Hi,
I'm 24 year old male living in Toronto, ON, CA and I've been thinking of getting jaw surgery for a few years now. I'll be blunt: aside from wanting to get my teeth fixed, I've always want to fix some skeletal issues I have so its also somewhat a cosmetic reason. I can't post pics, but short description so you can visualise it:
- narrow maxillary arch (I think...what counts as narrow?)
- upper right half of maxillary arch (teeth 1-7) are further in my mouth white tooth 8 (right incisor) is forward
- maxillary arch is also kind of slanted which also affects the mandible; one side of my jaw is much lower than the other
- when I open my mouth, for some reason it opens somewhat diagonally
- my weak chin seems to be going in two different directions: its pointing right, but when I lower my head the left half is protruding more so it suddenly looks like my chin is switching directions (I'll admit it has always been funny to me)
The problem I'm having though is almost all cases of orthognathic surgery seem to be on people who have severe problems (i.e. overbite/underbite) and I don't think I qualify especially because none of the things I mentioned are causing me any sort of severe discomfort (unless you count low self esteem and stupid jaw clicking sounds). I guess my questions are the following:
1. In Toronto, do NEED a referral to see a Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon?
2. If yes, how do you go about starting that conversation with your orthodontist?
3. What if they say no? Can you get a second opinion or is it a closed case?
4. Do you get to pick your surgeon or does your orthodontist just refer you to one?
5. Does anyone know a decent ortho in the Toronto area who has experience with a potential jaw surgery candidates or will any ortho do (becasue I haven't been to dentist in quite sometime...bad experience)?
Thanks for taking the time answer. I look forward to reading your replies.
How to get a referral?
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PierreDeFermat
- Posts: 114
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Re: How to get a referral?
I should start by saying it is very important that you see a dentist every six months or so to get your teeth regularly cleaned and monitored for gingivitis, oral cancer, TMJ, etc. which can lead to much, much worse problems than the ones you have now. Do this before you consult any other practitioners.
I'm in the U.S. and we have a much different healthcare system than Canada, but here one generally sees an orthodontist first who will fix your occlusion via braces and then refer you to a oral/maxillofacial surgeon if need be (often times they work together to create a long-term treatment plan).
You should look up your insurance guidelines and see if you need your general practitioner or dentist to refer you to an orthodontist (I think you may need to pay out of pocket for braces unless your occlusion is in bad shape).
Tell them about everything you've said here, including clicking or difficulty opening your mouth.
There are many reasons people require orthognathic surgery than just for extreme malocclusions or deformities, and I suggest you do as much research as possible here on the forums or via Google.
Good luck
I'm in the U.S. and we have a much different healthcare system than Canada, but here one generally sees an orthodontist first who will fix your occlusion via braces and then refer you to a oral/maxillofacial surgeon if need be (often times they work together to create a long-term treatment plan).
You should look up your insurance guidelines and see if you need your general practitioner or dentist to refer you to an orthodontist (I think you may need to pay out of pocket for braces unless your occlusion is in bad shape).
Tell them about everything you've said here, including clicking or difficulty opening your mouth.
There are many reasons people require orthognathic surgery than just for extreme malocclusions or deformities, and I suggest you do as much research as possible here on the forums or via Google.
Good luck