David C

David’s story

In 1990 at the age of 23, David had a dramatically small lower jaw. This meant that his lower lip was permanently curled over his chin and he had sores on his chin crease almost all the time because of saliva collecting in this area. His gums were also stretching away from his lower incisor teeth because of the pull of his lower lip. The lower teeth were positioned far behind the upper set and because of this he could only eat soft foods.

In the same year he underwent surgery in which his lower jaw was fractured on both sides at the back and bone grafts using his own ribs were inserted to push it forward (inverted L osteotomies). His jaws were fixed in place with metal plates.

Following this surgery his life has improved dramatically. He is able to eat a normal diet and no longer has any sores on his chin. Prior to the operation people stared at him because of his absent chin and he lacked confidence, but he is now no longer self-conscious about his appearance.

He is now married, works as a service engineer and enjoys playing football as a centre-forward. He supports West Ham United.