Metal Mouth Message Board

i had my molds done for orthodontics and had my 2nd consultation with my orthodontist where we talked about surgery (since that is my main objective) he said that in his opinion my top jaw would be moved 2-3mm's up and my bottem 4-5mm forward. he referred me an oral surgeon to get a true opinion but until i get in with him i was just wondering if that amount of movement is considered worth surgery or not? i've noticed people have far more adjustment than that. i didnt know if there was a range of movement necessary for insurance to deem it a medical necessity, if that makes sense.

My top jaw us being moved up 4-5mm and my lower moved forward 4-5mm. My insurance deemed it medically necessary. Hope that helps.

The lower jaw movement doesn't sound like a lot, but to get a stable result I've been told the teeth have to end up fairly close to vertical -- that is, they have to have good support underneath and can't just be slanted out or in to disguise an overjet, for example.

I would go ahead and check with a few oral surgeons. The adjustment on the upper sounds like it might require surgery, because an orthdontist probably can't achieve that correction just by moving your teeth.

ohshegoes wrote:i had my molds done for orthodontics and had my 2nd consultation with my orthodontist where we talked about surgery (since that is my main objective) he said that in his opinion my top jaw would be moved 2-3mm's up and my bottem 4-5mm forward. he referred me an oral surgeon to get a true opinion but until i get in with him i was just wondering if that amount of movement is considered worth surgery or not? i've noticed people have far more adjustment than that. i didnt know if there was a range of movement necessary for insurance to deem it a medical necessity, if that makes sense.

My surgeon moved my jaw foward 5.5 mm, but initially only planned for 4 mm. I was a candidate and it was necessary because there was no way the orthodontist could have adjusted my teeth in such a way to create functional bite; it just would have been pushing the bounds trying to lean my top teeth out and my bottom teeth in. Probably would have looked worse than my under bite in the first place.

Get at least two opinions, maybe a third if needed.

Rick

[quote="ohshegoes"]i had my molds done for orthodontics and had my 2nd consultation with my orthodontist where we talked about surgery (since that is my main objective) he said that in his opinion my top jaw would be moved 2-3mm's up and my bottem 4-5mm forward. he referred me an oral surgeon to get a true opinion but until i get in with him i was just wondering if that amount of movement is considered worth surgery or not? i've noticed people have far more adjustment than that. i didnt know if there was a range of movement necessary for insurance to deem it a medical necessity, if that makes sense.[/quote]

Do you have braces on yet? I don't want to assume, but by you having only two Ortho consults, I would say no. Anyways... once you have braces on and you teeth start shifting, you oral surgery plan could change drastically. Your consults with the Oral Surgeons should be at that point, would they operate on you and how. All plans up to about 3-4 months to the surgery is speculation. It a waiting game until that point, but you won't be in the dark.

i havent had braces put on yet. i was also told i would have to extract two teeth from my lower jaw to match previous extractions to my upper. right now my lower jaw is recessed and my teeth are slanted forward.my upper jaw shows alot of gum when laughing and a bit when i'm just smiling. i've had braces twice already with significant amount of work done. however i was much younger and my parents opted for me not to have surgery so i feel like the orthodontist worked around it.

[quote="ohshegoes"]i havent had braces put on yet. i was also told i would have to extract two teeth from my lower jaw to match previous extractions to my upper. right now my lower jaw is recessed and my teeth are slanted forward. my upper jaw shows alot of gum when laughing and a bit when i'm just smiling. i've had braces twice already with significant amount of work done. however i was much younger and my parents opted for me not to have surgery so i feel like the orthodontist worked around it.[/quote]

If you are going to have extractions, then I am certain your surgical plan would change. Again, you really can't expect to have an accurate surgical plan in place until about 3-4 months prior to your surgery.