I am a 52 y/o woman. I have had an overbite all of my life. I have had periodontal disease for 20+ years. Misdiagnosed at first as only needing a frenectomy (I was told that the connective tissue between my lower lip and gum was "too tight" and was causing my gum to recede around my two front lower teeth, so the tissue was cut). I saw a periodontist 10 years ago and had root planing, or deep, perio cleaning done, and have in recent years been followed up with regular perio cleaning 3 times a year by my regular dentist. There are several other areas where I have "pockets" around my teeth.

Last month I learned from another periodontist that the gum recession around my front lower teeth was caused by my overbite. My bottom front teeth make no cotact with my upper teeth. Had I been diagnosed properly and informed of the cause of my periodontal problem I would have gotten treatment for my overbite over 20 years ago.

Now I am told that, in addition to requiring braces, my condition will also require orthnognathic surgery because I have a discrepency between my upper and lower jaw. I will need to have my lower jaw lengthened.

My main concern is my lack of trust in the medical/dental profession. I am really apprehensive about getting braces and surgery. I will get several opinions and go with the consensus.

I am writing this because I did not see any discussion about the relation of periodontal disease to a need for braces or orthognathic surgery.

One other thing I discovered is that orthognathic surgery may also be done to correct obstrutctive sleep apnea, another conditon I suffer from. I need to research further on that topic as I do not know if the jaw surgery will correct for the apnea as well.