o Is It For Me?        o The Treatment Scenario

Orthognathic Surgery

If your jaws do not meet correctly, and your teeth don’t seem to fit with your jaws, you may have a bite problem that makes chewing difficult. Your face may also appear asymmetric or you may not be happy with your profile. Your bones and teeth may have grown that way since you were a child, or you may have had an injury to your facial bones. Whatever the reason, your teeth and your jaws can be repositioned by orthognathic surgery to create a more balanced appearance with a better occlusion.

Just as orthodontics means “straight teeth”, orthognathic surgery means “straight jaws”. Orthognathic/craniofacial surgery is corrective and reconstructive surgery designed to establish proper jaw and facial relationships. Approximately 5% or more of the United States population have skeletal jaw malrelationships that would benefit from orthognathic jaw surgery. Certain patients have discrepancies in the facial skeleton, the treatment for which requires close cooperation among the general dentist, the orthodontist, and the maxillofacial surgeon in order to fully address the patient’s needs. As part of this team, the maxillofacial surgeon plays an important role in achieving the proper treatment plan for the correction of the facial deformity. The purpose of correcting jaw deformities is to allow you to function properly and to look your best. We use a multi-disciplinary approach to your surgery which includes your orthodontist, dentist and physician.

Our goals are to provide our patients with:

• An optimum aesthetic result;
• The best functional result;
• A stable and permanent result and
• A predictable course of treatment in the shortest possible time.

Because the surgical correction of your jaw deformity requires many steps, we will usually give you some literature to read to help walk you through the typical sequence of events. During your consultation in our office, we will obtain records for treatment planning your of surgery which include dental impressions as well as facial photographs and facial video imaging. For some patients, we may feel that a presurgical psychological evaluation is necessary to help give you a positive and supportive approach to your treatment plan. This visit may give you an opportunity to explore your motivations and expectations for surgery, as well as ways to cope with your surgery and how to best prepare your family for the postsurgical events.

Your orthodontist will discuss, in detail, the orthodontic aspects of treatment with you. Prior to surgery, you will have braces to level and align the upper and lower dental arches independently. This can sometimes worsen your bite until the surgery is actually performed. During this period of treatment, it may be necessary to have some minor oral surgery performed such as removal of wisdom teeth.

The details of your surgery will be explained to you, and visual aids and video imaging will be used so that you have an excellent understanding of what kind of surgery is to be performed and how you will benefit. You will be given a detailed pre- and postoperative surgery instruction pamphlet that will answer many of your questions. All orthognathic/craniofacial surgeries are performed in the hospital with the aid of an assisting surgeon. During the period after your surgery, the orthodontist will begin fine-tuning your bite in order to gain the best possible position of your teeth. After tooth movement is complete, you will probably be asked by your orthodontist to wear a retainer for approximately one year. In most cases, the treatment time averages between 9 and 18 months before your braces are removed; however, this is variable and depends on the complexity of your treatment.

There have been many advances in orthognathic surgery. One recent beneficial development is the use of rigid internal fixation, which uses miniature bone plates and screws to hold the bone segments, therefore the jaws, in their new position without wiring the jaws together. In most cases, rigid fixation can be utilized and is a welcome advantage for many patients. With rigid fixation, patients can open and close their mouths right after surgery. This permits faster resolution of swelling, a much more improved ability to articulate and take in nourishment, and the ability to return to work and normal activities much sooner than ever before.

To schedule an appointment, click here.