“Biggest Mistake of My Life”: Regret After Jaw Surgery

Jaw surgery: recovery, complications and your rights · Part 4 · 15 min read · Published 10 November 2026 · Reviewed 10 November 2026 · Next review May 2027

By Dr Rosemary Listing, PhD (Law) · Medical negligence lawyer since 2014 · Of Counsel, Peter Evans & Associates

If you are reading this in the middle of the night because you don’t recognise your own face, I want you to know that what you’re feeling makes sense. You have been through major surgery that changed how you look, and grief for the old face is a real and recognised reaction. It doesn’t make you vain or ungrateful.

This guide is for anyone feeling regret after orthognathic surgery, and for the partners and parents supporting them. It covers why regret happens, what usually changes with time, where to get support, what you should have been told before surgery, what your records should show, and how the law looks at it.

Start with your question

• Is it normal to regret jaw surgery?
• How many people regret jaw surgery?
• Will I get used to my new face?
• Where can I get support?
• Can jaw surgery be reversed or revised?
• What should I have been told before surgery?
• Could regret after jaw surgery be a legal issue?

Why regret happens

Jaw surgery changes the foundation of the face. Moving the jaws can change the nose, lips, chin, smile and profile, sometimes subtly, sometimes a lot. The Australian and New Zealand Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons lists “adjustment to a new appearance in some cases” among the things patients can expect early on, alongside pain, swelling and a soft diet.¹

In the first weeks, swelling distorts the face further. An NHS patient guide says most swelling goes within about a fortnight, but subtler swelling can take months to settle.² So the face you see at ten days is not the face you will have at a year. That is not a reason to dismiss your feelings. It is a reason to be gentle with yourself about decisions.

How common is it?

Most people are satisfied after jaw surgery. A 2024 systematic review of 16 studies found satisfaction rates between 83 and 100 per cent. It also found that dissatisfaction is often linked to unmet expectations, that patients treated for a receding lower jaw were sometimes less satisfied than those treated for an underbite, and that in one study women were less satisfied at six months, possibly because facial changes can have a stronger psychological impact.³

So regret is not common, but it is not rare either, and it is more likely when expectations and reality don’t match. That makes what you were told before surgery important.

The months that follow

For many people, the face becomes familiar as swelling settles and they get used to it. For some, the feelings ease but don’t go away. For a few, they grow. All three are valid. It can help to:

• Take photos at regular intervals, in the same light, so you can see the changes over time.
• Avoid comparing yourself to before-and-after photos online, which are often chosen to impress.
• Tell someone you trust how you feel, rather than carrying it alone.
• Ask your surgeon what further change to expect, and when your face is likely to reach its final shape.

Getting support

A change in how you look can affect your mood, your confidence, your relationships and your work. Your GP can refer you to a psychologist under a mental health care plan. If you are struggling with how you feel about your appearance, the Butterfly Foundation’s helpline supports people with body image concerns.⁴

Where are you now?

A general guide only. Reach out whenever you need to.

Revision and other options

Sometimes a further operation can help, for example if the bite isn’t right or a specific feature could be improved. An NHS guide notes that, rarely, the new bite isn’t quite right and a second small operation is needed.² But revision surgery carries its own risks, and decisions made in the first months, while swelling is still settling and feelings are raw, can be ones you later wish you’d waited on. A second opinion from another oral and maxillofacial surgeon can help you see your options clearly. This series covers that in second opinions and revision jaw surgery.

If your regret is about function rather than appearance, other articles in this series may help: restricted mouth opening, numbness, relapse and jaw joint pain.

What you should have been told before surgery

Before surgery, your surgeon should have talked with you about what you hoped to change, and about how the planned movements were likely to change your appearance, not just your bite. Many teams use photos, scans or simulations to show this. You should also have been told that adjusting to a new appearance can be hard for some people. This series covers the planning choices in BSSO vs double jaw surgery and consent in “I didn’t know that was a risk”.

