any openbite people here?

[andyindiana]

oral surgeon says 8 months ortho then leforte 1 and 8 more months ortho
i am just starting oh btw anterior openbite here

[Svensk Tiger]

Hi there. I have an openbite, amongst other jaw problems (!), and am expecting to have surgery by next September but hopefully sooner. I've had my braces for about 10 weeks now.

[andyindiana]

cool, another open-bite person. it was looking like there were not to many of us around here. do you need upper or lower surgery or both?

[Metal Mouth Guy]

Open and Cross bites here. I'm 11 months into braces today and pretty much ready for surgery. Have a meeting with the surgeon on the 14th to set a jaw cracking date. Will probably do it in mid Jan to early Feb depending on when I can get on the schedule (but mostly so I don't ruin the eating holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas). Ortho/Surgeon tell me 3 months after surgery I'll be done.

No, I don't know/remember the name of the procedures I'm undergoing.

MMG

[andyindiana]

i wish i was as far a long as you mmg. are you nervous about the surgery?

[Metal Mouth Guy]

i wish i was as far a long as you mmg.

Funny enough, it doesn't feel like it's been that long despite some horrendously bad days along the way.

are you nervous about the surgery?

Not yet... Or maybe not really. I'm not sure which.

While not trained in medicine, many of my family are. And my wife is a prof down at the dental school where I'm having surgery. So I'm well informed... Or maybe over informed.

But I'm probably not nervous right now because it's going to be windy here tomorrow and I have the day off. A good day of windsurfing calms the nerves. And the anticipation of such is highly distracting.

To quote Bobby... "Be Happy, Don't Worry"

MMG

[andyindiana]

I am having my ortho and surgery done at Indiana university dental school in Indianapolis. Do you think you get better treatment at a dental school? or can't you tell since your wife is a prof there? just a side note i drive 320 mi total round trip every time i go to an appointment

[Svensk Tiger]

I'm having both upper and lower jaw surgery. I'm not sure of the exact technical terms but I'm having maxillary impaction (to correct the openbite obviously), possibly SARPE although my ortho is going to try to widen my palate orthodontically first, and last but not least a mandibular advancement.

They're going to do it all at the same time....

[Metal Mouth Guy]

I am having my ortho and surgery done at Indiana university dental school in Indianapolis.

I'm doing ortho through a private office, but by a guy who's a graduate/ex-guest prof at the dental school. I am having the surgery at the school (Baylor College of Dentistry if anyone cares).

Do you think you get better treatment at a dental school? or can't you tell since your wife is a prof there?

Since I'm only having surgery there, I don't really have a warm feeling one way or another yet. I definitely didn't want to be a "guinea pig" for ortho students, so I went private on the ortho treatment. The cost differential was neglible. The waiting room time difference was huge (you still have to wait your turn even if your spouse is on staff)!

My surgeon is the head of residency training for maxofacial surgery at Baylor. There will be students watching and assisting, but he'll do the actual work.

My care might be a bit better because my wife is on staff. After all, who wants to piss off a fellow co-worker (especially one who's been president of the faculty senate)? But the reality is that dental schools are probably better at policing themselves than a private practice... If for no other reason than there will always be at least two dentists looking at your case (an many more if you have an interesting case).

I think the only downside of a dental school (other than long waits) is that treatment can be a bit impersonal because of the change of semesters. Over long term treatment, it's not unusual for your doctor to change because your first doctor has completed his training and moves on to the next phase.

just a side note i drive 320 mi total round trip every time i go to an appointment

That's quite a haul. That kind of driving would probably have been a major stumbling block for me.

MMG

[latichas]

hey I am an anterior open bite as well. My ortho said I will definitely need lower jaw surgery and maybe upper jaw surgery as well as 30 months in braces. The surgery would happen in the middle. I meet with my oral surgeon on Jan 2 and will hopefully learn the particulars of what is going to happen. Have any of y'all of anybody had to wear a tongue crib to stop tongue thrusting. My ortho says my bike will open back up if I do not stop. But I do not know how. It is like trying walk without my ankle or something?

[lionfish]

I have a lateral open bite on both sides. I'm still at the stage of canvassing options, but the S-word has been mentioned, applied to both jaws.

I'm going back for another consult on 9 December so will have more details soon.

[Svensk Tiger]

hey I am an anterior open bite as well. My ortho said I will definitely need lower jaw surgery and maybe upper jaw surgery as well as 30 months in braces. The surgery would happen in the middle. I meet with my oral surgeon on Jan 2 and will hopefully learn the particulars of what is going to happen. Have any of y'all of anybody had to wear a tongue crib to stop tongue thrusting. My ortho says my bike will open back up if I do not stop. But I do not know how. It is like trying walk without my ankle or something?

I'm a tongue thruster too, I'm trying really hard to practise swallowing with my tongue in the correct position as I'm terrified that I'll go through all this only for it to open up again. I haven't got a tongue crib but my quad helix expander is doing a similar job...

[latichas]

Svensk Tiger wrote:
I a tongue thruster too, I'm trying really hard to practise swallowing with my tongue in the correct position as I'm terrified that I'll go through all this only for it to open up again. I haven't got a tongue crib but my quad helix expander is doing a similar job...

hey what is a helix expander? Does it keep your tongue at the roof of your mouth? Was it extra? My ortho has only mentioned some exercises which I do not think will work. Do you know what your ortho picked the helix expander instead of the tongue crib? Sorry so many questions, I plan to question my ortho about it when I get fitted for my spacers but just curious about your ortho's approach to correting this.

[latichas]

Svensk Tiger wrote:
I a tongue thruster too, I'm trying really hard to practise swallowing with my tongue in the correct position as I'm terrified that I'll go through all this only for it to open up again. I haven't got a tongue crib but my quad helix expander is doing a similar job...

hey what is a helix expander? Does it keep your tongue at the roof of your mouth? Was it extra? My ortho has only mentioned some exercises which I do not think will work. Do you know what your ortho picked the helix expander instead of the tongue crib? Sorry so many questions, I plan to question my ortho about it when I get fitted for my spacers but just curious about your ortho's approach to correting this.

[montesser]

open bite here too. I met with my oral surgeon last week for my first consultation. Surgery not only needed to correct the open bite, but also to expand my upper palate. I'm a year away from surgery, but I'm getting more and more nervous. Can anyone tell me about the recovery time needed for surgery? How long will my mouth be wired shut?