Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm new here and I really have no idea where to start looking for treatment. I'm a 23 year old male and I have a recessed lower jaw. I also had braces on to correct an "overbite" around age 15-16. My teeth are straight and my bite looks fine. What doesn't look fine is my jaw structure. I have TMJ problems occasionally, to but my traditional dentist says there's nothing that can be done because I've already had braces.

Can anyone point me in the right direction here? I don't know what type of doctor I need to see because they all seem to only deal with normal teeth straightening and not jaw alignment. I think I need to see an orthognathic surgeon but the ones I've heard of with a good reputation are Arnett/Gunson in California. Every place I've called wants me to get a referral from a dentist and won't accept a separate appointment that wasn't a referral.

Is it really necessary for some people to go through 3 years of braces to move teeth to weird positions just so that the surgery 3 years later will make everything line up? It just seems so daunting since I'm already 23. Either way, I'm wondering does anyone knows a good ortho in the Ohio area that can help me?

Why do you assume area orthodontists only deal with teeth straightening and won't take combined ortho/surgical cases? They may not specifically advertise this capability on their website, just like they usually don't list a "specialty" of extracting teeth, but that doesn't mean they can't do the work. (Mine doesn't list ortho/surgical as a specialty, yet my oral surgeon was a groomsman at his wedding.) Also, your general dentist should be able to refer you to an appropriate orthodontist.

Most major metro areas have at least a few oral surgeons that will perform orthognathic surgery. You can usually spot them by looking through the list of surgeons that will take your medical insurance plan, but in any case your orthodontist is usually the one that works with you to choose a surgeon.

Just because you had braces once does not prevent you from getting them again. You will find lots of people on this board who are in them for their second and in some cases even third time.

I suggest that you go to Google or the yellow pages of your phone book and look up orthos in your area. Then call them up and make a consult. Most will do consults for free. At the consult, explain your concerns. They will be able to tell you if you're a surgical candidate or not and provide you with a referral to the oral surgeon. You might want to talk to several orthos.