Metal Mouth Message Board

I would agree that Class II elastics (or class III elastics) have most of their effect on the teeth rather than the jaws. There may be some change in the jaw, but it is very small, and would have a correlation with the length of time you wear your elastics, too. Even using a Herbst or another applia...

This is a pretty rare event, but it does happen from time to time. You may want to ask your orthodontist to refer you to a second oral surgeon; it's hard to say what the prognosis is without seeing you or some x-rays. You should ask your orthodontist what options are there if that tooth is indeed an...

Having the tissue taken from the roof of your mouth is the most common way to do a graft. The recovery is usually described as something akin to a bad pizza burn, but my wife had a few grafts done and she said it was very easy. This is a fairly routine procedure in a periodontist's office.

Primary teeth are typically very easy to have extracted; much easier than wisdom teeth!

Congratulations! They look very nice!

AlDente, First, congrats on beginning your journey! As far as your concern with switching too early out of the first wire, this is not something you should be concerned about at all. Like KK said, the brackets actually have very little to do with moving your teeth. They are simply 'handles' that the...

AlDente, First, congrats on beginning your journey! As far as your concern with switching too early out of the first wire, this is not something you should be concerned about at all. Like KK said, the brackets actually have very little to do with moving your teeth. They are simply 'handles' that the...

Indalee, you may mention to your orthodontist that you'd like to have them reshaped, but you may want to wait until you are nearly finished with your treatment. That way you will know exactly where your teeth will be so the reshaping can be most effective to give you an even more beautiful smile!

I would encourage you to get a consult with a couple of orthodontists, they can answer a lot of your questions. Orthognathic surgery will make great changes in both the aesthetics of your face and in the way your teeth fit together. Doing surgery without braces would be extremely rare and I doubt mo...

I agree, I always appreciate it when patients have a good understanding of the process!

Congrats, you must be very excited.

As far as insurance companies, they are, unfortunately, businesses. They're always looking for ways to reduce their costs, and an easy way to do that is to deny procedures. This is a discussion for another time!

I agree, I think from afar your teeth and jaws look nice. Your upper jaw and lower jaw may both be too far back, or there may be a problem with the vertical dimension of your teeth. I'd recommend visiting a couple orthodontists, and when you do be sure to ask how comfortable they are doing surgical ...

I'd say Phil did a great job of answering # 1,2! I would rank nerve damage as the second, if not the first most common complication of lower jaw surgery along with infection.

Once you are done, you will want to wear a retainer at least a few nights a week forever. This keeps your teeth from moving; they are under constant pressure when you chew, grind, even from the pressure from your lips and tongue. Some people just wear their retainer every night because it easy to do.

Just make sure that you tell your surgeon that you wear them (if you haven't already). I wouldn't be surprised if they ask you to leave them out.