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Tipped wrote:I can guarantee you certainty that braking bones never ever heal..
Don't mean to cause distress there. But that is a very very simply fact, whether elective or not.
How can you "guarantee" this? It is broadly acknowledged that broken bones -do- heal and often are stronger at the site of healing than the rest of the bone.
If you opted not to have surgery, that's your decision, but it is not fair to scare other patients off surgery with misinformation. Orthodontists wouldn't recommend surgery unless it was necessary, as this is almost always to correct a skeletal deformity or discrepancy. I don't think anybody goes in for surgery for fun, or as a decision taken lightly - it's through necessity.
Braced May 2005
Bimaxillary surgery Aug 2007
Debraced Jun 2008
Indeed it doesn't Meryaten because I'm a good candidate for surgery but I have chosen not to go down that route but have still been guaranteed that both my deep overbite and crowding can be corrected. It won't be "perfect" but who wants perfection anyway!!.
What more can you ask for. The orthodontists do their very best to give you the smile and functionality you want but within the limits you set them.
I saw three orthos before getting braced, and all of them gave me the option of straightening without extractions, even though this would have made for an overbite. I opted for extractions, but just based on that set of experiences, I guess I can't agree that an ortho wouldn't allow a patient to end up with an overbite. I was only warned that it would change the overall look of my face somewhat.
In fact, as I posed elsewhere, I have been told that even with extractions I may end up with a bit of overbite.
I am straightening my teeth without correcting a minor overjet. My ortho was fine with it. I never had my bite fixed because all of the ortho's in the past insisted on everyone having a Class I bite. The thought of jaw surgery scared the hell out of me so I thought I would have to go through life with wonky teeth. Until recently I think that was the norm. Now it's all about making the best of what you have in some cases. If I have to go to bed in a retainer for the rest on my life - who cares? When I wake up in the morning my teeth will look tons better and that's all I care about.
Meryaten wrote:By the way, many of the people here who are choosing a compromise treatment (eg leaving some excessive overjet) in order to avoid extractions or surgery will still be having work done on teh bite as well as the aesthetics, in order to get the best possible results without those extractions/surgery. Why not go for the most functional set of teeth that orthodontia can offer you? They'll surely serve you better.
I'm choosing a compromise because surgery for me is a step too far. I don't need extractions and I doubt that I would have had any if that had been offered because I only have 23 teeth left as it is.
Both ortho's I've seen said that surgery would be the best step (although by no means essential) for a perfect bite and smile but I'm not prepared to go that far. 20 years ago I might have done it as the surgery itself does not frighten me.
Today I'm in a job that means I cannot be away from the office for long. Taking several weeks off work is out of the question. At the moment even finding the time to get a day or two off to have it done would be hard lol. I also have other commitments that really mean surgery is not an option.
I'm 34 and in braces for the first time. I am at work so don't have my paperwork in front of me as to what is exactly wrong with my teeth, but I can tell you that I have a cross bite, severe crowding (complete with "fangs"), and a slight over jet and over bite. I put off braces for lots of reasons but the main one was because my dentist told me that since my top jaw is very small and since I have a cross bite that I would need jaw surgery before I could get braces.
I have full fledged panic attacks just getting a cavity filled so surgery is absolutely out of the question.
Finally I decided to get a real opinion from a real orthodontist. I saw 4 and all 4 said that, yes, surgery would be the only way for my teeth to be perfect, but ALL of them encouraged me to do braces without surgery. ALL of them were willing to treat me without surgery. And ALL of them said I would achieve great results. They all had various ways they would go about it using extractions. (I think they all said I would still need extractions even with the surgery.)
I was warned that I would absolutely need to wear my retainer most every night once my braces are off, but I am the type of person who will willingly do that. And no, I do not regret my decision at all!
I don't think anyone needs to 'defend' their decision not to have surgery. I would gladly have taken the 'no surgery' route if that had been available to me, even if it acheived a less than perfect result. However, I was told I had no chance of my new bite being stable without surgery, and after my arches were straightened out I developed a huge overjet which looked a bit daft (and worse than the old crooked teeth I started out with).
For me, there was no point being treated at all unless I went under the hammer and chisel. If you had a choice, and you're happy with the choice you made, what's to defend?
Braced May 2005
Bimaxillary surgery Aug 2007
Debraced Jun 2008
I am about half way through my treatment. I will have braces on for about 12 months total. Not bad. I have no idea if I will have to wear a retainer every night for the rest of my life - I was trying to stress how important it is to me to have a nice smile and wanting to keep it. I would gladly wear one every night if need be. That being said I draw the line at surgery. I'm not one to leap into that option just because someone says everyone in world needs to be a perfect Class I. I have had friends in the dental profession tell me that the jaw surgery is a very big deal as far as the length of recovery. I have read blogs and seen pictures of recovering patients and it's not a piece of cake. I have had several surgeries in my long life (not jaw) and let me tell you, this is not something you go into skipping and laughing. Get ready for a big surprise. You go into it feeling like your 20 and wake up feeling like your 80. Now, I know there are people for which this is the only option and I admire their courage and tenacity. I just say that you have to make your own decision - do what you feel comfortable with. Don't let anyone talk you into something you don't want to do. My ortho says when I am finished, my small overjet will not be apparent to anyone, unless they want to take an impression of my bite. I don't know too many people outside of my dentist friend and my good girlfriend who owns a dental lab that might want to do that.
You are of course right dubnobass but I wasn't defending my decision at all, just merely explaining my decision for the benefit of Meryaten's question and for anyone else who has an interest in why some of us don't follow the surgery route.
For what it's worth, I'm doing braces for some cosmetic and some dental reasons. I do have a bit of jaw misalignment, but it's not severe, and it doesn't hurt my dental health in any significant way. My major dental issue is and was crowding. I have a very small mouth, and the teeth just didn't fit! So, they crowded on top of each other and came in at odd angles, as teeth do, which has led to cavities and other problems because I couldn't get to my teeth for proper cleaning.
Thus, for me, "cosmetic" braces are actually correcting my main dental issue as well.
If your goal is just to have a pretty smile, and you don't have any significant medical or personal issues with your alignment, it's perfectly fine to seek the changes you want. As mentioned, I'm sure there are orthos who will refuse to do a "partial" treatment, but this is your mouth, money, and health, not theirs. The decision is yours in the end, and your challenge is to make sure you find a treatment plan that is right for you, not for your ortho.
(PS - I didn't happen to verify what country the OP is in, but I'm taking a stab that (s)he is in the US, hence money likely being a factor.)
Braces Type: Powerprox ("Six Month" Braces), worn 9/27/2007 through 5/12/2008
My dentist: Lakeside Dental in Lake Zurich, IL
Sorry Meryaten I did misunderstand you....doh. I thought you were implying that if surgery was the best option then why not have it, but I can see now that isn't what you meant.
Eric - Would you rather have braces on for a few more months and have a good bite or have them on for a shorter time and have a bad bite?
Anyways - If you leave the bite alone, imagine what could happen in the long run. The braces will cost the same whether or not the bite is fixed? Am I right??
Why are you in a rush?
- mariah