Questions to ask now

• How much more change should I expect, and over what time?
• Can you show me my pre-surgery plan or simulation alongside how I look now?
• Is there anything about the result that didn’t go as planned?
• What options are there if I still feel this way in a year?
• Can you refer me for psychological support?

What to look for in the records

Your records are often where the story becomes clear. You have a right to access your own health information. In NSW the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 covers both public and private providers, and the Information and Privacy Commission explains how to ask.⁵ Our step-by-step guide to getting your medical records in Australia walks you through it.

How the law looks at it

Regret after jaw surgery is not, on its own, negligence. You can have a technically excellent operation and still struggle with the result. The legal questions are about whether the planning, surgery and information you were given met the standard expected, and whether any shortfall caused harm.

A claim usually turns on three questions: whether the care fell below what peers would widely accept as competent practice (section 5O of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW))⁶, whether that shortfall probably caused harm you wouldn't otherwise have had (Tabet v Gett)⁷, and, where it matters, whether you were told the material risks first (Rogers v Whitaker)⁸⁹. Our guide to how a medical negligence claim works explains each one in plain terms.

In a case involving regret, the questions might be: was the surgery reasonable for your bite and face? Were the movements carried out as planned? Were your goals and concerns explored before surgery? Was your distress afterwards taken seriously and responded to?

In plain terms, the question is whether, with proper care or information, you would probably have been spared the harm. In consent cases, it can be whether you would have chosen differently if you had been properly told how your face might change.

For jaw surgery, that would usually include the likely change in appearance and, where relevant, that some people find adjusting to a new face difficult. Being told you’ll “look a bit different, but in a good way” may not be enough when the change is significant.

Who can claim, and when

The person who had the surgery can claim. If they were under 18, a parent or guardian can usually act for them. In NSW, time usually runs from when you knew, or ought to have known, enough to claim, not from the treatment itself, and courts can sometimes extend it, so an old injury may still count. See time limits in NSW or other states, and ask early.

More: complaint or claim? · how a claim is paid for · what a claim can cover

In my practice

The files about regret after jaw surgery are some of the hardest I read, because the operation has often gone exactly to plan. What is missing is the conversation about what the plan would mean for the person’s face. Sometimes there is a detailed 3D simulation in the records that the patient never saw. Sometimes the consent form lists every surgical risk except the one they actually experienced: not recognising themselves. And when they raise it afterwards, the response is often about the bite, which is perfect, rather than about them. I don’t think most surgeons intend this. But a person’s face is not a side effect of fixing their bite.

Both things can be true

Your surgeon may have done excellent work, and you may still not have been prepared for how you would feel. Your bite may be better than it has ever been, and you may still grieve your old face. You can be glad of what the surgery fixed and still want to understand why nobody talked to you about the rest.

The bigger picture

Research on jaw surgery shows high overall satisfaction, but also that unmet expectations drive dissatisfaction, and that the psychological impact of facial change may be greater for some people than others.³ That makes preparation before surgery, and support afterwards, part of good care. Public health services such as Queensland Health publish standard consent forms for orthognathic surgery to help make sure key risks are explained.¹⁰

You can check your surgeon’s registration on the Ahpra public register,¹¹ and complaints about care in NSW can go to the Health Care Complaints Commission.¹² For surgery done mainly for appearance, see our cosmetic surgery page and can I sue my cosmetic surgeon? If you felt dismissed, see when being dismissed by a doctor becomes a legal issue.

Support

Grief for your old face is real, and you don’t have to carry it alone. These services can help:

• Butterfly Foundation National Helpline, body image support: 1800 33 4673⁴
• Lifeline, 24-hour crisis support: 13 11 14 (listed on healthdirect's helplines page)¹³
• Beyond Blue, anxiety and depression support: 1300 22 4636
• Medicare Mental Health, help finding mental health support: 1800 595 212
• healthdirect, 24-hour nurse advice: 1800 022 222
• Health Care Complaints Commission (NSW): 1800 043 159

A woman who typed “biggest mistake of my life” into her notes app at 3 am found people who helped her understand what happened, and time to decide what comes next. You deserve that too.

With care,
Rosemary

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