Surgical Orthodontics
Surgical orthodontics, or orthognathic surgery, can correct jaw irregularities to improve breathing, eating, speaking, and facial appearance. This surgery is typically for non-growing adults with bite issues that cannot be corrected non-surgically, often involving braces to position the teeth correctly post-surgery.
Orthognathic Surgery
In the same way that orthodontics corrects misaligned teeth, surgical orthodontics (or orthognathic surgery) corrects jaw irregularities to improve the patient’s ability to breathe, eat, speak, and improve facial appearances. Moving the jaws also moves the teeth, so braces are always a part of jaw correction. This helps ensure that teeth are properly positioned after surgery.
The three most common reasons for surgical orthodontics are the following:
- Correcting an anterior open bite
- Correcting a protruding lower jaw
- Correcting a retrusive lower jaw (commonly known as a ‘weak chin’)
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Who is a candidate for surgical orthodontics?
Surgical orthodontic treatments are mostly for non-growing adult patients who have bite problems that are not desirable to treat without jaw correction and for people with concerns about facial aesthetics. For certain conditions, orthognathic surgery can be provided before the completion of growth.
For girls, jaw growth is usually completed by age 17-19, and for boys, by 19-21.
For most of the patients, jaw growth must be finished before jaw surgery can be performed. The pre-surgical tooth movements, however, can begin a year or two prior.
More Questions?
If you have more questions about orthodontic surgery or would like to schedule a consultaion, please contact our office, and we'll be happy to discuss further.
