Recovery From Jaw Surgery

Diet

When patients think about jaw surgery recovery, one of the most common questions is, “How will I eat after jaw surgery?”. The good news is that with modern surgical techniques we no longer have to wire patient’s jaws together during the recovery period, which means you will be able to open your mouth, speak, and clean your teeth from day 1. While you will be able to eat and drink immediately after surgery your jaw bones will not be ready to withstand chewing forces until 6 weeks post operatively. This means you need to be on a no chew diet for a full 6 weeks after surgery. This may sound unappetizing initially, many patients adapt to it quite well and begin to eat some of their favorite foods only a few weeks into their recovery. Some examples of foods that can be safely eaten include soft scrambled eggs, whipped mashed potatoes, yogurt, well done pasta, refried beans, smoothies, protein shakes. In addition, you can put any food you want in a blender and eat it with a spoon. While pizza in a blender may initial sound unappealing, think about the first thing you naturally do with any food upon putting it in your mouth, you chew it and turn it into a paste before you swallow it. Any food placed into a blender be it sausage, pizza or steak tastes the same as it does after you chew it up right before you swallow it so people are often surprised and end up putting some exciting stuff in a blender during their recovery period. Everyone is excited to reach the 6 week mark and remove the restrictions from their diet, but patient’s are often surprised how easy a no chew diet is once they get used to it.

Jaw Surgery Recovery Time Line Summary: Milestones By Week

Jaw Surgery Recovery Time Line: Week 1 – Rest, Recover Drink
Week 1 is the toughest week in terms of recovery. While you can open your jaw, speak, eat and drink immediately after surgery, right after surgery your lips will be swollen and numb and your bite will be in a new position. This usually results in some awkwardness trying to eat during the first week. As a result, most people get their calories in a liquid form including Gatorade®, Odwalla ® smoothies, milkshakes or other assorted fruit and vegetable juices. The most important thing during week one is to stay on top of your hydration and making sure you are taking in enough fluids which is much more important than food and adhering to a scheduled regimen of Tylenol ® and Ibuprofen, (described here in the detailed post operative instructions) to help with your pain. Fortunately, pain tends to be less of a concern for many patients since their lips are initially numb this helps reduce some of the pain they experience. Your swelling will increase over most of the first week and peak around day 5 before it slowly begins to come down during the rest of your recovery. As the swelling begins to come down and you get accustomed to your new bite patients begin to eat more and get more of their energy back as they transition into week 2.

Jaw Surgery Recovery Time Line: Week 2 – Food Increase + Swelling Decrease = Energy Increase
Week 2 is where patients improve the most after surgery, it is all down hill from week 2. Towards the end of the first week the swelling has peaked and begins to come down, so swelling reduces the most during the second week. While it may take up to months before all the swelling is completely resolved, 50-75% of the swelling will be gone by the end of the second week. As the swelling comes down and patients begin to get more accustomed to their new bite, they begin to eat more substantial foods, although they still cannot chew. This increase in calories and decrease in swelling results in patients getting a lot of their energy back, which is a welcome return.

Jaw Surgery Recovery Time Line: Week 3 – Return to School
By the start of week 3, most kids will feel ready to return to school. They are talking and performing sedentary activities without much difficulty. We advise adults take an additional week to return to work, but many will feel ready to return to work at or during this week. That is safe and it is completely up to you and your recovery whether you return to work during week 3 or if you prefer to give yourself the full 3 weeks to recover. During this week most patients are weaning off the Tylenol ® and Ibuprofen as they continue to gain energy and feel more like themselves.

Jaw Surgery Recovery Time Line: Week 4 – Return to Work
By the start of week 4, almost all patients feel ready to return to their normal work schedule. Most patients have their energy back and have minimal if any pain at this stage. This is also the time that patients begin to ease back into some non-contact athletic activity. You have to listen to your body and introduce these activities slowly, but you are ready to begin the process.

Jaw Surgery Recovery Time Line: Week 5 and 6 – Feel Great, Not Ready to Chew
By week 5 and 6 the soft tissue has fully healed and most patients begin to feel like the surgery as a distant memory. If they are eager to return to athletic activity, they can start to work in more strenuous activity during this time. However, the most important thing during this stage is to remember that although you are feeling great and no longer have pain, your bones are not yet fully healed and cannot withstand chewing forces, contact athletic activity, or anything where you have an increased likelihood of falling. During these weeks we just have to continue to remind patients to stick to the diet when they are on the home stretch.

Jaw Surgery Recovery Time Line: Beyond Week 6 – All Restrictions Removed
Congratulations! After 6 weeks the jaw bones are fully healed and ready to return to all regular activity without restrictions including a regular diet and contact sports. Of course, we advise a transition period, if you start with a chewy steak day 1 your jaw muscles will be very sore although it is safe. Ease yourself back into the foods you enjoy and let your body be your guide. Around this time, you will also return to your orthodontist who will begin finalizing and perfecting your bite. This process often takes 3 to 6 months before the braces are removed.