Need some help :( Plan isn't going well

Message

#1 Post by **Anonybrit** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 pm

I have a very minor overbite and overjet, but I am extremely unhappy with the weakness of my jaw that it makes me depressed. I feel it has a huge negative effect on my appearance and constantly try to push it forward.

I'm 19 and this has effects on my social life. Words cannot express how deeply I wish I could change this aspect of my appearance.

I was going to try and have it sorted through the NHS, with the aesthetic improvements a sort of side-effect, but like an IDIOT I failed to call up the hospital after receiving the referral from the dentists, so asked for another, and forgot AGAIN.

Now I am loosing hope because I know how long it takes through the NHS. I am willing to just give up and use my savings to pay for whatever needs to be done to get my overjet and overbite fixed ASAP.

What are the quickest ways of having a weak jaw strengthened? Does anyone have any advice for me, because I'm at my wits end

#2 Post by **Anonybrit** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:39 am

Do these kinds of surgeries necessarily require long periods of time with braces though?

If they do I almost feel I'd rather forget the dental side of things and just get genioplasty

#3 Post by **loulou123** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:11 am

Hi

im in the uk and having my treatment on the nhs. I have several problems and am requiring double jaw surgery my estiamted time in braces is 18months before and 18 months after surgery, but some people are much quicker.

In my case from being referred from my dentist to the ortho and then until the time i got my braces fitted was nearly 2 and half years

-good old nhs. But this would obviously depend on the individual health authority. (also as mine was a complicated case i had to wait for the head orthodontist and not one of his team, which added to the wait)

I cant fault the nhs treatment so far, and for me there wasnt the option of going private as i was quoted nearly Â£11,000 for the braces and surgery etc, and there was no way i could afford this.

My case is obviously different to yours but i had to have the braces and surgery or the nhs wouldnt take me on, as they beleived the results would not be worth it if i had one without the other.

One thing to note, the nhs will only treat the more severe cases in adults and im not sure there do it just for cosmetic reasons. (best person to ask about this is your dentist tho.)

Hope this helps.

#4 Post by **Anonybrit** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 3:27 pm

I've been for a consultation before, jesus, almost a year ago... that's when I was first told I had a mild overbite. But it was so mild they didn't suggest anything treatment at all, they just wanted me to stop pushing my jaw forward because they said that could cause muscular problems.

I suppose I could get away without any kind of dental treatment, and allow myself to stop holding my jaw forward, if genio could give the desired results... would save a lot of time...

I know this isn't technically dental related then, but many people here have had genios - can genioplasty correct the weak appearance of a jaw, both vertically and horizontally?

#5 Post by **Betty Bat** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:03 pm

I hope this doesn't sound unkind - it's meant to be supportive (really!).

There is an inconsistency in your message. You said:
[quote]Words cannot express how deeply I wish I could change this aspect of my appearance.[/quote]

But you also said:
[quote]I failed to call up the hospital after receiving the referral from the dentists, so asked for another, and forgot AGAIN. [/quote]

It seems like you would not forget to call up the hospital twice if this was really what you wanted to do. Perhaps you have some mixed feelings about this?

#6 Post by **Anonybrit** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:56 pm

I do, I chicken out of it a lot because I don't particularly need the dental side of things done at all, I don't have any trouble with my bite, although it is technically slightly "over".

#7 Post by **Anonybrit** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:35 am

Meryaten wrote:How do you know you'd not benefit from having the dental work done if you consistently fail to schedule and turn up for those referral appointments?

Because the consultant told me.

I was going to try and make up some problems I was having to get it done on the NHS, I missed the appointments (well, I missed one, the first one I missed because I got the letter while abroad) because I chickened out of doing such a brash thing.

I do have an overbite but I really don't have any dental problems with it.

#8 Post by **loulou123** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 5:19 pm

sorry dont mean this to sound harsh, but cant beleive youd make up problems to get treated on the nhs:

I was going to try and make up some problems I was having to get it done on the NHS, I missed the appointments

as i for one and im sure there are many others had to wait on a very long waiting list, before being treated on the nhs, and alot of this time i was in some degree of discomfort.

please, please if your going to go down this route again at least turn up for the app, or you could be preventing someone who really needs the help getting it.

#9 Post by **marcusjb** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:39 pm

I am with Lou on this one - they just put up a board at my hospital with details of the number of missed appointments - I will have to write down the numbers next time I am there as it is truly scary how much time people are wasting by missing appointments.

I didn't wait quite as long to begin my treatment (about 16 months I think).

But you really should think very carefully about how you use the NHS - we are exceptionally lucky to have what we have and we should not waste these resources needlessly.

I was so pleased to qualify for NHS treatments as I know that it would be quite difficult to afford going private for the kind of treatment I am having.

loulou123 wrote: please, please if your going to go down this route again at least turn up for the app, or you could be preventing someone who really needs the help getting it.

#10 Post by **SandraJones** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:08 pm

Anonybrit, I'm going to presume that you're male because you talk about wanting to have your chin built up. I don't think most women would want this.

Before ruling out everything but surgery (which sounds like it would be cosmetic in your case, that you don't have any underlying skeletal or dental need), you might want to consider re-evaluating your opinion about your physical self.

We are literally battered and abused every single day with images of what we are "supposed" to look like, images pushed on us by people who have something to gain by making us feel inferior about our appearance.

The flaw you perceive might not be what other people see. Or it might actually be considered attractive, believe it or not. I have had several boyfriends who had what would be considered "weak" jaws. I actually found this so-called flaw very attractive ! One of these guys also had a major mega arch to his nose that he said he wanted desperately to fix until girls started telling him how much they loved it.

My point here is that you might not like something about yourself but others DO like it.

Just some thoughts ...