Overjet, surgery and braces - alternatives

I’ve read a lot on blogs and forums lately about people who are about to undergo surgery for their overjet. First and foremost I wonder why they didn’t get treatment earlier (around age seven) but that’s a topic for another blog post. Something that seems very common is to wear braces for overjet for a very long time, usually with rubber bands, after which the orthodontist gives up and says, “nope, this didn’t do anything, you’re going to need surgery”.

Functional orthodontists, however, claim that an overjet can’t be corrected with braces alone (and certainly not combined with tooth extractions) so according to them that would be a waste of time. In cases when traditional orthodontists believe they have solved the problem, they have instead created an illusion and an even worse functional problem has been produced.

You could die trying to move the teeth around in order to take care of an overjet but it’s not going to help since it’s a skeletal issue. The teeth are not to blame and should be taken out of the equation.

This is why I am an advocate for functional orthodontics. Read here what my guru Tooth975, a functional orthodontist who works for Yahoo Answers, says about this matter.

ALF, Crozat and Schwarz are all examples of functional appliances that are used to broaden the upper arch in both adults and children. They are sometimes also used to expand the upper jaw forward. The lower jaw can be brought forward by using a splint. Please note that these appliances don’t move the teeth but instead they focus on the jaws which is the right way to go! You might need braces afterwards but this final touch usually doesn’t take too long.

Go on to this post.

Here, Tooth975 explains how the lower jaw has to be guided forward by stretching the muscles. This may sound strange to somebody who hasn’t dealt with these problems themselves. The best way to explain this is that the lower jaw can sometimes “hang” too far back even though there is enough bone for a non surgical approach to work.

Furthermore, Tooth975 (I know, gotta love him, right?!) says that surgery should always be avoided if possible. Sometimes it’s necessary of course but in most cases the problem could also have been prevented if it had been dealt with at an early age.

It seems relevant to discuss if too many people are recommended to have surgery. If the only alternative presented is extraction/retraction orthodontics that only camouflages the problem and doesn’t solve it, this is a very serious matter. Recovery time after surgery is several months and there is always the risk of loss of sensation in the lower lip. Some patients lose a lot of weight because they can’t eat normally for a while. Not to mention the physical and emotional suffering involved. However, here in Sweden, this is what the county council and national health insurance are willing to cover.

Overbite and upper jaw too far back

I can't help but look at friends who I know used to wear braces, some of who had teeth extracted, and give their teeth and jaws a quick glance. Those who didn't have teeth extracted have the broadest smile, no doubt about it. They don't all have an inwardly slanted upper lip but usually straight (convex is the ideal, like most fashion models). But of course I avoid staring, it would have been weird if I did. :)

I almost worked myself to death today. To be able to write articles about overbites and jaw surgery I have to try to figure out exactly what happened to me. I finally gathered enough strength to open an old photo album with pictures of myself. I could never stand looking at pictures of myself as a kid, a face that I was forced to have damaged to please my parents and the dentists. (At least, that's how I used to look at it, I know it's not entirely true.)

I found pictures of myself as an eight year old. What can I say? My upper jaw is too far... back. Can you imagine? You have a 10 mm overjet - how the heck are you supposed to be able to figure out that the upper jaw is too far back? (The dentists should tell you this because they should know, shouldn't they?) But this is often the case, or so I've read, and I could clearly see that this was the case with me. The teeth appeared to be protruding but that's a different story. The truth is that the position of the teeth is usually perfect only they have been pushed out because the upper jaw is too narrow. Therefore the jaw is to blame, not the teeth!

Next thing that happens is that the upper jaw stops the lower jaw from developing properly and you end up with a weak chin. It's said that these problems keep getting worse the older you get and that was something I could determine from looking at these pictures. The face grows longer and longer and the profile becomes more and more diagonal. It really is pretty scary. Traditional orthodontics that move teeth backwards guide the face to grow even more wrong. Basically, they do the opposite of what should've been done.

Furthermore, to not help an eight year old who has this kind of problem? No, you choose to wait until it's too late. That's bordering on evil in my opinion! From what I've come to understand, scientists have known for about a century that when the cranium, the jaws and the teeth start to grow in the wrong direction they will continue to do so and if anything, get worse.

I feel disfigured. After having read all this I wonder how anybody has ever been able to find me attractive or cute. I may look alright from the front? I wonder if my super fast metabolism has anything to do with this. The cranium didn't develop the way it should which makes you look sick. I look like a person who has melted and got smudged out.
Maybe I should stop working this late...