Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi all! I am a 19 year old female with a 4mm overjet ( measured it myself) and incompetent lips. I seem to strain my chin when i close my mouth. This causes small wrinkles to form on my chin. I live in england and i may be able to get jaw surgury under the nhs to move lower jaw slightly forward. However, is surgury too drastic a measure to help with lip incompetence. My ortho on the other hand suggested extracting 4 bicuspid teeth and moving them back with braces. I've heard about people looking different in a negative way after undergoing this treatment. I am quite happy with my appearence at the moment and i dont want to do anything that will drastically affect it. What do you think i should do???

I breathe through my mouth most of the time. Which i hate and i really want to fix this. I also would love to fix my protruding front teeth and improve my smile.

Anyway, here are some pics of my teeth and profile.

Lol coudn't upload photobucket. So go to this link an click on the photos on yahoo answers.

Thanks!!

Couldnt upload link. How do u post pics

To post pictures (I think) you have to be a full registered member (not a new user). Browse the boards and make a couple posts first. Welcome to the boards!!

http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/Lolas ... sort=3&o=2
 http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/Lolas ... sort=3&o=3 
http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/Lolas ... 7.jpg.html? sort=3&o=1 
http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/Lolas ... sort=3&o=0

quote="anedia"]To post pictures (I think) you have to be a full registered member (not a new user). Browse the boards and make a couple posts first. Welcome to the boards!![/quote]

I have a similar problem, although perhaps more severe (my lips barely come together when straining - 15 mm gap at rest). I had teeth removed and braces as a teenager. This eliminated my overjet but did little to nothing for my lip incompetence. Accordingly, I still breathe through my mouth exclusively. I am set to have the vertical height of my upper jaw and possibly my chin reduced to correct (or at least improve) the incompetence, along with helping ameliorate other related breathing problems.

As I haven't had the surgery yet, it's obviously hard to say whether it's worth it. But, if your problems are seriously affecting your health, it is something to look into.

Tctjh0 wrote:I have a similar problem, although perhaps more severe (my lips barely come together when straining - 15 mm gap at rest). I had teeth removed and braces as a teenager. This eliminated my overjet but did little to nothing for my lip incompetence. Accordingly, I still breathe through my mouth exclusively. I am set to have the vertical height of my upper jaw and possibly my chin reduced to correct (or at least improve) the incompetence, along with helping ameliorate other related breathing problems.

As I haven't had the surgery yet, it's obviously hard to say whether it's worth it. But, if your problems are seriously affecting your health, it is something to look into.

So extracting my teeth would do little to solve incompetence??
Thats sad as i was hoping to do just that if i was turned down for orthognathic surgury.

[quote="Lolasays"][quote="Tctjh0"]I have a similar problem, although perhaps more severe (my lips barely come together when straining - 15 mm gap at rest). I had teeth removed and braces as a teenager. This eliminated my overjet but did little to nothing for my lip incompetence. Accordingly, I still breathe through my mouth exclusively. I am set to have the vertical height of my upper jaw and possibly my chin reduced to correct (or at least improve) the incompetence, along with helping ameliorate other related breathing problems.

As I haven't had the surgery yet, it's obviously hard to say whether it's worth it. But, if your problems are seriously affecting your health, it is something to look into.[/quote]

So extracting my teeth would do little to solve incompetence??
Thats sad as i was hoping to do just that if i was turned down for orthognathic surgury.[/quote]

Well, you'd want to talk with a surgeon or the orthodontist about whether it might help you. All I know is that it did nothing significant for me invterms of incompetence.

Tctjh0 wrote:

Lolasays wrote:

Tctjh0 wrote:I have a similar problem, although perhaps more severe (my lips barely come together when straining - 15 mm gap at rest). I had teeth removed and braces as a teenager. This eliminated my overjet but did little to nothing for my lip incompetence. Accordingly, I still breathe through my mouth exclusively. I am set to have the vertical height of my upper jaw and possibly my chin reduced to correct (or at least improve) the incompetence, along with helping ameliorate other related breathing problems.

As I haven't had the surgery yet, it's obviously hard to say whether it's worth it. But, if your problems are seriously affecting your health, it is something to look into.

So extracting my teeth would do little to solve incompetence??
Thats sad as i was hoping to do just that if i was turned down for orthognathic surgury.

Well, you'd want to talk with a surgeon or the orthodontist about whether it might help you. All I know is that it did nothing significant for me invterms of incompetence.

Thanks for the advice. Seeing my dentiat tomorrow. Hopefully she will make a referal with am orthodontist.

I don't know if this goes for everybody, but during my consults with a few surgeons, it was explained to me that my upper lip incompetence might not get much better after surgery. I have an 8-9mm overjet, gummy smile, and narrow arches. They don't really want to move my upper jaw forward anymore since I have the overjet, so the best that will happen is they will impact it up a few mm and maybe try to rotate it a bit and then bring my lower jaw forward a bit. No guarantee that will improve my upper lip, which is pretty flat at this point.

Personally I'm OK with all of that, as long as everything else is OK looking and most importantly I have the functionality from a good bite finally. Is lip incompetence the main reason you want surgery? Your 4mm overjet does not look that bad and I would guess that could be fixed with braces.

Be careful with orthos, push for a recommendation to a surgeon. Look into Le Fort, if your face is long

Palate expansion is preferable to extractions

I wish you could go back and edit posts, but I should probably add that I am getting the expansion done as a piece of my lefort

LyraM45 wrote:I don't know if this goes for everybody, but during my consults with a few surgeons, it was explained to me that my upper lip incompetence might not get much better after surgery. I have an 8-9mm overjet, gummy smile, and narrow arches. They don't really want to move my upper jaw forward anymore since I have the overjet, so the best that will happen is they will impact it up a few mm and maybe try to rotate it a bit and then bring my lower jaw forward a bit. No guarantee that will improve my upper lip, which is pretty flat at this point.

Personally I'm OK with all of that, as long as everything else is OK looking and most importantly I have the functionality from a good bite finally. Is lip incompetence the main reason you want surgery? Your 4mm overjet does not look that bad and I would guess that could be fixed with braces.

Yes i would prefer not to have surgury as it is a major procedure. But i dont think braces will help with my lip incompetence. I have an appointment with my ortho soon. I will ask him what he thinks and if it is possible to get a referal

celticcavegirl wrote:Be careful with orthos, push for a recommendation to a surgeon. Look into Le Fort, if your face is long

Palate expansion is preferable to extractions

I have quite a small face. I dont have much width though. Would lefort 1 reduce my facial height.