braces + veneers or jaw surgery (pictures included)

[unfortunate]

I'm 18 at the moment and before my teeth didn't really bother me but recently I've become really self conscious about them, especially when I'm talking. They're really crooked and peg shaped, and on top of that due a jaw alignment my bite is well off center.

Here are the pics:




and when you add the mouth to the picture you can really see that the lower row of teeth are slanted:



So after a few consultations with my orthodontist, they've given me two options since my jaw problem isn't really affecting my health:

1) Removal of 2 baby teeth at the back (no adult teeth roots are showing) and then have jaw surgery to correct bite.

2) leave baby teeth since they still have healthy roots, fit a brace to correct one of the teeth with an underbite (still leaves a one tooth with an underbite but lack of room means they can only correct one) and then file teeth down and use veneers to close gaps and make teeth less pointed.

at first i was considering the second option since it sounds like far less hassle but on second thoughts I don't really know how much better my teeth will look, the lower+bottom rows of teeth will not be aligned and one tooth left noticably out of place... However my main concern is uni - I'll be going there and don't really know whether it wouldbe viable to be going through years of treatment while I'm there.

By looking at these photos can anyone say whether the second option sounds like a decent plan? I'm not really after perfect teeth, anything better than what I have now is good with me.

[Sunny]

I think you need to consult with another ortho or two, just to hear if there are more options available and what that would mean for you. At 18, you want a great result, so that you can take the best care of your jaw joints and prevent wearing your teeth away due to a bad bite.

Looking at photos will not help people suggest things for you, as we have no way of knowing how your bite is and we don't have x-rays ... plus add to that the most important part ... we're not experts.

It's your decision whether to have braces while you're at uni or not. I've studied while having braces ... but then I was in my late 40's early 50's ... and it definitely didn't affect my uni life ... or study ... one bit. One way you can look at this is ... the next two or three years will soon pass ... whether you have ortho treatment or not ... but how will your teeth and bite look at the end of that short period of time?

Fixing how teeth look is only one part of ortho treatment ... so please go talk to at least another two ortho's and hear what they have to say.

Good luck!

[newsboysgrl777]

I think you need to consult with another ortho or two, just to hear if there are more options available and what that would mean for you.

I COMPLETELY agree with Sunny. I feel there have to be more options than this. I can't imagine them putting braces on you just to fix one or two teeth and not ALL of them AND the bite!!? That just doesn't sound right to me. They can close gaps with braces, they can move teeth up or down, they can fix a cross-bite, or a very slight over/under-bite*...etc. So, I would certainly get more than one more opinion!

[removed due to controversy]

Good luck and please keep us posted!

*I, too, have an overbite and overjet that will really only be corrected with jaw surgery, however, it's slight enough that several orthos said they would be able to cosmetically fix it with braces alone, so, this may be the route you'd want to take too?

[osamawad]

SUNNY, you are the man !!!!!!!!!!
i totally agree with you

[Zoso]

Realise that if you get veneers today, you'll need to get them replaced at some point in the future - probably multiple times, since you're quite young - since they do have a finite lifetime.

Also, realize that jaw surgery isn't a 'walk in the park,' either. It'll take WEEKS of initial recovery where all you'll do is fight the pain and try to eat and sleep, then months after that for things to get back to normal**!!

Excuse me? You have not, you admit, had jaw surgery. It is not, I agree, a walk in the park, but I know plenty of people who have had these types of procedure and experienced little or not pain, and have been back at work in just a couple of weeks. Depending on the surgeon, some are back to a virtually normal diet within well under a month too. I think it is wrong for someone who has not gone through such a procedure to paint such a scary and negative picture as this

[newsboysgrl777]

[removed due to controversy]

[newsboysgrl777]

SUNNY, you are the man !!!!!!!!!!
i totally agree with you

Sunny is a female

[Zoso]

The "excuse me?" and the "it is wrong for someone [...]to" were a bit uncalled for and over-the-top. No need for attitude. We're all just trying to help each other out here, not give expert opinion. Again, I apologize to the original poster if I did come across with more foreboding than intended.

I'm sorry you choose to take offense, NBG, where none was intended. But that's your perogative. However, the fact remains that you presented what was at best an entirely incomplete picture, and moreover you presented it in such authorititive tones as to make it sound as if you were presenting it as expert opinion; I was merely expressing shock that with no personal experience you would make such a post. Maybe you don't read my tone so well (since I am not american). I will let it go at that and not bother to get all excited and stewed at your patronising rebuke above.

That said, I do stand by my statement that it is wrong - as in entirely inappropriate - for someone who does not actually have any personal experience whatsoever in what they are talking about to make such an authoritative posting as that, when it might unnecessarily scare someone from considering what might be an excellent treatment modality for their case. As you say, you never meant to paint a more negative picture than necessary, but that is exactly what you did when you made such a negative posting, based on what was evidently an incomplete knowledge base.

By all means, you could or even should say that you've read that it can be bad. True. But don't come out and tell everyone who reads these boards that it will (my emphasis there) "take weeks of initial recovery" (I was working after a week) where "all you do is fight the pain and try to eat and sleep" (I had no pain, slept well, and ate heartily; beyond that I lounged in front of the TV, laughing at comedy shows, at least when I wasn't out and about taking walks) then take "months after that for things to get back to normal" (I was back in full swing after a couple of weeks, with a near normal diet in under a month, and an entirely normal diet in just 8 weeks). I will agree though that in terms of numbness, it can take many many months for all healing to reach completion - a point you omitted to mention, but one that is important as it can cause some people distress, at least in the short term (although most do get used to any residual numbness should any remain, and all I have spoken to report it does not bother them now.)

You say that you have done research. But then your research most evidently missed any blogs or postings that relate to a more positive experience of this type of treatment. My own "research" includes personal experience, as well as personally knowing a number of others who have been through these types of procedure, and then on top of that reading a considerable number of blogs and stories as well. My own experiences do undoubtedly represent the easy end of the spectrum of experiences (though they are by no means unique) and I'd always be up front and tell someone contemplating this that there are other people who have had a significantly tougher time, because to present only one side of the story (be it the positive or the negative) is to do a disservice to those who seek information on these boards.

As I say, orthognathic surgery is not to be considered trivial, or embarked upon without very careful consideration. The fact that general anesthesia is involved is reason enough alone to give it very measured thought. And yes, orthognathic surgery involves a tougher recovery than traditional orthodontia alone. (But, at least based on the extremely limited subset of cases on which I can draw, it seems that it can be a lot easier in terms of post-operative pain than Wilckodontics, which I find quite interesting.) But considering that in the United States it is something that typically involves only an overnight stay in hospital, and which is sometimes even being done on a genuine outpatient basis (I'd not recommend that, myself, but it is done) I think that it is possible that many people who have not elected to have these procedures, and not been through them themselves might overestimate how tough they in fact are.

[Zoso]

And yes, orthognathic surgery involves a tougher recovery than traditional orthodontia alone.

Although, that said, frankly I found spacers the most painful and distressing part of my treatment. And then again, I had some pretty gnarly discomfort initially with elastics. But no post-operative pain.

[newsboysgrl777]

well zoso, i disagree with you on many of your points, but this message board isn't here for drama, so i will leave it at that.

[Zoso]

Disagree with all you wish.

As to your high horse about avoiding drama, you might have thought of that before posting above. Editing out the content of your post after the fact is merely crass.

[osamawad]

Sunny is a female

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

Regardless of the path you choose, your upper lateral incisors are quite small. You may consider veneers with or without orthodontics to improve their overall appearance.

Good luck!