Metal Mouth Message Board

I had BSSO and genio April 30th. They corrected my undebite and rotated it to the left to correct my asymmetry and genio on the chin. I just had my splint removed May 27 and my teeth look alot better than they did before but my molars dont meet and the asymmetry is still slightly there. I know molars not meeting after surgery is common but i have a few questions...

Should i give it time before i determine if the asymmetry is corrected?

I still have ortho work that needs to be done but how long before my molars meet again.

I still have a bit of swelling and my face still looks puffy and off centered cause its more swelling on one side, how long before i know exactly how i will look? I'm only 29 days Post op is this to early to tell?

[quote]I still have ortho work that needs to be done but how long before my molars meet again.
[/quote

Impossible to say for sure, but here's my sitch.

I had surgery December 2007, splint off end of Jan. Elastics from end of Jan - April, and sometime around March or even late March I felt like all the Molars were where they were supposed to be.

29 days is way too early to tell, I think. At 29 days no one recognized me, and i was getting carded going into R-rated movies (I'm 26). Now, people recognize me even though they know something is different and I'm not getting carded nearly as much. I'd say give it a few more months;) You JUST got yor splint off;)

Also, I don't know fully what you mean by assymetry - no chance it is muscular somehow? I had massage therapy about 2-3 months after op and it made my jaw stop opening lopsided and went straight down instead. I had upper jaw surgery, but the muscles on one side were so tight they were pulling my jaw that way.

Meryaten, I hope its just the swelling because the lop-sided side is more swollen then the other side, im guessing he did more work on that side...But it just worries me at times. And im scheduled for Ortho June 18th, does ortho work give alot more improvement after surgery?

Arvensis, I also have to go to therapy at my OS's private office and it does help alot with my muscles and they gave me a machine to take home that massages my jaws. My teeth line up perfectly, its just my face thats looks off. Maybe i need to give it more time to heal and wait for the swelling to go down before i detemine whether its fixed or not!

I had surgery a week before you. I am not in braces, but had arch bars and rubber bands for 4 weeks. They were removed 10 days ago, so no more rubber bands.

At first, I was hitting only on the right side, and was really freaked out, thinking they messed up my surgery and I would need to repeat it. But it was totally muscular - really tight on the right and not using the left side at all. The rubber bands helped - they switched me to use them only on the left, which helped that side get used to working.

But now that I am flying free, I feel the lower jaw is trying to close in a protruded position, with my bottom teeth pushing against the back of my canines. Also, my molars aren't touching much on the left again. I am worried because I'm not in braces, so no one is pulling things back into place anymore (will obviously talk with OS about it next week), but, part of my point is there is lots of relearning the muscles have to do to close in this new position.

I, too, had asymmetrical swelling at first, but it more symmetrical now. Be patient, and ask your ortho and OS about it. Mine tells me that without muscle involvement (read: when I am under anesthesia) the teeth line up perfectly, so the muscles need to relearn their new position.

Still it worries me a little, since I won't be in elastics again. I guess braces are an option if the bite doesn't re-align correctly.

(see before/after photos on my blog: www.theadventuresofspidermom.blogspot.com

I'm going to give the asymmetry some time to heal before i start jumping to conclusions but i have another concern...before my teeth were edge to edge in the front, the upper teeth touched the tip of the lower so the goal was to get my upper teeth to overlap my lowers, but i still have gaps on the side (near my canines), is this corrected with more ortho work?

Not gaps between my teeth but a gap between my lower and upper teeth near my canines. I'm guessing since surgery to setback my lower, ortho work will finish it off by just closing with elastics. My teeth are perfectly straight, all that really needs to be done in my opinion is finishing touches like elastics and making my molars meet. Maybe thats just in my eyes though. My ortho might notice other issues when i see him on the 18th.

How long in elastics before i start seeing progress? I only been in them for 23 days. It might be a difference that im just not noticing cause its not a dramatic difference...is it a slow progress?

and i found this really helpful site that explains different ways to wear elastics and what it corrects, i'm in box elastics. I figured since im going to school to be an ortho why not learn while im treatment!

http://www.braceshelp.com/elastics.swf

Just saw my OS, and at, what 7 weeks post-op, he said I should still expect some "settling" of my bite as I continue to heal.

It has improved since I last posted. And he said he expected really good contact in all back teeth in a few more weeks. (without rubber bands, as I'm not in braces)

Good luck and I hope it "settles" well for you!