<p>My son’s front teeth meet, but not his molars, so he chews with his front teeth. One orthdondist has recommned surgery to fix this, another has said that, if it was his kid, he wouldn’t bother unless it was really bothering the person. My son has been this way for years, so he doesn’t know any other way, and get’s along fine. </p>
<p>Has anyone had experience with this surgery? Sorry I can’t remember the technical name. You need braces for about a year to line the teeth up and then they operate.</p>
<p>Hello, I’m in a similar situation, except I have a huge underbite which braces aren’t going to be enough to fix. Therefore, the dentist has told me that I have to get a jaw surgery when I turn 18…I have to allow my jaw to fully grow.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how extensive your son’s situation is and how it will impact him in the future. My mother in law who has no cavities, had to have all her front teeth ground down and capped (didn’t work well, now is overdentured) because she had the same problem you state for your son. The front teeth are not meant to carry the burden of grinding the food down for digestion, and did not hold up. Now she is 80 years old, and did not start having issues until she was in her 60’s, but issues she did have, and I personally see the result of them.</p>
<p>I know this is not identical to your son’s condition, but the procedure would probably be similar. One of my Ds was referred to an oral surgeon for an overbite that the orthodontist could not fix. The surgeon said that her lower jaw would literally be sawed off, a graft inserted to make the jaw longer, and then the jaw would be held in place with braces until it healed. I’m sorry to say, the description turned my stomach and I could not imagine putting my D through it. I subsequently spoke with another dentist who suggested simply having a chin implant done to even out her profile after she turns 18 (stops growing). That sounded like a kinder, gentler solution that we will reconsider in another couple of years (altho’ I realize it probably would not be the solution for your son). I’d say get another opinion.</p>
<p>mythreesons, I hate to say this, but I wonder what the long term effects of this situation would be. </p>
<p>Forgive me, but would not tmj be something that could wind up happening? </p>
<p>Maybe you should get another opinion from a proper dental surgeon? I can’t spell this morning, but they are the types of doctors who volunteer for Operation Smile.</p>
<p>We are very familar with this surgery. Our DS just had both upper and lower jaws surgically broken and realigned a week ago Monday. It is very extensive surgery. His surgery was 5 1/2 hours long. He has been followed by his orthodontist and oral surgeon for about 2yrs. We had to wait for him to stop growing before we set a surgery date. Some people only need one jaw surgically broken, some like our DS had to have both broken. In his case, he had an underbite that impacted his eating. Rear molars didn’t match. The oral surgeon told us that he didn’t have to have the surgery immediately or even at all, but without it, he would have significantly more problems when he got older, problems like TMJ, teeth falling out, etc My observation was that there were more teens having the surgery than adults. Most elect to have the surgery in the summer when school is out. In the past 11 days since he had the surgery, he has lost 12 lbs and is on a liquid only diet for another 2 weeks, then upgrades to mashed potatoes, oatmeal, bananas, etc. He was extremely swollen the first week and only now has the swelling finally started to go down. He had to be readmitted to the hospital on day three for two more bags of IV fluid as he just couldn’t keep hydrated. It hasn’t been easy, but even now he is happy he had it done. I’d be more than happy to answer any more questions.</p>
<p>Someone in our town had this done the summer before her senior year in high school. What a difference in her look! Her bottom jaw used to jutt out and her bottom teeth overlapped her top teeth. Post surgery–her profile is great and her overall facial structure looks 100% better. I’m sure she had the surgery to correct the jaw/teeth problems and the better physical appearance was just a nice bonus.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies so far. We have, by the way, gone to an excellent local surgeon, who’s on the faculty of a dental school here in Chicago. He recommends the surgery, although he says you can live your life just fine without it. He didn’t think there was a danger of serious future problems without it; you’ll just chew more easily if you have it. The othodondist who worked on my son’s teeth since Junior High, however, said he wouldn’t do it unless the current situation is actively bothering the person, and my son get’s along the way is he just fine. I have just spoken to another local dental surgeon (who took out our son’s wisdon teeth) and we’ll get another opinion.</p>