Metal Mouth Message Board

i'm very curious about one thing. a lot of people says that right after surgery their midlines where off but that it was fixed with braces/elastics. what i don't get about this is that i thought that they lined up the teeth in the lower jaw with the midline of the lower jaw and the teeth in the upper jaw with the midline in the upper jaw before surgery. I thought they always placed all the teeth where they should be in the jaws before surgery. but if that was true, then how could the midlines of the teeth but not the midlines of the jaws be off after surgery? and if the midlines of the jaws is off after surgery how can the jaws be moved after surgery when they are fixated with plates and skrews? I guess elastics could move the possition of lower jaw slightly, but how could they move the upper jaw?

any thoughts?

I think sometimes when people say their midline is off post-op, it's a result of the jaw shifting - so it involves both the teeth and the jaw. At least this was my case. My midline shifted about 1mm around 2-wk post-op, but over time as my jaw bone stablized, it shifted back to where it was supposed to be.

Mine has never been the same post-op....shifted to the left ( believed), but it doesn't bother me, and no one's noticed. I was bothered at first though...

I thought they always placed all the teeth where they should be in the jaws before surgery.

I thought the same, but I have needed a lot of orthodontic treatment afterwards. Post op I had an overbite that was worse on one side than the other, and I've needed lots of bands and adjustments to correct it. My overbite is mostly fixed now, but the teeth on my right side are out of alignment. I've wondered myself why they didn't just place my teeth where they needed to be to begin with and save all of us some time!

Unfortunately nobody I've talked to has been very good about explaining this. All my surgeon said was he had to move the jaw so the ortho could make the changes he needed to.

My midline on my upper was off about half a tooth (!) after my upper and lower surgery. It really bothered me, but my dentist told me that it's normal and the average person wouldn't be able to tell.

I thought surgery was about perfection, but it is what it is I suppose. Then there's the added element that your teeth and jaws might still shift after surgery (this relapse thing you may hear about). That's why they tend to bolt down the jaws, to keep them from shifting even further after surgery. Some people experience a slight open bite in the back (I did) post surgery and the ortho will rubber band you to keep those suckers from opening up : )

I also experienced a slight posterior open bite on my right side post-op that has since been corrected through elastics. My midline, while better, is not perfect and still a bit off, but my ortho has scheduled me for the removal of my braces so obviously my ortho does not think this is a concern.

I think the reason the midline could still be off post-op is due to tooth shape and whether or not your bite is ideal with how your midline currently is. My ortho has said my bite is where it needs to be, and my oral surgeon told me almost two months ago I was ready THEN for the braces to come off, so I take this to mean that the midline I have now cannot be corrected any further, as I've worn elastics to correct it for at least 3 adjustments now and the midline is not budging any further.

I also wanted perfection coming out of this but I now realize that a) that's impossible and unrealistic and b) what I have now is a HELL of a lot better than when I started this whole process!