I don't think I need surgery for my underbite anymore

[RobAlister]

My story
In preparation for my jaw surgery (class 3 underbite) two of my bicuspids were removed.

My discovery
As the gaps where my teeth were began to close up (thanks to braces), I noticed that my lower row of teeth are now behind the top row of my teeth. This is before the gaps are fully closed by the way.

My thoughts
If this continues I may not need surgery because surgery would probably cause an overbite.

My situation
My mom and my ortho have both urged me to go through with it and I think that they think that I'm scared to go through with it. That's not true. I was actually eager to get the surgery but like I said it doesn't seem necessary now. People always say "You'd better get it now before regretting not getting it later" and that kinda scares me and it feels like I'm being pressured into doing it. I don't want to make a mistake by not doing it and I also don't want to make a mistake by going through with it.

My health
So far my ortho has not said that it is a health issue. He mainly just says that I'll look better. There are only 2 occasions where anything health related came up and that's when;

1. My mom asked if it could help with my saliva problem. You see I have this problem where my saliva gets really thick (especially when eating certain foods) and sometimes it gets caught in my throat and I have a throw-up feeling. She claims the ortho said that the surgery would fix that but I was not given any details. Not to mention I'm not sure how it could help with that problem.

2. One of the assistants said that my incisors are bent (as in not going straight down) and that surgery would fix it but I'm not sure how that would help, unless she meant that getting rid of the underbite would help. No I am not making this up, they never really explain things to me and I don't get how realigning my jaw will affect my saliva, salivary glands or my incisors. I know many will just tell me to ask my ortho these questions but I'd like to hear from you guys first.

[Sunny]

Hi Rob it's great that your teeth are helping to make your bite look better. If you are a surgical case, this is because your bite has sketal problems which may mean that your lower jaw is set forward and/or your upper jaw set back. This causes profile issues, including things like a protuding chin. Non surgical class III cases do not have bone issues, just teeth ones.

You need to talk to your ortho to find out what having the surgery will achieve for you. If you're not happy with what you're told, it would be recommended that you consult with a couple of more ortho's, to hear what they recommend.

The saliva problem you talk about sounds like it's connected to an allergy you may have with some food groups. This sometimes happens to people with dairy intolences or wheat allergies.

Good luck having your questions answered!

[mikeg]

I would still go through with it.. I had braces on only the first time around and my bite LOOKED* better, but wasn't and I relapsed quite a bit..

I now have braces on again, and this time getting the surgery mostly for stability purposes.

Good luck.

[RobAlister]

@ Sunny - Yes my lower jaw is set forward but my chin isn't exactly protruding. I compared some pictures I took the other day to a picture that shows what I would look like post-surgery and there's not much of a difference. The post-surgery picture does have my chin set back a bit more but only by a little bit. My main concern is whether this is a health issue or just cosmetic. During my next appointment I'll ask if not getting surgery will cause any problems in the future. Thanks for the reply.

@ mikeg - Do you mind if I ask you what happened when you relapsed? Was it more of a problem with your jaw or you teeth?

[mikeg]

it was an issue with your teeth.. Since your jaw is fused, you won't see much adjustments to your jaw with orthodontic treatment.. they do instead tip teeth and such..

So my teeth were tipped into good position and masked my underbite, however even with full time retainer use my teeth wanted to go right back to where they were.... So pretty much the 18 months of braces was a waste of time and money....

So this time around I went for the surgery and my ortho is just aligning the teeth now, not trying to force them where they dont want to go.... the surgery will corrent the jaw alignment and then tweaks with the braces after...

good luck.

[supereasy]

Rob - I seriously doubt surgery would cause an overbite unless your surgeon was negligent. The only reason anyone gets surgery is to get is perfect. But it is major surgery so finding the best surgeon is essential IMO. I do believe ortho treatments can fix a class III, but as mikeg pointed out, it's not going to fix or move your jaw. But that may be acceptable to you and that's all that matters. Good luck.

[RobAlister]

Well I'm aware that my jaw hasn't actually moved but I'm happy with how my teeth are aligning. I've never had a problem with my jaw so there's really nothing to be "fixed". Despite what I said earlier I am a bit worried about any nerve damage. If this is just a cosmetic change I don't want to take the risk. I'm ok with how I look and I doubt the new me would look that much better than the old me.