Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi newbie here with a few questions. I'm 37 and have had an underbite all my life. I had braces on as a teenager but the ortho at that time told me that I would eventually need surgery to fix my underbite. I put if off all this time mostly because of financial reasons but also because other things came first, life, kids, work, etc. I finally decided to do something about it because I hate my teeth and my jaw has really been bothering me lately. I hate to see what it will feel like 10 years down the road if I don't do something to fix it.

I saw the orthodontist a few weeks ago for a consultation, took molds, x-rays, etc. He sent me to the oral surgeon who I saw yesterday. I was always under the impression that I would need jaw surgery to move my upper jaw forward which would require a hospital stay and lots of money if insurance didn't cover it. He said he could correct it with Sarpe surgery and I would have to wear an expander, braces, and the rubber bands would pull my upper jaw forward. I never heard of this so I've been looking online to find out more information. I haven't really found anything where Sarpe has corrected an underbite and surgery wasn't needed afterwards.

Has anyone had Sarpe surgery to correct their underbite? Was it successful? Did you need jaw surgery after?

Thank you!!!!

Hi Dina
I dont have an underbite mine is an open bite and most of the time you require surgery to correct an open bite, but im not having full jaw surgery. I had sarpe surgery 4 weeks ago and they inserted 4 anchorage implants/plates that are going to correct my bite instead of further surgery. I will find out more on monday when the ortho starts to use the implants, but basically they use elastics on the implants to tilt my jaw into the right position. Its considered 'lucky' if you don't have to have mandible surgery and probably means that your jaw position must not be too bad. Have a read of my blog, although our bite are different by the sounds of things you are in a similar situation - hope this helps!