Jaw surgery after a round of treatment?

[natashabasha]

Hey guys,

I was just wondering if anyone had heard of someone getting braces again and having jaw surgery a while after their treatment with braces/extractions were over?

[gpac]

I have heard of braces several years later due to relapse. Braces are kept on after surgery to help stabilize the jaw post surgery and make minor adjustments

[sirwired]

You'll need to go back into braces for jaw surgery for two reasons:

1) Your bite must be "decompensated" and your teeth put into the angles they'll be in AFTER the surgery. The surgeon just "snaps" your jaw into a natural bite prepared by the ortho with your braces.

2) The braces and archwire are used to hold things in place during and after the surgery. It's certainly possible to do jaw surgery without braces (since people in, say, car accidents don't usually have braces), but there is a lot more precision when using braces.