open bite, misaligned jaws.. 7 years of ortho previously

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#1 Post by **lemonwater** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:17 am

New here.. couple of questions, just trying to figure out what to expect.. Bit of history first however:

Sucked my thumb until I was 7, ended up with a bad overbite and was fitted with a "thumb catcher" basically a tongue crib glued to the roof of my mouth

After that, 1.5 years with a herbst (jaw stretcher) to fix my overbite, then 1.5 years of braces. I was 15 when I got my braces off, and I had two wires glued to the top/bottom of my teeth. I wore my overnight retainers religously for the 5 years I was told to.

7 years later, I noticed my front teeth don't touch each other anymore. I went to my ortho, was told I needed surgery and more braces. He said I have an openbite and that my jaws aren't aligned.. He said this was due from tongue thrusting; residual habit from thumb sucking...

Said that I'm "surgical class 2", put a video of a lower jaw surgery on for me. Everything I've read, however, openbites are usually fixed with upper surgery.

I know you're just going to tell me to wait until my O.S. consult to find out what surgery I'm going to have; but I really don't know when that's going to be; and it's driving my crazy not knowing. I know the best you guys can do is give me an educated guess, but that's all I'm really trying to find out to put my mind at rest.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/thegirlcrash ... 5599282242

http://picasaweb.google.ca/thegirlcrash ... 5979990082

#2 Post by **lemonwater** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:19 am

Forgot to add, with braces and the herbst, I had a palate expander (twice)

#3 Post by **lfwood** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:49 am

I sucked my thumb til I was about 8. Wore headgear, had braces back in 1988.

Am now doing it all again. Have had braces for about 14 months and just had lower jaw (advancement) surgery.

I guess back in the 80's orthodontics weren't as advanced as they are now. My teeth were straightened, but my bite wasn't. Because of my overbite, and my recessed lower jaw, my top two teeth started slanting inwards to meet my lower jaw. Over time this would've gotten worse.

That's why the only way to stabilise the bite and the teeth was to have the jaw surgery. Hopefully this will be over for once and for all.

Well that is my story anyway. I guess you have answered your own question really by needing to wait til you see your Surgeon as to what your options and outcomes will be.

All the best.

#4 Post by **qwertz1** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:37 am

without looking at the pictures, my guess that it'll most likely be both jaws for class II and open bite.

#5 Post by **ajl1239** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:51 am

You should ask your ortho/surgeon about TADS (temporary anchorage devices). Your open bite is not that bad and might be able to be corrected with a combination of braces/TADS (mini-screw implants that allow for your molars to be intruded) and shaving them down just a bit. Asians have been doing this to correct open bites for years...