Hello! Dentist told me this surgery may be needed yesterday

February 4, 2004

Yesterday i went to the dentist for scans because my teeth are over

crowded. I expected him to say that i just needed some braces or

perhaps one tooth out. Then he tells me that i have " 2 problems " . One

being that my teeth dont have the room and are overcrowded. And the

second problem (at this point i got the feeling he was gonna say

something bad) is that your lower jaw is too big so you cant bite

properly. He then explained that to get this sorted i would need

major surgery on my lower jaw to correct it. He said that it could

involve breaking my jaw or something and then setting it in place. He

told me my appearance would change (this was freaking me out a bit).

He seemed very sensitive about the whole thing, however i didnt

appreciate his insinuation that maybe i would like to change my

appearance, i got the feeling he thought i shouldnt be happy with how

i look at the moment.

Anyway i got home and went on the net and tried to find out what this

surgery is called and get some imformation, im still not even sure if

this is the right place, but i think what my dentist/orhtodontist

(sp?) was talking about is orthognathic surgery. he explained about

me needing braces and maybe teeth out for a long time in advance of

the op. He said he will book me in to the hospital to talk to

specialists and stuff. I have never really thought though that i have

an oversized jaw and no one i know seems to think so either or have

ever mentioned it. He told me its a big decision whether i want to go

ahead or not and i have lots of time to think it through. Anyway i

cant get this off my mind and ive taken a couple of days off work to

consider this. this is just the sort of place im looking for and i

hope some of you who know all about this will be able to answer some

of the many questions i have and help me out :-)

February 4, 2004

Hi ,

You're in the right place, there's lots of people here to help. Check

out this info website as well at

http://www.geocities.com/orthognathicinfo/ and the other surgery site

at http://health.groups/yahoo.com/group/orthognathicsurgerysite2

(this site has member photos that are accessible).

February 4, 2004

Hi ,

You're in the right place, there's lots of people here to help. Check

out this info website as well at

http://www.geocities.com/orthognathicinfo/ and the other surgery site

at http://health.groups/yahoo.com/group/orthognathicsurgerysite2

(this site has member photos that are accessible).

February 4, 2004

Yep - this is the right place. The whole idea of this surgery can

be a scary one, but I swear - my own experience with upper and lower

surgery was much easier than I ever imagined it would be. Don't let

this get you too far down in the dumps and remember that what you

and those you know see isn't the same as what doctors see. I'm not

talking about your physical, aesthetic appearance, but your bone

structure. You're jaw may not appear too big to you, but be open to

what a doctor might observe in the course of an examination. A

change in aesthetic appearance isn't uncommon as a result of the

surgery, but often is just a subtle change for the better. That was

my experience. Dramatic change is possible ( Fiddlesticks is

an awesome example). Often, the change in appearance is just a

benefit from the surgery, while the reason for the surgery is

functional. There can be many problems that develop as a result of

a malocclusion (how the upper and lower teeth meet) going untreated,

such as joint problems (I have 'em and you do not want them, trust

me) or loss of teeth, etc.

> Hi ,

>

> You're in the right place, there's lots of people here to help.

Check

> out this info website as well at

> http://www.geocities.com/orthognathicinfo/ and the other surgery

site

> at http://health.groups/yahoo.com/group/orthognathicsurgerysite2

> (this site has member photos that are accessible).

>

February 5, 2004

Adrain,

Yes I remember when I was first told that I needed jaw surgery some

years ago (what? me? no way!) - put it off for years til my bite got

worse and worse. I am 2 weeks post all surgery (hopefully) and already

I feel and see the differnence in having teeth that all fit together

and I can start to see a smile like people in magazines -(all nice

teeth). However cosmetics was not the reason I went through with it,

but to fix my bite -the cosmetic effect is a nice bonus. (It is the

first time I've liked my face in my life -since I was a child anyway).

So I say only go through with it if you want to fix the long term

effect of your bite. But it is certainly a wild ride ..but most of us

would say, worth it it the long run...

> Yesterday i went to the dentist for scans because my teeth are over

> crowded. I expected him to say that i just needed some braces or

> perhaps one tooth out. Then he tells me that i have " 2 problems " . One

> being that my teeth dont have the room and are overcrowded. And the

> second problem (at this point i got the feeling he was gonna say

> something bad) is that your lower jaw is too big so you cant bite

> properly. He then explained that to get this sorted i would need

> major surgery on my lower jaw to correct it. He said that it could

> involve breaking my jaw or something and then setting it in place. He

> told me my appearance would change (this was freaking me out a bit).

> He seemed very sensitive about the whole thing, however i didnt

> appreciate his insinuation that maybe i would like to change my

> appearance, i got the feeling he thought i shouldnt be happy with how

> i look at the moment.

>

> Anyway i got home and went on the net and tried to find out what this

> surgery is called and get some imformation, im still not even sure if

> this is the right place, but i think what my dentist/orhtodontist

> (sp?) was talking about is orthognathic surgery. he explained about

> me needing braces and maybe teeth out for a long time in advance of

> the op. He said he will book me in to the hospital to talk to

> specialists and stuff. I have never really thought though that i have

> an oversized jaw and no one i know seems to think so either or have

> ever mentioned it. He told me its a big decision whether i want to go

> ahead or not and i have lots of time to think it through. Anyway i

> cant get this off my mind and ive taken a couple of days off work to

> consider this. this is just the sort of place im looking for and i

> hope some of you who know all about this will be able to answer some

> of the many questions i have and help me out :-)

>

February 5, 2004