Surgery Question or Straighten Teeth ...

[JSharp]

Hello everyone, I have a underbite, where when I bite together the lower set just touch the top but the lower set can be seen to be infront. I've noticed this for around 4 years or so , when a boy in my class (who also had an underbite) pointed it out to me as I hardly realised it and had been going to orthodontists since but they've not yet done anything to make sure its stopped 'growing' . Everyone else in my family has a normal bite, which makes me think my one was due to not giving too much attention back when I was 11 or so as I had a retainer for my top teeth but didn't wear it properly which caused this :/ .

I'm 18 now, and the orthodontists have given me an option. I was first worried about surgery, I don't want it done as I'm worried about the risks of losing feeling in the mouth region. So I asked if I could straigten out my top set of teeth (as they're fairly crooked) , and they said they'll use a palatal expander to do that, and when done my bite will be so that the top sit properly behind the bottom as opposed to touching it.

I'm feeling that although my teeth will be straightened, it won't still improve my smile, as the bottom set will still be infront of the top, but I guess that will only fix with surgery now. Just wondering if anyone else had the palatal expander used ?

If I go for the palatal expander route, I can get treatment started straight away, but for the surgery I'll have to be on a waiting list and then further consultations which may make the whole process take around 4-6 years :/ . Are there any risks that I may have leaving the bite as it is ? I feel my jaw clicking slightly when I move my jaw left/right and open fully at the moment.

[animalcroc]

it sounds like you have more of a cosmetic issue (which can be just as tough to deal with) than a functional one. palate expanders in adult does nothing but to
angle the tooth outwards. as an adult your palate is fused and will not expand unless surgically worked on