Overjet, overbite, spacing and the options!

[Skibunny]

Hi everyone,

I'm in my early 20's and have a 9mm overbite, 9mm overjet and severe spacing of both my upper and lower teeth. My upper front teeth sit at an angle of 110 degrees and my lower teeth sit at 135 degrees (obviously, normal is 90 degrees).

I have seen no fewer than six orthodontists, all have refused to treat me without mandiublar advancement surgery. I have consulted with a Maxillofacial Surgeon, and other specialists, all of whom have strongly recommended I do not have orthognathic surgery, due to some serious underlying health problems, and intolerances to pain medication (not to mention the orthognathic surgery would involved moving my mandible forward between 14 and 20mm).

As you can see, I'm at an impasse!

No orthodontist will treat me without surgery, no surgeon thinks it is advisable to do the surgery!

As the years have gone on, my overjet has increase severley, as my upper front teeth rest on my bottom lip and the gap between my two front teeth (about 3mm), continues to grow. Understandably, trying to break into the professional world and get taken seriously is difficult. Admittedly, my upper front teeth also make me horribly self-concious. Thankfully, my mandibular deficiency, does not affect my profile, general appearance or the function of my teeth too much.

Does anybody know of any orthodontist, anywhere in Victoria, who might, possibly be willing to treat purely for aesthetic purposes? Bracing just my upper teeth and not worrying about the rest? This whole issue has become so ridiculous!

Thanks for any help!

[sweetcynic]

I have the same thing but much less severe(5 mm overjet, 4 mm deep bite). In my case, extractions are a "maybe" but surgery wasn't really discussed.

[ArchWired28]

Skibunny
I think I can visualize what you are saying. I am not sure though, if bracing only the upper teeth is really an option. Maybe extracting and pushing everything back in which case you will have both arches banded. I am not sure where you are, but here in the US most orthodontists will treat the surgery cases "for aesthetics", if surgery is not an option. If all six refused, perhaps surgery is unavoidable in your case (i.e. they feel you will not benefit of braces otherwise). It seems to me that your only option is to keep looking (or reconsider the surgery). In any case, good luck to you!

[junkfood1991]

Me too I have a deep overbite and the premolar extractions seem to make my bite even deeper and gummier :-(

[Skibunny]

Thanks for your replies!

I'm in Australia.

Bracing the upper and lower teeth isn't an option without surgery unfortunately. My bite is too deep and doing so would make it deeper. I have an overbite that is considered more than 100%. I've had a couple of orthodontists suggest bracing just the top teeth to improve appearance, but then they recant and say 'but I'm not willing to do it - you'd have to find someone else'.

I've been told by a number of orthodontists that it's one of the most complex cases they've seen. I'll post an x-ray to demonstrate!

It's somewhat comforting to know that others are in similar situations!

[Skibunny]

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5 ... atceph.jpg

Picture is a bit grainy - but I'm sure you can appreciate the extent of the deep-bite and the overjet! Lucky me, I also have four impacted wisdom teeth.

[ArchWired28]

Skibunny
I think they turn you down because they don't believe bracing only the top teeth will do much. If I was a honest orthodontist, I'd hate to put braces on the person and take their money knowing that the benefit will be minimal (and may even do harm). With that, if you are still determined to have it done, keep looking. I mean, not many options besides that

Unless maybe you find a way to do surgery somehow. Maybe not now, but later... They now operate pretty much on anyone with great results!