jaw realignment

robnye

my eldest daughter has had braces for a little over a year now.

it has become apparent that her bite (top and bottom jaws) doesnt match and in fact the gap has got bigger since she had the braces fitted, partly due to the lower jaw continuing to grow, whilst the top jaw has stopped growing.

she has been told an option is to have jaw realignment surgery. we are due to see the consultant at some point (once the appointment comes through)

i was wondering whether anyone new of anyone who had had this done.
any pointers, useful information would be most welcome.

she is an avid singer and is worried that this will effect her singing, she also has a slight lisp, would this be worsened/improved

elaine373

I dont have a child with this but have a friend whose adult daughter had a jaw realignment.It was a pretty major operation and took several months of recovery for her.she had a lisp before the op but it did improve after. she lost loads of weight as well (hmm maybe i should get it done)She basically was told that she had to have it done, so obviously hers was extreme. I know the bands that she had to wear after irritated her very much as well. She had had a baby 4 months before the op and became very ill after her op with some kind of auto immune illness which i believe was nothing to do with her having her jaw realigned.I guess its all down to how badly your daughter needs the op. I must echo that my friends daughter had to have it to avoid wearing her teeth right down and her recovery wasnt typical of this kind of op.Some people dont have it done and their jaw is part of who they are. see what the consultants says. all the best, Elaine

Toothsmith

I have a couple of patients who have had this done. For them it was the best option.

It is not something to have done for fun. It is major surgery. Be guided by the consultant.

Luis

I have a big overbite - my top teeth come a good half an inch further forward from my lower teeth, due to misaligned jaw, and none of the teeth line up anywhere along my mouth. I have a very faint lisp, but none of this has ever affected my eating or singing etc. My overbite is lessened since I had a bridge built to replace my dentures, as they angled the bridge in a bit. I would say not to bother if it is not affecting the child's health?

Teerah

This surgery is usually used when the lower jaw comes past the upper jaw therefore making the lower teeth bite in front of the upper teeth. Cosmetically it can make an enormous difference and as surgery is only performed usually after the age of 18 then the person involved should be able to make an informed decision on their own as to whether they wish it done or not. It is however as Toothsmith says, major work and not to be considered lightly.

Bendybops19

Hi, my jaw is out of allignment, but mine is the other way round, top set is further over my bottom set. I have a really really clunky jaw that can be quite painful, so the dentist had a mouth guard made for me which has helped quite a bit.
I'm not sure of your daughters symptons/case or if hers hurts, but that helped me at bedtime to stop it aching so much.

sosw

robnye wrote:

my eldest daughter has had braces for a little over a year now.

it has become apparent that her bite (top and bottom jaws) doesnt match and in fact the gap has got bigger since she had the braces fitted, partly due to the lower jaw continuing to grow, whilst the top jaw has stopped growing.

she has been told an option is to have jaw realignment surgery. we are due to see the consultant at some point (once the appointment comes through)

i was wondering whether anyone new of anyone who had had this done.
any pointers, useful information would be most welcome.

she is an avid singer and is worried that this will effect her singing, she also has a slight lisp, would this be worsened/improved

Hi! I know your message was posted a long time ago, but we are in a similar situation with our 12 year old daughter at the moment. She has been under an orthodontist for many years waiting to see how her lower jaw developed. After a meeting today, he has informed us that braces and jaw realignment surgery is the way forward in my daughter case. I was just wondering if you had any advise or knew of any helpful websites from your experience with your daughter. We meet with the surgeon in January to discuss the matter in more detail and I just want to be more informed. This is the first time I have posted anything on this site so you may not even get this message, but if you do and have any information, thanks in advance. S

peainapod

Hi,

I had the operation a couple of years back. I hope this doesn't scare you but I'll be totally honest and tell you what I went through.
After I woke up from the operation my face was like a balloon, literally. The swelling is quite extreme. They also sew some tubes into your neck to drain any excess blood that's left after the operation. These are quite painfull especially if you accidentally tug on them. They are just 2 tubes (one either side of your neck, sewn to the skin) and at the bottom of the tubes like a ball that catches the blood and the nurse comes to empty them now and then. When I came round I could feel (and see !) I was very very swollen but I wasn't in pain as such, more of a discomfort. I was fine the rest of the day and night (obviously quite drugged up with pain killers !), but felt quite good considering what had just happened. The next day was the worst. They say it always hurst more the next day and in this case it truly does ! I was in agony and on top of that you dribble constantly because you're numb and have no control on saliva anymore. So I was dribbling every minute of the day and night for a few weeks. Also I had a constant nose bleed for about 4 weeks which was hard work. I wasn't able to eat anything for a long long long time, they did bring me those nutrition drinks in the hospital (but lets face it they're probably the most disgusting things on the planet !).
All in all its a major operation, the recovery is a very very long one and a very painful one at that, but, if the operation is a success its totally worth every bit. I had braces for 7 years before this operation and after the operation and the swelling went down, they took off the braces for the last time and I looked like a whole new person ! Unfortunately now my teeth have moved out of place yet again and the 7 years of braces and the operation was for nothing.
Regarding the singing I would say not to worry. It does change the shape of your face but it didn't affect my singing in the least. If anything it was better because I had more flexibility in my jaws and mouth.
I can't tell you about the lisp since i didnt have this problem sorry.
Hope this helped !

MissThrifty_2

I remember that a friend of mine had this done when we were 19/20. She had an underbite, and although I hadn't really noticed/paid it much attention before, I did a double take when I saw her after the healing! She looked STUNNING. I was really surprised at the difference it had made.

kacie

hi, i want this surgery done, does anyone know who does iot and how much it would cost

Toothsmith

Get referred via your dentist to an orthodontist in the first instance, who would discuss it with you and refer you on up to a consultant orthodontist and an oral surgeon.

If it's necessary, you may well get it done on the NHS. If it's not necessary - don't have it done!!!!!!!!!!!