Orthognathic surgery with LINGUAL/I-braces....please help!!!

[tcoom76]

Hey everybody I am new here and I am currently under concern about my situation with my Ibraces and havbing orthognathic surgery

My situation:

Hershey, PA

I have a about a 3/16ths of an open bite with a slight but noticeable underbite...I am a 21 year old male with his second set of braces

I have had braces for 13 months and the oral surgeon I approached said that I will need to remove my top Ibraces in order to do this, and replace with traditional braces. My question is if anybody has experienced anything, or that you know about if this is a possibility to keep the Ibraces on(I would hate to have to switch them off as that would cost me more money please I would obviously rather have them hidden.

I went to an oral surgeon(a pretty qualified one at that...Dr. Sudbrink) this past Thursday and he stated that I would have to take the top off, but I am looking to seek a second opinion...because I am really trying not to take them of for the surgery.


So if anybody has experienced a similar situation please comment, or if you know of any alternatives to the surgery that would be great too.

THANKSSSS

[crazybeautiful]

If you are having jaw surgery you expressly need traditional braces, both for stability, and because you will need to have other things attached, like elastics or a splint.

[qwertz1]

this might be the case for this surgeon or your situation, I don't know, but in general you can attach something like braces to the outside of your teeth just for the surgery and the couple of weeks after that.

orthognathic surgery has even been done with invisalign and no traditional braces.

[Lingualita]

Hi,

I'm in a similar situation as you are. I currently have linguals, both upper and lower, but will need to have regular braces fitted before surgery. I don't know what kind of surgery you're having, I'm having lefort1, but I think the reasons I need regular braces is because they wire my upper jaw to my lower jow during surgery, when they cut the bone in my upper jaw.

I will then switch back to ibraces when I can open my mouth enough such that my ortho can attach the linguals.

I don't know if it's possible to keep the linguals, but the stories I've read here, people have switched to regular braces before surgery.

Good luck!

[trish222]

Hi tcoom76,
I was sold on my braces and surgery, upper, lower and genio 1 year ago July 22nd, based on the ortho's ability to work with lingual braces. The surgeon and ortho said they would attach brackets on the outside of teeth a few weeks prior to surgery and that would be enought stabilization for post-op care. About 5 months prior to my surgery my ortho suggested we switch to traditional braces. It would ensure a smoother, less time-consuming post-op. I had had so many difficulties with my I-braces I was more that grateful to simply finish up on her suggestion. I had, spent and additional $3,000.oo for these braces and only had them a little over a year. In hindsight I guess I am grateful for the year w/o traditional braces but it was definately costly, She did not charge to put traditional braces on as it was easier for the entire staff to work on me w/o the linguals on. I had the braces on for 8 months post-op and now fini! Definately the toughest thing I've ever been through but worth the final results. Great luck and wishes to you

[James0099]

Yeah I'm not sure how they would do the surgery without traditional braces.

[qwertz1]

Yeah I'm not sure how they would do the surgery without traditional braces.

why? all the surgeon needs is the surgical hooks.
there are other ways to attach those than full traditional braces, so you just have lingual braces plus stuff on the buccal side for a while.

trish has a point with regard to easier post-OP care though. the invisalign patient I know had to wait for 2 or 3 months until the orthodontic treatment could be continued post-OP. I think because of the molds required and the limited range of motion.

[humorme]

I currently have Lingual Braces and very close to been ready for lower jaw surgery. According to my orthodontist, he would put surgical hooks before surgery and remove them sometime after surgery and continue with lingual braces after that.

My jaw surgeon(a famous one) at Boston Medical said that he had no problem with lingual braces as long as the orthodontist was confident of achieving what he wanted to achieve. He also said he has so far done about 10 surgeries with lingual braces and that it was slightly easier for him with traditional braces. But couple of other surgeons i met in Boston and RI were NOT comfortable with lingual braces because they had never done this before.

In short, even though traditional braces are the norm for jaw surgery
and most jaw surgeons are comfortable with them, jaw surgeries can performed with lingual braces as long as the ortho thinks he can achieve what he wants to without traditional braces.