).Anyways, I never had braces or any orthodontic work really, but recently I looked into the mirror and noticed a few things:
- My lower teeth are starting to become crowded and are turning+twisting slowly
- My upper front teeth are slanted and pushed out
- Recessed lower jaw
- My lower lip covers my upper teeth (think about it, it's really weird
)- Extremely narrow face
- Flat cheeks
- Overjet
When I was younger, my orthodontist said I might need braces but my teeth aren't that bad so I probably don't need them. She never gave me them. After looking in the mirror I did some research.
I figured out I have something called "long face syndrome." The symptoms I described describe exactly that.
Also, these are other things I have, which I found associated with long face syndrome:
- I feel like I don't have enough room for my tongue so it pushes my upper front teeth out
- I find it harder to breathe through my nose so I've been a mouth breather my whole life
- Bruxism (this is a pain in the ***)
I figured out the main cause of my long face syndrome was mouth breathing. So recently, I've tried breathing through my nose more often, especially when I sleep; however, I usually wake up with a sore throat and obvious signs that I've been breathing through my mouth again (which is probably why I snore and might be developing sleep apnea just like my father).
When I was younger my jaw used to click a lot, but over time the clicking disappeared. I guess TMJ was another sign of Long Face Syndrome, but I learned that over time the joints become like "plastic" and may stop clicking, even though TMJ is still there. I don't know if this is true or not.
So after learning about these problems, I took another look at myself.
I have narrow upper and lower jaws, which may explain why my teeth are crowding.
My upper jaw is very long, and pushes down very far enough to push my lower jaw back, to a point where I feel like it might be obstructing my airway, which also explains why my lower lip covers my upper teeth.
The angle of my Jaw causes my Bruxism and tongue thrusting.
So after figuring all this out, I look at treatment options. It said online that I need to do these things:
1) Get braces to get my teeth ready for surgery.
2) Get SARPE and RME procedures because my palates already closed and can't be expanded through functional orthotics.
3) Wear braces and expanders while getting ready for Orthognathic Surgery.
4) Get Orthognatic Surgery - something called LeFort and sliding my jaw or something. I have no idea what it's called.
5) Braces again.
Now I've scheduled an appointment with my Orthodontist in a month and I have a few questions.
1) How do I explain to her what I have? Should I say "long face syndrome" or what? I don't wanna sound like an idiot, but I don't wanna sound like a smart*** either. I want my orthodontist to know everything and not think I'm doing this for cosmetic reasons.
2) What's the best way to present all this information without sounding like I'm doing this for cosmetic reasons?
3) According to what I wrote, would you say my case is bad enough to be covered by insurance for medical reasons? I'm 17, and I'd really like to get this fixed at a young age.
4) Is surgery the best option? I think I have Medicaid. Will orthognatic surgery be covered?
5) Would you recommend me going to a Maxillofacial Specialist or just wait until I go to my ortho?
I'm gonna have to get this fixed sooner or later, because I heard the long term consequences of Long Face Syndrome are worse.
Thanks for bearing with me. If I forgot to add anything, I'll either edit this post or discuss it later.
