Eating After Surgery: Jaw Surgery Recovery Reader Mail
Today's email comes from a reader named Eamon. Skip to the bottom of this story for my bottom line about this jaw surgery recovery topic. The initial email read as follows:
Hi, thanks for the read. I got some good stuff out of it. I had jaw and chin surgery three days ago and have a few unanswered questions. I can't make facial expressions with my cheeks or whatever, though there's a little movement. Did you have lots of wires in your teeth? How long would you say it was until you could eat normally and open your mouth normally? Did you get anything on your teeth because I got braces but think that was for my chin? Thanks heaps, really hope you recovered well.
I responded to Eamon:
Hi Eamon,
I had a ton of stuff in my mouth after surgery. Braces, a splint, wires and probably stuff I forgot about. The good news is it's been two days since you emailed me, so that's two more days down! It was about 6-8 weeks before I could eat normally, but you might be able to do it sooner depending on what your surgeon says. I wasn't able to open my mouth normally for quite a while as I had a specific unique issue, so don't worry since you probably don't have it.
I didn't have chin surgery but I'm glad you made it through and you're recovering now. The first two weeks seems like forever, but it seemed in my mind to "speed up" after that.
Jordan
Eamon responded:
Thanks heaps for the reply Jordan. Top fella. Cheers. I have a check-up with the surgeon tomorrow so hopefully, that goes well. If I have any more questions I definitely will ask.
Cheers mate.
The bottom line is that it usually takes about 6-8 weeks after jaw surgery recovery before you can eat normally. For fairly solid foods, it's important to wait until your surgeon gives the go-ahead. I was unfamiliar with what Eamon mentioned about wires in his mouth that were different than braces. However, he may have been referring to having your jaw wired shut.
Wiring your jaw shut does not sound fun. It's not. However, in my first surgery if my jaw had been wired shut, perhaps everything would have lined up properly and I wouldn't have needed a second surgery. My jaw was wired shut for the second surgery.