Underbiters come in PLS!!! Serious questions!!

Message

#16 Post by **lionfish** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:03 pm

Hi cersepn,

I was an edge to edge Class III with crossbite and 3-4mm bilateral open bite. My ortho was really keen for me to do surgery. I sweated on this for several weeks leading up to getting braces and decided that I just couldn't go through with surgery, so asked him to do what he could with braces alone (it helped talking through my anxiety with my regular dentist, btw, who'd made the ortho referral). I'm quite happy with the outcome.

At the end of the day, it's your call. If I can give one piece of advice, it's to find a professional with whom you'll feel comfortable with, can communicate and trust. My ortho experience was a very positive one thanks to an ortho with a great chairside manner and support staff to match.

#17 Post by **iristurquoise** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:19 pm

I personally had the surgery last June. I had a minor underbite (3-4 mm). Initially, I was to have surgery on both my lower and upper jaw but the discrepancy was so minimal that the morning of the surgery my doctor informed me only my lower jaw would be operated on.

For me, I would do the surgery all over again if I had to. Recovery was really easy for me. I was eating pasta 3 days post-op and chewier things within the week.

The largest difference for me is my profile and the way I look straight on. My jaw was actually lopsidded , they moved it 5 mm to the left, which made a huge difference as well. Also, I was soo happy to wake up after my surgery to my front teeth overlapping the bottom because they had never been like this before. I really like the way I look now a lot better than before.

However, surgery where I live is only about 800 dollars and I was 17 when I got the surgery and probably quite resilient. Evidently, the surgery is dangerous and you are signing up for many risks if you decided to get the surgery done.

Hope I helped a little!

#18 Post by **cersepn** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:32 pm

Hello iristurquoise,
Thank you for your input.. can't say how valuable it is.
By any chance, would you have any before and after profile pics? If you do, can i take a look at them?

I'm very much still on the fence about whether surgery or braces with extractions will be better.
I actually saw another experienced surgeon a few days back. She told me that i'm a borderline case, it really depends on what i want. Haha, she knows that i'm very concerned about my chin, cus i hate the 'macho-ness', despite me being a guy and all.
Doesn't help that my family's against BOTH extractions and surgery, but obviously more anti-surgery.
It's a really big decision and i find it very hard to make up my mind.

I also have sinus issues with post nasal drip, and i read that jaw surgery may open the nasal cavity and solve some sinus cases.

However, with that said, i'm not counting on jaw surgery to fix that, but it would be good to have. I read that it's usually patients who undergo upper jaw that reap these sort of benefits, not sure how much truth there is to it.

But my surgeon has said that if i were to go the surgical route, it would be a BSSO with some shaving of the chin if i wanted, to correct the slightly imbalanced jaw.

#19 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:34 am

Like people have said, you'll just have to weigh up the costs/benefits yourself. I understand the aesthetic concerns you have; I am the same...but my underbite is a bit more on the lines of Phil's, though the exact mm I don't know. But basically, I'd say that if the underbite is minor, then why go for a major surgery when 'mere' elastics may just sort out your 'mere' underbite?

It may not sort it out to perfection, but if it gives you a better bite without the hassles (and risks....and price!

) of surgery, then I'd personally go with that. But it's up to you, of course

Put it this way though- if the surgeons you saw thought surgery would be the better option, they would have consented to do it.

But whatever you decide, good luck!

#20 Post by **nimo** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:06 pm

If you can avoid surgery, I say avoid it.

I'm 3 weeks post-op today, and it hasn't been even remotely enjoyable. They didn't wire my mouth shut, but I have a splint, and even if I wanted to chew I wouldn't be able to. I also can't talk very well because of the splint. There hasn't been very much pain at all. The numbness is really annoying (my face itches, but I can't really scratch it). I'm a drool factory, too, and I can't swallow terribly well. It's been gross, to say the least.

Cost wasn't a factor for me because my insurance covers everything. But, like I said, this hasn't been much fun. Obviously everyone's experiences are different, and I can think of worse things to endure. But I'd also kill to be able to eat a grilled cheese sandwich right now.