asymetrical lip movement after lower jaw surgery

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pmalvoisin@gmail.com - 16 Jun 2006 20:26 GMT

Hello Group,

After doing a bit of lurking, I see that the contributors of this group
are most kind at answering questions from the general public. I was
hoping to get an opinion or two about my situation.

I am a male, 25, and three weeks ago I had a lower jaw advancement done
as part of my orthodontic treatment. Additionally, I elected to have
some genio surgery for aesthetical value. Before having my operation,
I was advised that as a result of the surgery I may feel numbness in my
palate, lips, and/or chin; however, I was at no risk of having facial
drooping or loss of motor functions.

During my recovery (and up to now) I have numbness in my lower left lip
and all over my chin; everything else is back to normal. However, when
I speak, it looks like I am talking of the right side of my mouth. It
seems the left side of my mouth (especially the bottom lip) isn't
moving as fluidly as the right side. I feel I look somewhat like that
former Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chretien.

I discussed this with my surgeon and he said there is no way the
surgery damaged the nerves controlling motor functions of the lips. He
said the problem was my lip muscles didn't know they weren't moving
because of the numbness. He added that he expects my nerves to fully
heal and for me to regain function again.

I am feeling frustrated because I wasn't advised about the risk of
asymetrical lip movement. I wanted to ask: Is this a common occurance?
Does it get better over time? What can be done to correct it? And
finally, what could be the cause of my problem? I am trying to stay as
positive as possible about this whole ordeal.

Thank you for any advice or opinions offered.

Cheers,
Phil

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Steven Bornfeld - 16 Jun 2006 22:37 GMT

> Hello Group,
>
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> Cheers,
> Phil

    I'm having to dig back into my neuroanatomy, and hope Tony, George, and
esp. Dave can help me out. I believe most of the perioral muscles get
motor innervation from cranial N VII. It certainly seems possible that
there could be some damage to smaller branches, but I agree that it
seems unlikely you would be left with significant long-term deficit.
    Three weeks is also an awfully short time to expect small nerves to
heal. I think it's waaaay to early to worry about this.
    Now I'll have to look for videos of Chretien. FWIW, I had two guys in
my dental school class who always spoke out the sides of their mouth.

Steve

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pmalvoisin@gmail.com - 17 Jun 2006 01:10 GMT

Hello Steve,

> I'm having to dig back into my neuroanatomy, and hope Tony, George, and
> esp. Dave can help me out. I believe most of the perioral muscles get
> motor innervation from cranial N VII. It certainly seems possible that
> there could be some damage to smaller branches, but I agree that it
> seems unlikely you would be left with significant long-term deficit.

Thanks for your reply. From my research, nerve VII controls motor
function of the mouth, while nerve V is responsible for sensations. I
guess I didn't have a guideline to see how long it took to get the
feeling back in my face again... I made a lot of progress on the right
side of my lips -- to the point that it feels normal again. I was
thinking that something was wrong because the left side didn't heal as
quickly.

> Three weeks is also an awfully short time to expect small nerves to
> heal. I think it's waaaay to early to worry about this.

This is what I needed to hear. :-) You made me feel better.

> Now I'll have to look for videos of Chretien.

You should look for the one when, during a demonstration, a protester
got too close to him for comfort, so he grabbed the protester near the
neck and threw him aside. :-)

Cheers,
Phil

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