Metal Mouth Message Board

So I've now had braces for 31 months and there is no surgery date in sight. After waiting this long i'm struggling to see the pros of continuing the treatment as i'm not sure if I can mentally take the jaw surgery process for much longer! The lack of progress in the treatment is unbearable, especially considering I was initially quoted that the pre-surgery treatment will take a maximum 12-18 months but this hasn't been the case. The whole pricess is now become draining and tiresome. Any advice or thoughts on what I should/can do?

My advice from experience would be to stick with it. Let your doctors know your timeline/goal. Make it a 2 way conversation and get them to explain why it is taking so long. Maybe there is a valid reason, maybe they are just not as concerned with the treatment time as you, maybe both. You really don't want to decide in a few years that you want to do surgery, then have to go through braces, etc again.

Also, when you say no surgery date in sight, does this mean you have seen a surgeon or you are purely basing this on your orthodontist? If you have not seen a surgeon, it might be time to get an initial consult with them just to get their opinion. I know if I had not been seeing a surgeon before I got braces the second time, my orthodontist would have followed a much longer treatment plan that wouldn't have been necessary.

Ask questions and be assertive. You're a paying customer, and deserve to know what's going on; 31 months is too much.
Did you make sure the treatment is a prep for a surgery? Because the in the preparation is supposed to worsen your bite and give maximum gap for the surgeon to work with (moving bones to the right place).
Maybe there's a HUGE misunderstanding and what your going through is even a preparation for surgery, and the orthodontist is trying to fix your problem with orthodontic treatment.
TALK TO YOUR ORTHODONTIST!