'Scariest thing I've ever gone through': Singapore woman shares $26,000 jaw surgery experience on TikTok

After living with a severe underbite for years, Qinthara Fasya made the decision to undergo a double jaw surgery to fix the problem. 

The 22-year-old university student uploaded a raw and emotional TikTok video on March 15 to document her experience. She shared images of her jaw pre- and post-surgery to show the results.

At the time of writing, the video has been viewed over 9.6 million times and has over 4,000 comments. 

@queentharz My corrective double jaw surgery experience was the scariest thing I’ve ever went through but I couldn’t have done it without the support of my loved ones 🤍 still healing slowly! #underbite #doublejawsurgery #jawsurgery #braces #fyp ♬ Renee - Sales

Qinthara admitted that three days before the operation, she "cried and broke down" in fear. 

The video showed that she had immense swelling in the lower half of her face for the first few days after surgery. On the 10th day, she was taken to the emergency department due to intensive nose bleeds. 

By the third week, however, she was finally able to remove her mouth guard and could eat soft foods.

"My corrective double jaw surgery experience was the scariest thing I’ve ever gone through but I couldn’t have done it without the support of my loved ones," she wrote. 

On Saturday (March 19), Qinthara uploaded another TikTok video that went into more detail about the procedure, as well as her reason for undergoing surgery. 

@queentharz Still lisping cause i’m still healing! hope yall can understand my speech 🤣 Here’s the first part of the jaw surgery procedure & why I had to do it! Thanks for the love everyone ❤️ #jawsurgery #doublejawsurgery #braces #underbite #fyp #sg ♬ Say So (Instrumental Version) [Originally Performed by Doja Cat] - Elliot Van Coup

Before going into the nitty gritty details, she showed the side view of her jaw before the operation. 

"I think it looks kind of scary," she said with a laugh. 

Trying to fix the problem with braces 

She shared that she first got braces in in 2018 to straighten her upper front teeth. The braces were removed after nine months and upon doing so, she noticed that her lower jaw began to protrude more. 

Qinthara said that her "biting wasn't very bad" at the time and she did not consider undergoing major surgery as she was too young.

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While she was content with how she looked, she was bothered by how she was unable to enjoy food like everyone else. 

As time passed, she became "lazy to eat" because she couldn't chew her food properly and she would even end up not eating anything at times. 

Despite that, she did not intend on undergoing surgery for her condition because she believed that cosmetic reasons alone did not justify the risk, pain or anxiety she would have to go through. 

By this time, her front teeth were "completely useless" and the gap between her lower and upper jaw was getting bigger, Qinthara said.

The problem got so bad, food began to fall out of her mouth when she ate, which was something she found "super embarrassing". She also smiled showing only her upper teeth and felt the need to constantly hide her bottom teeth. 

On Sept 16 last year, Qinthara decided to get braces for the second time as she was unable to chew her food properly, which caused her to suffer from indigestion. 

Unfortunately, the doctor told her that braces alone would not be able to fix her underbite. In fact, the braces made her lower jaw jut out even further. 

On top of that, the braces were painful to wear and caused her to slur whenever she talked. 

Deciding to go under the knife 

So, after years of pushing away the idea, she finally decided that surgery would be the "the best option at this point". 

At the end of the video, Qinthara advised people with non-severe overbite or underbite to try getting braces before deciding whether to go under the knife. 

For those who are considering undergoing a similar surgery and are curious about the price, Qinthara said that for her braces alone, she paid a total of $5,000 through monthly instalments.

Responding to queries in the comments, she shared that double jaw surgery in a public hospital cost her about $26,000. The amount was partially covered by MediSave as it is a medical procedure. 

melissateo@asiaone.com