Metal Mouth Message Board

Could a result be good functionally, bad aesthetically and possible to change aesthetically without losing the good functionality? I’ll give you an example:

I had jaw surgery and I don’t like how they placed the jaws. There’s no cant but I feel like both jaws are rotated too much to the left. Both dental midlines are off to the left and the arches looks strangely rotated horizontally. But I haven’t had any problems with the bite. I guess that my jaws are in a functionally good position but (to me) in a aesthetically bad position.

I guess rotating the lower jaw to the right to make it better aesthetically would affect the functionality? Wouldn’t rotating the lower jaw change the position of the joint and all that?

Hi There Sparklecat,
So every time you go under the knife, you will develop scar tissue. This makes it challenging for any sort of corrective surgery. Now with hindsight, I would only consider a revision surgery by someone who is a skilled provider and has done many cases of revisions. So that means going with someone like Arnett or Gunson and paying out in cash as they don't take insurance.

In my case I had a genioplasty when I was 21 and developed OSA after a neck surgery in my late 40's. Saw one oral surgeon who recommended reversing the genioplasty and an MMA. In addition; he said he would fix my gummy smile. I don't think this surgeon planned out the procedure very well but I should have been smarter in getting at least 3 opinions. That was my bad.

In your case, you'll need to go with an expert in revisions and then weigh the risks versus the benefits.

Best of luck and keep us posted.
Karla

Thank you for your answer Karla!

I forgot to mention. My bite was _really_ bad before so I’m not sure if this is as good as it can get or not. The function is fine now but I’m unsure about the aesthetics. But it’s possible that changning the aesthetics would ruin the function.

My jaws are not symmetric to begin with so I guess it’s possible that the best outcome aesthetically wouldn’t create a good bite. I’d rather still be able to chew than to be good looking.

I’ll guess I’ll have to ask a surgeon to be sure!