Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi everyone, young adult male here looking to get braces. I've had two consultations so far, the first one suggesting damon braces to widen my arch and fix overcrowding and crossbite without extractions. Second one has suggested that I may need surgery to expand the upper jaw.

I am not opposed to getting surgery but one of the questions that has been bugging me (I know I should have asked the dr this but I didn't rememeber), is what exactly needs to be done to fix my profile? I have a pretty weak jawline and chin, partly due in fact I think because I have had the second upper molar on my left side removed and the first molar on lower right removed - which is really throwing off the balance in my mouth. Also all of my wisdom teeth were removed at the same time, including two "extra" teeth - for a grand total of 8 removed, and I feel it negatively affected my profile quite a bit.

I've looked at a lot of pictures of others that have the kind of weak jaw that I do but nearly all of them had big overjets/overbites and had lower jaw surgery to correct that and the results look good. Neither orthos mentioned lower jaw surgery for me though, and from what I can see in my mouth that I do not have a very severe overjet or overbite, which makes me confused as to why I have such a weak profile. The only thing that sort of resembles any bad overjet is my one top incisor that is tipped out but I think thats because the two incisors are overlapped and need to be pulled apart.

I can only speculate as to the reasons of why, perhaps the fact that my lower teeth are fairly crowded and narrow, with one cuspid really in a bad spot. My face is a little more narrow on the side with this messed up tooth (it is also the same side with a missing lower molar).

So now I am kind of skeptical if braces will fix my nagging problems with my profile - as weird as it sounds I was hoping an ortho would be recommending lower jaw surgery to help with the profile, but I haven't heard anything about it yet.

Can anyone check out my pictures and xrays and tell me what kind of treatment would give the kind of profile I am hoping for?

I don't think you have a weak jaw at all. Your profile looks good to me!

leftyme wrote:I don't think you have a weak jaw at all. Your profile looks good to me!

Me too

Ok I figured it out, its not my weak jaw thats throwing off my profile, it is the bone that is above my upper incisors that is too far forward.

Does anyone know if this will be/can be corrected orthodontically? Or is surgery the only option?

Heres a photo if you are not sure what I am talking about.

I don't see anything wrong with your profile at all - with either jaw.

The only thing I can see with you will be fixed with the braces - your front view. Your arches seem narrow due to the crowding. When your teeth are straightened and your arches rounded, I think that your face will be perfectly balanced.

I dont think there is anything wrong with your profile, front and side. Seems to me you just have some crowding and teeth to be straightened out and algined. Dont think extraction is needed. Expansion looks like an alternative. But im no pro. Do get a third consultation!

I agree on this, I don't see anything wrong with your profile. I think it looks pretty ideal to me, actually. I don't know how old you are, but a lot of young men grow a lot in their later teen years, especially in their lower face, and the changes can make things look 'weird' or 'not right' to them, but really things are fine, just different from before. Hope this helps!

I love your profile.
Your upper lip area may change slightly with orthodontics if your upper teeth are reigned in a bit and your arch is more rounded out.
You will have fabulous results with braces alone!

leftyme wrote:I don't think you have a weak jaw at all. Your profile looks good to me!

I also agree with this!