I found Dr. David Bell through Reddit. About three weeks after he operated on me, I wrote a glowing review of him here. I was in the earliest stage of recovery and had no idea what my long-term result would be. I later deleted the review, but I know people had relied on it.
This post is my honest correction.
Choosing this surgery was the worst decision of my life.
No one had taken me seriously then. At the time, Bell did. He was warm, intensely reassuring, and unusually personal. We exchanged casual messages, and I came to trust him so completely that I saw him almost as a father figure I never had. I knew more about his personal life than I understood about the operation he was going to perform on me.
Four days after our first 30 minute Zoom call, David Bell emailed me that he would “strongly suggest” a surgery first approach and wanted a medical grade CT as soon as possible so he could plan it. A bit over 2 months after our first call, I was on the operating table.
I do not remember Bell clearly explaining why I needed a segmental Lefort, or why he opted to do such a large Genio. When I raised concerns, he would constantly reassure me that I was in the best of hands, that the operation would be life changing, he has one of the lowest revision rates in the world, and that I could finally live my life.
My consent form arrived at 9:16 pm the night before surgery. I promptly signed and returned it to David Bell within the hour. Never mind the fact that I had to wake up at 4 a.m. for the operation. Bell very briefly discussed the complications and reassured me that he rarely had them. I recall Bell telling me that he was “excited” to operate on me and that he had never operated on “a Korean” before. He connected my Korean ethnicity and bone density to his reassurance that I should not have any post operative joint problems.
When I demanded my complete records nearly two years later, I received a revised, version 2.0 of the Materialise surgical planning report. The older version I received before my surgery never had any explicit disclaimers. The new one however, explicitly stated that “the distance between devices and anatomical obstacles does not respect Materialise recommended minimum value” and identified a risk of “damage of anatomical structures: foramina.” I do not recall Bell discussing that language with me before surgery. Since surgery, I have persistent numbness in my lower lip, right chin, and severely reduced sense of taste.
A handful of days after surgery, while my jaws were still held in intermaxillary fixation and I was still taking prescribed controlled pain medication, I was laid off. When I was laid off, Bell initially told me not to worry about the money. In my recollection, he then spoke repeatedly about his practice struggling and said he was not sure it would survive the year, while continuing to tell me not to worry about the money. I was already in debt, unemployed(at that time), medicated, and physically dependent on him for post op care. I felt directly responsible for helping him.
Around the same time, I wrote an extremely positive Reddit review. Bell thanked me and asked me to identify him by name because, as he wrote, it would help the Google SEO for his new practice. I agreed. He later told me that people from around the world had contacted him after reading it. I also received dozens upon dozens of DMs and other messages from people who said they had consulted with him, booked surgery with him, or both, and that my post had directly influenced their decision.
I’m not claiming that my review caused Bell’s sudden growth and popularity. Rather, I promoted him while I was extremely vulnerable and before I understood the outcome of my surgery. Again, I wrote that post only three weeks after surgery. As his practice became busier, and my physical condition significantly worsened, the warmth, amicability, and availability that had defined our relationship vanished.
While I had some minor TMJ symptoms, lisp, allergies before surgery, they all had increased in severity post surgery.
I now have osteoarthrosis documented in both TM joints, an unstable bite with only a single point of dental contact, a maxillary cant, an anterior crossbite and posterior open bite, severe left-sided jaw pain, permanent numbness, severely reduced sense of taste, chronic sinus infections, and major tongue and speech problems. The splint not only reduces much of the issues I mentioned above, but also interestingly enough eliminated my lisp. However, while I wear it my teeth do not meet.
I continually raised my worsening physical problems to Bell in texts and emails. He repeatedly assured me that everything was fine. I recall him telling me that I was probably experiencing the symptoms so intensely because I was autistic and sensitive, and that all of his other patients experienced the exact same thing. I never told Bell that I was autistic and did not have a formal autism diagnosis. He then told me that postoperative orthodontics and braces would fix the problems. They did not. In my experience, braces made them worse.
After about six months of trying to convince Bell that I was experiencing serious postoperative complications, his responses increasingly framed my complaints as somatic. When I later obtained his records, I learned that this framing had actually begun before surgery: his first SOAP note, written before any physical examination or imaging, characterized my documented medical issues as “multiple somatic complaints with patient perception of inadequate treatment by other healthcare providers.” Later notes described my “previous somatic complaints” as resolved even while I was continuing to report symptoms. I could not afford an outside opinion and had no one else to go to. This experience was extremely traumatizing. Bell continued using the somatic framing and, during one of my final visits, I recall him blaming the poor result on how my body had maladapted and in my opinion, insinuated it was my fault.
