Overjet, surgery only on lower jaw?

[GSBraces]

I get my braces on next week but one thing starts to annoy and confuse me... I have a gummy smile to, not that bad but think that when my upper arch gets a bit wider it will be much more notable. I didn't think much of that when i talked to my surgeon but now it worries me (in fact i have never tought that much of it ever before). I mean, you only want to do this surgery once in your lifetime and get a perfect result not only to the bite but to your look to!

I'm planed for surgery only on my lower jaw, have a quad helix that should widen the maxilla, and then of course I get braces. How much can the braces alone fix?

And also, anyone got pictures or links to blogs about surgery for overjet, mostly find underbite surgery or not that severe overjet...

[subu]

I had an overjet and an overbite but surgery was on both the lower and upper jaw.

I had all 4 premolars removed (1 was removed when I was a kid - my parents decided against removing the additional 3 teeth). I had the 3 additional teeth removed last year to make room in my mouth.

Here's my blog with pictures. I update quite frequently.

http://jawsurgerycamilla.wordpress.com

[GSBraces]

Thank you! May have missed it but was your upper jag moved only forward? Or upwards to? Any pictures of your before and after smile?

Most say that your result is truly amazing!

[subu]

My upper jaw was moved about 4mm forward and I think slightly up, but not by much. I haven't been able to master the art of smiling yet. I'm still learning how to do a closed mouth smile and I think it's mostly due to the fact that the insides of my mouth are still a little swollen and my brackets have found a home nestled in my swollen mouth/lips. I try not to irritate them too much with movement.

As soon as I get my smile down, I will post it....everywhere. haha, j/k.

How long is your treatment plan?

[GSBraces]

Ahh, I see. Was just curios to know how it had improved for you. Can't find much pictures with actual smiles, just before/after on the bite.
Did they also widen your upper arch somehow?


My plan is 18 months in braces. Surgery in approx one year from now. My teeth are not much crocked or so so i may get lucky and be finished in a shorter time. So nervous for braces in two days but also very exited that things gonna happen to improve my bite and profile.

[LyraM45]

I have an 8mm overjet and narrow arches (and lest not forget the gummy smile) and the surgeon and ortho are debating whether I just need my top done, or my top and bottom. Ortho is now leaning towards top and bottom. I don't think it's uncommon to have just one or the other done if they feel that is all you need. If you want, go see a few surgeons and see what they have to say. Have you voiced your concern about maybe needing both done? Have you let your ortho know that a gummy smile bothers you?

[Bracefacepower]

Hello,

I had lower jaw surgery 2.5 weeks ago, brought forward 8 mm. I also had a gummy smile but rather than opt for upper jaw surgery as well I had my upper lip lengthened which has had good results. I chose not to have the upper surgery as I wanted minimum recovery time and had the surgery more for correcting my bite rather than aesthetics. It's still early days but I am pleased with the results.

I would ask the surgeon if there alternative options.

[bmueller]

I would just caution that lip lengthening is only appropriate for the right situation. I looked into it and it wasn't right for my condition. My upper lip is "normal" length but my jaw had grown downward so much that the only real correction was to impact the jaw (7 mm!)

If you're going to have surgery, you're going to be recovering anyways, get everything fixed. Honestly, if you trust that your surgeon knows what he's doing and has your best interest in mind, you shouldn't spend time worrying whether its one jaw or two.

[LyraM45]

+1 for what Bmueller just said!