Considering Ortho

[caryb]

Hello everyone,

I'm a 34 year old male living in a suburb of Vancouver, BC with a moderate underbite and an anterior (front) open bite. I've obviously lived with this for most of my life as my underbite is an heredity trait and have been self concious of it as well. I had no idea I had an open bite until a visit to the dentist about a year ago. Up until that time, I thought I had a normal bite except for the underbite. She asked me if I had difficulty eating sandwiches and pizza at all. I had never really thought about it up until then, but I have really noticed since then. Plus, she pointed out that my molars are wearing more than normal due to my back teeth touching without my front teeth coming together. Nobody had even pointed this out to me when I was younger as my teeth came in straight thanks to my big mouth and larger lower jaw. At the time, she explained that surgery would be the only thing to correct it. I of course said "No thanks!" and decided to live with it like I have been for all of my life.

Now that time has passed, I have realized that my jaw, open bite and under bite cause more problems than I thought. After doing some research I have found that the jaw joint soreness I get, head aches that begin at the back of my jaw, difficulty breathing while sleeping unless my mouth is open, and sleep apnea can all be contributed to this. Plus, I've never been happy with my profile, the way my bottom lip comes together with my top lip and the difficult of keeping my lips closed (no, I don't talk a lot!) and my tongue in my mouth can be attributed to this as well.

Now, with all of this said, I've made an appointment with my dentist on Friday, June 24 to see what I can do about it. Needless to say, I'm very nervous about it all and wondering if the surgery is worthwhile. In fact, I'm sweating and shaking just typing this. I'm hoping some of you can help me with some questions I have before visiting my dentist. I know she will be able to answer them all, but I'd like to have some of my nerves calmed. Anyways, here are my questions:

1. I have straight teeth already, but am I going to end up with a mouth full of braces in for quite some time before and after the surgery?

2. If I do end up with braces (which I sincerely hope I don't have to), what is it like to be an adult wearing braces? How do people view and treat you?

3. Is there a significant difference in the way your mouth and jaw feel after the surgery? Is it easier to eat, sleep and keep your mouth closed? (It would be nice to wake up without a pillow full of drool in the morning. Sorry if I grossed you out.)

4. How painful is the surgery and is the surgery worthwhile?

Thanks very much to you all. I hope I can talk with you more as I consider and possibly progress with this.

Cary

[nvcarissa]

1. I have straight teeth already, but am I going to end up with a mouth full of braces in for quite some time before and after the surgery?

2. If I do end up with braces (which I sincerely hope I don't have to), what is it like to be an adult wearing braces? How do people view and treat you?

3. Is there a significant difference in the way your mouth and jaw feel after the surgery? Is it easier to eat, sleep and keep your mouth closed? (It would be nice to wake up without a pillow full of drool in the morning. Sorry if I grossed you out.)

4. How painful is the surgery and is the surgery worthwhile?

#1 - Probably...just because you think they are straight doesn't mean that you don't have bite problems, and from what you describe, you probably do.

#2 - Being an adult with braces is a little odd. Most braces wearers are teens and pre-teens, but there are enough of us around so that we don't feel like total freaks. This board is a Godsend. My friends and co-workers don't treat me any differently other than, if they haven't seen me since I got them, to express surprise or something like that. After that, it rarely comes up.

I haven't had my surgery yet so I cannot answer #3 and #4, except to say that I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't thing the surgery worthwhile. I am sick of my bite and headache problems.

[nahky]

You will definately have braces if you are going ahead with surgery. They place them in the most optimal position so that your jaws can be aligned perfectly during surgery. The braces will need to be worn a period of time after the surgery to fix the smaller problems.

Braces are worn 6 months only after the surgery (well thats in my case)
And i am wearing them for one year before my surgery [ this is due to me waiting for my insurance company to cover it]

i can relate with the drool factor. I think you will definately think it is worth it once you go ahead with it. You will have a great profile and never have to be self conscious again. And you wont ever have to think about your jaw and teeth when you eat.

[drrick]

i know a very good ortho in Vancouver if you want his name just PM me

[swan]

2. Normal. No problem at all. Funny thing is, even people who were interested and curious in the beginning because they used to have braces, too, soon forget.

[caryb]

I took the plunge and visited the dentist today and explained the problems I've been having. She couldn't have been better to me. She took the time to phone the Orthodontist she personally would recommend me to go to. The only drawback was that his office is over an hour away, which isn't very practical. He recommended an orthodontist only about 25 minutes away who is working in conjunction with other Orthos and Oral Surgeons on a study involving misaligned jaws and sleep apnea. The Orthodontist was very happy to take me on as a patient because of this.

To make matters even better, my dentist wrote a personal letter to the orthodonist and faxed it immediately to explain my situation. I phoned the Ortho's office when I got home and they knew exactly who I was from the letter she had written. They scheduled me for a consultation on July 26, which would be the earliest they could get me in. Although, they put me on their cancellation list because I told them I was flexible. Well, no more than 5 minutes later they phoned and booked me for this coming Monday, June 27.

Needless to say, I'm extremely happy with the service I received from my dentist. She took the time to answer all of my questions including the most important one: In her opinion, is this the right thing to do for practical and medical purposes or does she feel it is purely esthetical? She assured me it was the former and not the latter.

Cary

[Davep]

I'd say go for it. I am 50 and just 2 weeks in braces. I do not know anyone else in my whole are in braces but most people do not even notice. Those who do are very supportive. I waited too long, but did not even know that this procedure could be done in the first place. Wearing these braces is nowhere as bad as I thought. I have a good bit of time to go ,I would say, in braces but I now know I'm on the road and have to say the last 2 weeks have flown by.
Just do it and the best of luck
Dave