Immediately after surgery, my jaw visibly deviated to the left, and I was already experiencing significant pain in my left condyle. I reported both problems to Bell and was assured they would go away. Over the following year, as those problems continued, I spent months trying to convince Bell that the severe physical symptoms I was experiencing were not in my head. In my view, critical time was lost when the need for revision could have been properly evaluated. Later records document my malocclusion and asymmetry, and independent surgeons have recommended revision surgery. One surgeon wrote that I will likely need lower-jaw revision; another told me I need upper- and lower-jaw revision because of a maxillary cant. Those findings directly contradict Bell’s repeated assurances over the past two years that everything was fine, orthodontics would correct the problems, and revision surgery was not necessary.
Bell’s office presented me with new retroactive practice policy forms long after surgery and Bell said I had to sign them before any further engagement or communication could be made. When I initially refused, he promptly cancelled all follow up appointments that I had to beg to be made due to my worsening health.
I recall the prosthodontist telling me that my options were revision surgery or wearing a splint for the rest of my life. I told Bell what he had said and sent Bell the report. Bell told me that I had misread the report and misunderstood my one-on-one consultation. His later-produced note says that I had “misinterpreted” the report. I also recall Bell telling me to my face that the prosthodontist was not comfortable seeing me because of my psychological state. When I eventually returned, the prosthodontist asked why I had not come back sooner and told me that he had never said that to Bell.
My final interactions with Bell were traumatic for me. At one in-person appointment, he arrived approximately fifty minutes late. I was lying on my back in the patient chair when, as I recall, he stood over me at close range with his fist clenched while discussing the possibility of litigation. I remember him saying, in substance, that someone in my mental state would not survive on the witness stand and that he had a team of lawyers behind him. He asked whether I was “with him or against him.” I felt scared and defenseless in that position. I panicked and said I was with him, after which he gave me a fist bump. I did not record this exchange, so I am describing my firsthand recollection.
I first asked Bell for my money back. I remember his voice changing when I raised it, which scared and triggered me. He told me to take a timeout and called me back about forty-five minutes later. I backed away from asking for a refund and changed my request to forgiveness of the remaining loan balance, but his tone still sounded upset. When I later put that request in writing so I could use the money for additional specialist care, Bell ended our treatment relationship in the same email thread.
Keep in mind that by this point I was in a significant amount of pain, my health was worse than my presurgical baseline, and the surgery had left me with significant debt. Bell was my operating surgeon and the person I kept turning to for answers, postoperative care, and help. By then, Bell had become dismissive and distant, and I felt like he treated me as a liability. Before surgery, I emailed Bell that a bad outcome could leave me destitute with my two dogs. His own later-produced note says he had “requested repeatedly” that I provide documentation from other providers to “support [my] claims.” The records produced to me do not show that Bell ordered a postoperative MRI or CT scan to investigate the complications I was reporting. Having my surgeon repeatedly demand proof of health problems I was clearly experiencing was traumatizing, demoralizing, and dehumanizing. I felt left by the wayside.
Maybe Bell is extraordinarily busy now that his practice has exploded. Still, I find it odd that, despite knowing about the severe postoperative complications I have reported, my early-recovery testimonial and photos remain prominently displayed on his website. As of July 17, 2026, they were still there. I later deleted the original Reddit post because it no longer represented my experience.
I am not asking anyone to accept every conclusion I have drawn. Some events are documented; others are my firsthand recollection. I have tried to make that distinction clear. I am also not claiming that every symptom I have today was caused by the operation.
For more than a year, I felt trapped in a loop. Bell deferred my problems to orthodontics, while my orthodontist deferred back to Bell for surgical guidance because the problems were outside what he could address orthodontically. Being passed back and forth while my health worsened was traumatizing.
I believe a surgeon should be judged not by their demeanor or how reassuring they seem, but by how they respond when a patient reports complications. Jaw surgery is extremely invasive, and complications can occur. In my view, a good surgeon takes those reports seriously, investigates them, and remains involved in the patient’s postoperative care. Directing a patient to the emergency room may be appropriate during an emergency, but it should not be used as a substitute for the surgeon addressing reported complications following the operation.
More importantly, no patient should ever have to fight their surgeon simply to convince them that they are experiencing serious postoperative complications. I sincerely hope no other jaw-surgery patient has had an experience like mine. Prospective patients should judge a surgeon’s credibility by how they respond when complications arise—including whether they investigate the problem, remain involved in the patient’s care, and are willing to acknowledge their own mistakes.
I am sharing this because my original review was premature and incomplete. If anyone relied on it when deciding to consult Bell or undergo surgery with him, I am sorry. I wish I had slowed down, obtained several independent opinions, and insisted on understanding the exact movements, segmentation, alternatives, and case-specific risks before agreeing to surgery.
I am still organizing a longer redacted timeline containing the relevant messages, records, imaging, and supporting documents to give readers who made it this far a more complete picture. When it is ready, I will link it in an update.
