a lot, and I’m not happy with this change

@@otigarcia1337 Oh no, I'm sorry that happened! Did you have the surgery recently? Is it possible it is still swollen or will continue to improve over time?

I would check with your surgeon about removing the plates if that is something you are considering - it may depend on how long it's been since you had them put in... My understanding is that for the most part plates are *not* removed, unless there is some issue or the patient requests it for whatever reason (the statistic I heard was that ~1% of plates are removed). But in general, once the bones have completely healed, the plates are unnecessary! I hope that helps :)

@@meganschall Megan, That was much appreciated. Ill def check in with a doctor. Most likely they will say no lol I got a plat on the chin and have an indent into the chin. Which is totally annoying. Chris

@@chrisdavis6264 oh man, that's a bummer! Let me know what you find out, I hope you can find a good resolution in the end!

The areas that were numb have continued to improve over time, I wouldn't say that having the plates and screws removed "solved" that immediately though.

The plan is to check back with my orthodontist this fall and see about doing Invisalign for any future adjustments/alignment!