Jaw surgery...pros and cons? Help!!!

[england]

Hi there...I just got top braces put on 3 weeks ago. When I went in for my consultation, my ortho suggested jaw surgery due to my underdeveloped jaw. I immediately said no, I didn't want to go that route because I wasn't interested in having a "perfect" smile and I didn't want to get that evasive. But, are there other non-cosmetic reasons that should make me re-consider jaw surgery? This is kind of hard to explain, but I never fully close my mouth, it's too uncomfortable and feels unnatural. I always "cushin" my bottom teeth against my tongue when my mouth is closed. Does that make sense?

Is it too late to reconsider (is that something that has to be done before you get braces?).

So, my question really is this...has anybody elected to not have jaw surgery. Are you happy with the outcome anyways. Or, if you did have jaw surgery, what was your main reason. I have no idea of the cost involved in that either, so if someone is willing to share that info, I'd appreciate it.

Thank you!!!

[lilone]

I did a lot of reading on here when jaw surgery was suggested to me (even though I knew I didn't want it, I wanted to know the pros and cons). From what I read, no one that had it is unhappy that they did it. They all really like their results. But many also discovered that the recovery is very difficult and think that the decision should not be made lightly. There are many helpful storys on here. I found iborg's to be detailed, informative and a good read since he is an excellent writer.

[Ellebraced]

Hi England

I am only about 3 months in so can not tell you yet but they wanted me to have lower jaw surgery. I decided against it because I did not want to have a major surgery and it would cost about $3000+ out of pocket on top of the $7000 for braces. I have no coverage currently and that's a bit too much money for me. I think my treatment would have been a couple months longer too ...up to 30 months total without surgery it is up to 28 months (I guess that isn't too much different) My sister had the opposite surgery (underbite not overbite) about 20 years ago and I remember her recovery was horrible but they say things have improved a lot since then.

Good luck with your decision, it is a very personal one. I too would like to be able to close my mouth fully and I am hoping just having braces will make that possible and my teeth straight. I am looking for improvement not perfection.

Elle

[caitlin1120]

I was debanded a little over two weeks ago (I think you were one of the comments on my pictures so you've seen the results) and I'm definitely a case of the non-jaw surgery route and I'm very happy with the way everything turned out. The first ortho I went to suggested it...well basically screamed it because of what she seemed to think was a ghastly overbite...and I was not a fan of the idea not only because of the recovery time but also because I had heard that it has a pretty drastic effect on the shape of your face. I got a second opinion from an ortho who said it wasn't necessary, but suggested extractions. I ended up going the extraction route, and my overbite was completely fixed with the braces and a few months of elastics wear. Funny how a couple of little rubber bands did what painful and expensive surgery proposed to do.

I'm sure my case is very different than yours, and I never experienced the tongue cushioning effect you describe, but I just wanted to share my non-surgical experience with you. In the end, it's your face, your mouth, and your decision.

Best of luck!

[england]

Oh yeah caitlin1120...I remember your post and your pretty teeth!

Thank you all for replying. It's such a big decision and an expensive one on top of the $6400 out of pocket already for braces. I think I'll talk to my ortho more about it...I just don't want to go through all this work, only to realize down the road that I should have gotten it done. I think I may have sleep apnea too and have heard that lower jaw surgery can help with that (maybe that is why I am ALWAYS tired and have been my whole life???). As I said too, I would not do this simply for the reason of achieving a perfect smile, I would only do it if it would benefit me medically or dentally (is that a word??? )

Anyways, lots to think about...

[trossi]

whether or now you can choose between surgery is a matter of your individual bite problem. some people can elect not to have surgery and end up with pretty good results while others, such as people with class III malocclusions, like myself and people with underbite may not be able to attain a correct bite without surgery. When I was about 15 I started my braces journey and opted to just do braces and extractions, using elastics etc, to try to fix my bite. It didn't give me a closed overbite but it was better than what I had. Now though it all opened up and my jaw has shifted to the left so basically 2 of my teeth touch and thats it, im grinding them down everyday because of this bite issue. You need to really look into your case and see if the non surgical route will give you long term results. You can also opt out like I did, but then you will be paying even more in the future as you will need braces again for the surgery.

Goodluck

[peckabel]

Oh yeah caitlin1120...I remember your post and your pretty teeth!

Thank you all for replying. It's such a big decision and an expensive one on top of the $6400 out of pocket already for braces. I think I'll talk to my ortho more about it...I just don't want to go through all this work, only to realize down the road that I should have gotten it done. I think I may have sleep apnea too and have heard that lower jaw surgery can help with that (maybe that is why I am ALWAYS tired and have been my whole life???). As I said too, I would not do this simply for the reason of achieving a perfect smile, I would only do it if it would benefit me medically or dentally (is that a word??? )

Anyways, lots to think about...

You sound like me england! I have been tired my whole life and my ortho referred me to a sleep specialist who said I have a sleep disorder, have a read of my blog which has more info in it, I dont want to bore everyone here.

I was in a similar situation as you a couple of years ago and decided not to even see an ortho let alone have surgery. But my health issues got worse and im not having impaction surgery im only having Sarpe to expand my pallate, but all the orthos and other docs I have seen since then told me that I will feel like a new person once its over and that if I dont do it now I will have to do this in 10 yrs time. Its worth going and seeing sleep specialist because you may have obstructive sleep apnea or UARS which is what I have. I also have a problem with 'tongue thrust' which sounds the same as you. Also I highly recommend seeing a few orthos before you make any decision as they all do things differently. Hope this helps

[england]

Thank you for the information Belinda. I just checked out your blog...very interesting stuff! Wow, sounds like you are getting things moving along quickly though, good for you! I hope everything goes well. I put your blog in my favorites so I can keep up with your journey.

I made an appointment with a sleep clinic, that will be on April 11th. I think they will give me a device to take home and sleep with, then I return it the next morning. That will give them some indication if they need to do further sleep studies, etc.

I will be simply amazed if I do have sleep apnea and this is why I'm always tired. What a lifelong problem it has been. I'm sure people think I am just lazy (ugh!!!). If only I had energy, there are so many things I want to do, but just can barely get myself off the couch some days.

Anyways, I'll post more when I find out the results of the initial consultation.