ORTHOGNATHIC SURGERY

Jaw misalignment is quite common, can cause pain and alter your facial appearance. It often also leads to damage of teeth and difficulty in chewing. Corrective jaw surgery, known as orthognathic surgery, can solve these problems.

Depts of Orthodontics and Surgery will work together to straighten your teeth through orthodontic procedures and reposition your jaws with jaw surgery. These procedures can improve facial appearance, when needed, and they make sure that upper and lower teeth meet correctly and function properly.

Planning for the surgery usually involves input from a multidisciplinary team including oral and maxillofacial surgeons, orthodontists, prosthodontists and occasionally a speech and language therapist.

When do we need jaw surgery??

If you have any of the following symptoms consider seeing an orthognathic specialist:

Birth defects
Difficulty in chewing, biting or swallowing
Speech problems
Chronic jaw or TMJ pain
Open bite (when there is space between upper and lower teeth on closing the mouth)
Protruding jaw
Retruding chin/lower jaw
Breathing problems

Is the surgery done before or after braces treatment??

Usually, phase one of braces treatment will come first, followed by surgery and then phase 2 / final phase of braces treatment.

Jaw surgery may be performed for patients with severe upper jaw or lower jaw discrepancy.

Surgical Procedures Include

Upper Jaw (Maxillary Osteotomy)

A maxillary osteotomy may be performed to correct these issues:

Significantly backward/forward placed upper jaw
Cross bite
Too much or too little of the teeth showing
Open bite

Lower Jaw (Mandibular Osteotomy)

A significantly backward/forward positioned lower jaw can be corrected by a procedure called mandibular osteotomy.

Chin Surgery (Genioplasty)

A deficient chin is often seen with a improperly positioned lower jaw. Deficient chin can be fixed by a procedure called genioplasty, where your surgeon secures your chin bone in a new position.