Jaw Surgery
Corrective jaw surgery is performed by an Oral or Maxillofacial surgeon that can correct a wide range of minor and major skeletal and dental abnormalities including the misalignment of jaws and teeth, which, in turn, can improve chewing, speaking and breathing.
Following are some of the conditions that may indicate the need for corrective jaw surgery:
• Difficulty chewing, or biting food
• Chronic jaw or jaw joint (TMJ) pain and headache
• Unbalanced facial appearance from the front, or side
• Facial injury or birth defects
• Receding chin or protruding jaw
• Inability to make the lips meet without straining
If you need surgery, before your procedure, your surgeon may have you wear orthodontic braces in order to move your teeth into a new position. Because your teeth are being moved into a position that will fit together after surgery, you may think that your bite is getting worse rather than better. When your surgeon repositions your jaws during surgery, however, your teeth should fit together properly.
As your pre-surgical orthodontic treatment nears completion, additional or updated records, including x-rays, pictures and models of your teeth, may be taken to help guide your surgery.
Anesthesia
Depending on the procedure, corrective jaw surgery may be performed under general anesthesia in a hospital, an ambulatory surgical center or in the oral and maxillofacial surgery office. Surgery may take from one to several hours to complete.
Repositioning the Jawbones
Your surgeon will reposition the jawbones in accordance with your specific needs. In some cases, bone may be added, taken away or reshaped. Surgical plates, screws, wires and rubber bands may be used to hold your jaws in their new positions. Incisions are usually made inside the mouth to reduce visible scarring; however, some cases do require small incisions outside of the mouth.
Pain following corrective jaw surgery is easily controlled with medication and patients are generally able to return to work or school from one to three weeks after surgery, depending on how they are feeling. While the initial healing phase is about six weeks, complete healing of the jaws takes between nine and 12 months.
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