braces/surgery all over again?

[amelia.]

let me first introduce myself... i'm amelia, age 28... and i have a long story... sorry in advance for my rambling...

my treatment began when i was 13... i had all 4 wisdom teeth cut out to make room for my teeth as part of my orthodontic treatment. at 14 i got braces and was told by my orthodontist that headgear was not an option for correcting my overbite and i needed to have upper and lower jaw surgery. a few weeks after my 17th birthday i had surgery. they brought my lower jaw forward, secured with plates and 3 screws on each side. my upper jaw was "moved up" to help reduce my gummy smile and allow for my bite to basically be flawless. i recovered well from surgery, had my braces removed 6 months later and received a permanent retainer on my front bottom teeth and a regular, removable retainer for my upper teeth.

flash forward to 11 years later and i'm still having jaw pain/popping/clicking as well as MAJOR discomfort. not to mention the fact that my lower jaw has regressed back, possibly further back than it was before. i have constant pressure in my ears, as well as major sinus issues from the 20+ screws that are in my sinus/nose area (from the upper jaw surgery).

i recently complained about my discomfort to my new dentist, who referred me to an orthodontist... he took one look at the xray that they did in their office that day, felt my jaw pop when i opened my mouth and sent me to the oral surgeon, as he wasn't saying or doing anything until the oral surgeon could determine that all my screws were in the right place and all was structually sound. so, off to the oral surgeon i went... (this is a different oral surgeon, as i now longer live in the town i grew up in). the os determined that everything was sound. gave me 3 options A) do nothing and cope with the pain... B) get a splint/biteguard "which may or may not help" ... C) go back to the orthodontist, get braces to fix the crossbite that he determined i had on my right side (which is why my left jaw is the worst as far as pain/popping) and hope that that would correct the problems i was having... he said he didn't want to automatically cut on me since i had already had the surgery and had regressed this much... but did say that it would possibly be a necessity down the road.

has anyone else dealt with this? i was told that my case is extremely rare being that it has regressed this much in such a "short" period of time (even though it has been 11 years). honestly, i don't want to have to go through all of that again, however, i don't want to live in the pain i've been in either. if i wait, it could get worse... what is it going to do in the next 11 years??? sorry for rambling... just wondering if there is anyone else out there that has experienced this... and if you can give me any insight as to whether having a 2nd surgery helped your case.

thanks.

[cvn]

I've actually had three surgeries over 14 years - last one was two weeks ago and I really hope it's the last one because, as you know, these surgeries suck. First one was when I was 15 and the second was at 20. They say mine regressed due to a combination of the first two surgeries being mediocre in quality and the birth control pill ruining my ability to repair my joints. I don't think it is that rare of a thing - my mother and I both had to have redos, and a good portion of my surgeon's caseload is redos from other surgeons.

It stinks doing this thing once, and is pretty utterly depressing doing it again when you know how bad it's going to be. I feel for you. Just do it right and get it over with so you can move on. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

[amelia.]

wow! 3 times!!! i am so sorry... i vaguely remember how bad it was 11 years ago... honestly though, if it comes down to it, i guess i won't have a choice but to do it again and hope that it works the second time. just thinking about having to go through all of that again though... ugh! and not to mention having to pay for it myself this time...