Re: gutted! refused overbite surgery

[Guest guest]

Hello--

I joined this group a few weeks ago and have been lurking ever since,

but I think I can help you out. I have basically the opposite

problem, but have the same risk. My roots are shorter than they

should be due to root resorption from poor orthodontic work when I

was younger. (The same poor orthodontic work that likely caused my

open bite in the first place...how nice). Therefore, putting braces

on again gives me a significant risk of loosing my teeth. I've been

to four different orthodontists, and I finally found one that is

willing to take the risk! We'll take the orthodontic work slow, and

he'll keep checking to make sure my teeth don't get really loose.

There are no guarantees that I will get all the way through the

orthodontics and be ready for surgery, but at least he's willing to

try! I, like many others in this group, have extreme headaches and

neck pain, and the splint and pain meds I'm on just don't help

enough. Sometimes I think dentures might just be better than TMJ

pain, but hopefully that doesn't happen either!

My advice...keep trying! The orthodontist I now see has an office

downstairs from my oral surgeon. My o/s recommended him and they

talked so much before my initial appointment with the orthodontist

that the orthodontist said he felt like he knew me already. I think

that is one of the keys to success in this...find an o/s that you are

comfortable with that can be with you through as many orthodontists

as it will take...and take him/her up on all of the recommendations

for orthodontists that they can think of.

Good luck!

> after being told i could have surgery on my teeth and jaw i was

then

> told at a later date i could not because i have gum recession on

four

> teeth and it runs a risk of loosing my teeth if i have braces, i

feel

> this should be my decision!!!!!please help

[Guest guest]

Talk to your ortho and/or dentist again and see if they'll refer you

to a peridontist. Unless there are some sort of extenuating

circumstances, generally a gum graft will take care of the gum

recession.

In my particular case, I just started on braces on the top. I'll be

getting braces on the bottom in a couple of months, but before my

ortho will do that, he says I have to have a gum graft, because like

you, I have some gum recession

> after being told i could have surgery on my teeth and jaw i was

then

> told at a later date i could not because i have gum recession on

four

> teeth and it runs a risk of loosing my teeth if i have braces, i

feel

> this should be my decision!!!!!please help