Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi, I've been reading this board for about a year now, but this is my first-ever post.

I'm 24 years old, and in my first year out of college. Two summers ago, during the summer before my senior year of college, I consulted with both an orthodontist and an oral surgeon who both agreed that I'd need surgery to either move my lower jaw back (most likely), upper jaw forward, or some combination, along with a year of braces (3-4 months before surgery, and 6+ months after). I decided not to go through with it at the time, since they were both in my home state of NY and I was attending uni in a different state, so logistics seemed difficult.

Now, almost two years later, I'm still interested. I have a mildish underbite (my front teeth are on the same vertical line, though they've overcompensated a bit, lower teeth tipping inwards and upper teeth flaring out), my lower jaw is shifted about half a tooth's width over to the left, I therefore have a crossbite, and my upper teeth are a bit spaced out (which doesn't actually bother me aesthetically, but... yeah). Over the last few years, I've been experiencing increasing jaw pain, headaches, my jaws are starting to click a bit, it feels really "awkward" when I bite down, etc., and so I'd rather put an end to it all and have a healthy bite while I'm still young.

Starting next school year, I will be employed as a teacher in Northern California, and Kaiser is one of the insurance companies available through my school district. I was planning to go with them, which means I could hopefully have the surgery for cheap with the Oakland Maxillofacial group, but... I'm a little worried about timing.

I was hoping to have the surgery during the week before the Christmas/New Year vacation, which would give me three weeks of recovery time if I could take a few sick days before or after the holidays. Question 1: is that enough time to recover sufficiently or is it a totally crazy idea to go back to work as a teacher after three weeks?

Question 2: how should I go about scheduling everything? My coverage with Kaiser would begin when I start teaching, so August 30th. I could start my braces treatment earlier (start of August or maybe earlier), since that's basically out-of-pocket, to ensure that the ortho would have enough time to prepare my teeth for surgery by the end of December. The thing that I'm most worried about, though, is starting with braces and then finding out, when I eventually get Kaiser August 30th, that there are no openings available for the week I would need in December (benefits of teaching are that I'd have two weeks of set vacation, but I couldn't deviate too much from that time). Ideas?!

I know the logical thing to do would be to arrange everything so I could have the surgery at the start of the summer, but I was hoping to pursue an internship during that time, and I'd be disappointed and worried about possible future career ramifications if I spent a huge portion of the summer in surgery/recovery mode... Plus, I want to get everything over with! Fast!

Am I being overeager, trying to force too many life changes at once, and being very illogical, or could this actual work out?

Also, anyone know any good, reasonably-priced orthodontists in the Bay Area who are used to working with oral surgeons?

This is what I get for accompanying my little brother to his orthodontist appointment... sigh.

Most people are in braces for about a year before they are surgery ready. There have been a few people on these boards that have had surgery earlier - at around 8 months or so if I remember correctly. I have never seen anyone surgery ready at 4 months though. Has an orthodontist told you that your case is mild enough for this to be a realistic time frame?

I was quoted 4-6 mts in braces before surgery. This is my second time in braces and I took care of my teeth so they didn't need to be moved much. Now, they haven't given me a date yet, but I am hoping for an April/May time frame. If that works out, it will be about 5 mts in braces before the surgery. I have to look to see when I got them on exactly, but I think it was Dec. 11ish.

Three weeks is plenty of time. I am planning on taking 2 weeks.. full 14 days, maybe 15. I really don't want to take more and have training, and other classes that really won't let me taking more.

Start your braces treatment ASAP.. the sooner the better.

Not to discourage you but I also have Kaiser insurance and I was told that the month of December appointments are booked about 10 months before hand. I guess a lot of people try to schedule their surgery around their time off. I went in October, ready for surgery (as you need to be ready before they will book a surgery date) and I just had my surgery at the end of February. I agree, start your braces treatment ASAP.

People try to plan these things out all the time only to realize most of the time that the schedule ends up completely different than they anticipated. I'm one of those people. Its hard to account for the time it will take your teeth to move, unforeseen events that come up, and work/insurance/life issues that get in the way of things happening on the date you planned. Speaking from experience, I think you will save yourself a lot of stress if you go into it alerting your employer that "Sometime this year I am going to need 3 to 4 weeks off work. I will let you know those dates as soon as I know, but it is impossible at this point to predict when those weeks will be." Know what I mean? As aggravating as it is, its really difficult to plan this sort of thing out this far in advance, as much as we want to.

Otherwise, 3-weeks seems okay I guess, keep in mind you will likely still be eating partial liquids then and will tire quickly from talking alot. I suggest 4 weeks at least but you need to do what you can. I only say that because you'll hopefully be chewing soft foods by then which makes life so much easier at work. Its a pain to be eating oatmeal and shakes all day at work.

Good luck to you.

Thanks for the replies so far, everyone.

Audra, I'm guessing on the timing since I ALMOST started the whole procedure two years ago. The orthodontist was going to put braces on me in August and was confident I'd be ready for surgery by the end of December, with another 6-9 months of braces after the surgery. Based on that, I assume my case is mild enough (my teeth are already fairly straight, just flared in/out), and my teeth haven't changed since then.. But every ortho is different, it's true.

JessicaJo, thanks for scaring me! Seriously, while it's frustrating to hear the realities of planning surgery through Kaiser, I'd MUCH rather hear this now than when I'm sitting there with braces on in the future. So, Kaiser won't schedule you for surgery until you're ready--does that mean you just chill with surgery-ready teeth for however many months until your surgery? Or do they schedule it based on when your orthodontist says you will be ready?

KarlClayLA, I wish I could have that type of job flexibility, but as a teacher I can't just leve a classroom full of kids to a sub for three or four weeks. I mean, I *could*, but I'd feel horribly guilty for leaving them to get so far behind, especially when we have two set weeks off in the winter and a whole summer. So I guess I'm looking at summer, then... pity.

Anyone else have any opinions about scheduling with Kaiser, scheduling for a specific date, etc. etc.? I could also try to go with another insurance company, but Kaiser seems so easy to deal with compared to most...

ennazusie wrote:So, Kaiser won't schedule you for surgery until you're ready

I think this is the case with most surgeons, not just Kaiser. Once the surgeon says "You're ready," then you call the admin and get yourself on the surgery schedule.

does that mean you just chill with surgery-ready teeth for however many months until your surgery?

Yes. That was how it worked for me at UCLA too. I was so excited to be ready and once I called, the earliest date I could get was like 2 months later, and that was only available because it was a date right before Thanksgiving. (Liquid turkey, yum!)

So would you say it's generally harder around breaks/holidays? I am planning on May/June and this timeframe is a MUST for me. I am going to training July 6 and it's an extensive 10 week course where I must stay on the military base Mon-Fri. There is no time for surgery during it as I only am allowed to take 3 days off. I can handle maybe a few weeks of the end of my recovery there, but obviously can't report 2 weeks after surgery.

I am just confused b/c last time I was @ the ortho they said I was pretty much ready. My oral surgeon said my bite just needed to be flattened a little more and that was just about there. This was over a month ago I just talked to my ortho again and he said they're shooting for early summer. I am hoping that means end of May/beginning of June.