Metal Mouth Message Board

I just found out that my BSSO surgery will hopefully be in April if my insurance approves it in time. I have been doing Invisalign but am switching to braces now so that my surgeon can make sure my jaws line up properly.

My question is for those of you who only got braces for surgery, how long did you have to have them on before you got surgery? My surgeon indicated that I'd need them for 4-6 months (!!) beforehand, but I'm not sure why, since my orthodontist said my jaws are already lined up properly for the surgery (I've had Invisalign for over a year). I understand I need a little time to adjust to braces and having an arch wire, but 4-6 months seems extreme.

I only had Invisalign and it was for 11 months before double jaw surgery. I'm 5 weeks post op and my surgeon put in a wire around my teeth and tads in my gums for rubberbands. I think w wire and tads come out in 3 weeks.

Did the surgeon wire your teeth together? Mine said he would do the surgery without braces but that he strongly preferred that I get braces to ensure my jaws are correctly placed during surgery. Since I'm going through so much to fix my jaw and bite, I want to make sure it's right, which is why I agreed to braces. But I definitely feel nervous about wearing braces since I've been used to how invisible Invisalign is.

Did your surgeon have any concerns about doing the surgery without braces to fix your jaw in place?

Elizabethrose1279 wrote:I only had Invisalign and it was for 11 months before double jaw surgery. I'm 5 weeks post op and my surgeon put in a wire around my teeth and tads in my gums for rubberbands. I think w wire and tads come out in 3 weeks.

Elizabethrose - Are you happy with the placement of your jaw? I'm having second thoughts about getting the braces now. I'm supposed to get them tomorrow, but I'm thinking maybe I'll just keep doing Invisalign instead. I just can't imagine getting braces where I am in my life now. I work in a very professional field and feel like it'll be hard for me to command the authority I need as a woman with braces. My only worry is that my surgeon felt more comfortable being able to correctly place my jaw if I had braces.

I got braces for my surgery from the start, it was estimated I'd be in them 22 months. But dealing with my insurance, I'm going on 34 months -.- 3 weeks post op.

You need to find out why he wants you in braces for 4-6 months.

In my case, I had braces years ago in my teens and had the new ones put on 1 month before the surgery. My orthodontist suggested putting them on a month just so that I could get used to them (very glad I followed his advice). My surgeon said the same thing initially about the braces not being required but I cannot imagine having done the surgery without them. Having this surgery opened up a lot of space in my mouth, so there's a lot of space that needs to be closed. Also, it seems that braces (with rubber bands) have made a lot of the post surgery fine tuning possible.

Based on my own experience, it seems you would be short changing yourself by not doing the braces. Maybe go for ceramic or something not as obvious. I was strongly opposed to the braces but now, almost 3 months after surgery, everyone has seen my braces. I've basically forgotten about them and I'm only thinking about how perfect my bite looks. This is not a surgery that you want to go through with and later not be happy with the result. Braces just another tool that will help you achieve a good outcome.

I wouldn't worry too much about the actual appearance of the braces - nobody even notices them after a while. I think if it's being suggested to you then it's probably in your best interest to have them! There's a lot of adjustment to be done pre op to ensure that everything is in the right place that invisalign probably won't be strong enough for and trust me, going through surgery once is more than enough! You don't want them to have to do it again to fix things that weren't done properly the first time around

I was in braces for about 15 months before I could do the surgery. For me, the orthro said it was important that my upper and lower teeth were in position, so when they did the break, they could adjust it easier then trying to adjust with braces after the fact. I think I have like 4 more months in braces

I'm about to have surgery in a month, so I'll be in braces for one year before surgery. I have short premolars so my orthodontist reccommended braces for 18 months to be safe, or else it could have been 24 months. Hopefully things will pan out well for my surgery and I'll be on time with my estimated braces.

My braces went on 3rd September 2013, and I had my surgery on 3rd May 2017....it could be worse!!

I literally have friends and colleagues who have never known me without braces!!