Metal Mouth Message Board

hi there! i'm new here and thought i would lob a zillion questions at you all lol.

my story:

i am 40, female.
braces with four cuspid removal from ages 16-19 to correct crowded upper due to tiny face

Okay let me talk in real talk now...the reason i am here is because my orhto did what i consider to be a crap job on my teeth when i got my braces and now i am wanting to take action.

my uppers were really crowded, with a crossbite, a fangtooth stiking out, you name it. i also have the typical narrow palate facial issues and had them growing up: long face, droopy outer eye corners, no cheekbones, prominent eyes, pointy chin. (i also had a lot of problems that i chalk up to my face: trouble breathing causing slouching posture and crap at sports: yeah middle school was fun ;-)) Depite all this i am actually NOT quasi moto; in fact i was always and am still considered quite pretty.

anyway, i think all some orthos see is the teeth, and not the face they are in, and he took out my four cuspids and screwed my teeth in real good so that i had what a lot of people would consider to be "perfect teeth". I was never really happy with my looks and i always suspected it had something to do wtih my braces and them pulling my teeth. i asked my parents why they didn't suggest an expander at the time and they couldnt remember but it might have had something to do with a fear of putting me in surgery (i'm guessing for the lower jaw)

there are also all kinds of weirdnesses with my teeth now despite me having perfect OH, including pockets, sensitivity at the base, and gum recession where they pulled my cuspids and molars so far in teh teeth are canted in at an angle. it's also worse on my right side so i have a notably assymetrical face, tilted chin, lower eye on one side lol i sound like a monster!

i also have sinus problems that are getting worse every day, and a crooked nose and a funny bump on one side of it. i'm an artist and i know facial anatomy well and i know exactly what happened and why to my face. now i just don't know how to go about remedying this.

so my questions are, can i sue my ortho for damages to my face? do you think my insurance would cover this if i can get someone to see how bad my sinuses are and my teeth? i swear i am only breathing 30% out of my right nostril and i have near-constant sneezing, coughing from post-nasal drip, and apnea, and even fairly frequent itching in my right eye corner and clicking in my right jaw.

i think what needs to happen is SARPE along with upper jaw repositioning and hopefully replacement/implants for my lost cuspids. they will need to do something to cut and reshape my lower jaw as well because it is tiny and pointy. of course i hope that my VERY NARROW nose will open up as well.

i so appreciate anyone who has the time and inclination to read this and answer my questions, and i sincerely hope i am on here helping others with their SARPE journey soon, speaking from a place of some experience :)

(also any recommendations for amazing ortho surgeons wherever they might reside who have a great understanding of this issue; i know i am not the only one who has had some overly enthusiastic ortho turn them into tinymouthed giant-toothed freaks!)

sincerely

virgogirl

Have you had any consultations with orthos? Two or three would be a good place to start, express your concerns, gather opinions, learn about treatment options, etc. Many orthos work closely with oral surgeons, so putting together a "team" you're comfortable with, as well as them being used to working with each other, is great, if it does come down to going a surgical route.