Jaw Surgery

Jaw Surgery Before and After

Corrective jaw surgery is often performed to correct minor and major dental and skeletal irregularities, including the misalignment of teeth and jaws. Surgery can improve breathing, speaking chewing, or even to improve your appearance. Jaw surgery can be a corrective option if you have moderate to severe jaw issues that cannot be resolved with orthodontics alone. However, there are some things you should know about jaw surgery before and after, when making the decision to commit to the surgery.

Who Are Jaw Surgery For?

Jaw surgery is age appropriate, when growth stops, usually around age 16 to 18 for males and 13 to 15 for females. Conditions that might indicate the need for jaw surgery may include:

$ Facial

The OMS will determine which corrective surgical procedure is appropriate and will perform the actual surgery.

What to Expect: Jaw Surgery Procedure

Corrective jaw surgery may be performed in a surgical suite, under general anesthesia in a hospital, or an ambulatory surgical center, depending on the procedure . The time spent in surgery varies depending upon the nature of the exact procedure performed, but normally takes from one to four hours to complete, and the average length of stay for a corrective jaw surgery is two nights.

Upper Jaw

An upper jaw surgery (maxillary osteotomy) can be performed to correct issues such as:

$ An open bite

$ A crossbite

$ The teeth showing too little or too much

$ A significantly receded upper

This causes a normally a flat, and even surface, to become angled. When you try to bite down, the molars touch, but your front teeth do not, making the chewing process difficult. Your surgeon shaves away or removes the excess bone, to remedy the problem.

Lower Jaw

A lower jaw surgery (maxillary osteotomy) can be performed to correct a significantly receded lower jaw. In this surgery, the OMS makes cuts lengthwise down the jawbone, and behind the molars so the front of the lower jaw can move as a single unit. This results with the lower jaw sliding smoothly to its corrected position. The lower jawbone is held together with tiny screws until it has healed.

Chin Surgery

Chin surgery (genioplasty) often accompanies a severely receded lower jaw. A deficient chin can be typically fixed at the same time surgery is performed on the lower jaw. Th OMS cuts your chin bone and secures it in a corrected position. Typically, surgeons can alter the jaw and restructure the chin during the same