I am having corrective jaw surgery at some stage to fix my underbite (next year I presume the way my braces are going) and I thought to myself... heck why not post here and join in with everyone else going through the same thing. (I found the site a while back when doing some related research).
My story so far... LOOONG READ so if you're not up to it hit the back button on your web browser
As a teenager I always felt there was something wrong with my appearance. At the age of 16 I went to get my braces on but was delayed due to the dentist refusing to refer me to an orthodontist until I cleaned my teeth properly (which was partially true, I admit).
Years later (20 years old), I finally got around to going to the orthodontist who asked me a simple question that I never asked myself - what don't you like about your smile/teeth? I thought about it, quite suprised of the question which I did not expect, and concluded that I didn't like how my upper teeth were always hidden from sight - that my smile was very "thin" looking because only a small amount of my upper teeth ever showed themselves.
The orthodontist recognized my jaw problem which I was completely unaware of (because I could never quite figure out what "it" was that made my face look "different" and kind of ugly). Luckily for me, I was mature enough to make sure I had all the information even if it seemed ridiculous at the time.
When I explained to my parents I wanted to have jaw surgery, they looked at me like I was trying to have cosmetic surgery and did not understand it at all. For my parents, they look at me and see me as "fine" looking and the "way god made me".
I let the idea go for a while, but after a few months I realized that I was very unhappy... especially now that I had a solution to my problem. I argued with them heaps but, they finally decided to take me to get a second opinion. They wanted a second opinion to "verify" that I really needed jaw surgery and that I wasn't being "conned" into some sort of plastic surgery time operation. To cut this part of the story short... yes, in the end they realized it was a REAL solution to a REAL problem.
If you're wondering how it is possible I did not realize I had an underbite then let me explain... basically it is because my upper teeth are VERY MUCH tilted forward so that they actually went over my bottom teeth. My mid-face still looked very flat, my nose down-turned, my upper teeth nearly completely hidden, yet no "obvious" signs of what the problem was (the upper jaw too far back). It is very frustrating to think that I had an underbite of this kind.
I now have two surgeons who are going to perform the surgery on me to correct my underbite, and from what I understand it is the movement of the upper jaw forward only.
Think I made the right decision? I KNOW I did... here are my options in life:
Scenario A:
- Have braces for 4+ years to correct my bite without surgery - the catch is that my gums would likely receed a lot and my teeth would not look all that great in the end result.
- Have a large financial bill (for the braces alone) and work to pay it off over a year.
- Keep all the psychological problems and confidence issues that come with having a poorly grown upper jaw. I never wanted people outside of my family to look me in the face directly. I never smiled because I couldn't quite "smile" in a normal way. I was never able to express my emotions properly as my facial expressions can never match what I am trying to express - especially when trying to appear friendly (because as we know, a smile is friendly).
- Enjoy a life as a person inside of a face I don't want which leads to self abuse, hatred and even the abuse of others.
- Have to deal with people mocking me at times. In my life, a lot of people have outright called me "ugly" but often only the ones who weren't scared to do so (because I always looked quite unfriendly - not that I could help that).
- Never be able to smile, at least not the way I think a smile is. eg. a few times in my life people have told me to "smile" and I had to tell them "I am smiling"... those people always go quiet when they realize.
Scenario B (my choice):
- Have braces for 2 years and have orthognathic surgery, which has some risks but is a very common and reasonably safe procedure these days.
- Incur a rather insane financial bill and work to pay it off over the next few years.
- No longer have any psychological issues with my appearance (well, at least less than I currently have). Most likely, I will be enjoying positive thoughts, confidence and self-acceptance.
- Truly enjoy a life as a person inside of a face which looks normal (if not attractive).
- Sure... I'd deal with people mocking me, but no where near as much as now. In fact, I doubt that'd happen anymore and I bet I can expect compliments of all sorts.
- Smile to my hearts content and express myself the way I want to!
