If you suffer from jaw abnormalities, or your teeth are severely misaligned, you can endure a host of dental and medical problems, from trouble speaking to difficulty breathing. Luckily, the doctors at Northern Virginia Oral, Maxillofacial & Implant Surgery can restore your smile and oral health with surgical orthodontic treatments, which can fix jaw and alignment problems.
What is surgical orthodontic treatment?
Surgical orthodontic treatment is a type of oral and maxillofacial surgery that can correct jaw abnormalities and severe alignment issues caused by genetics, trauma, and birth defects like cleft lip or palate.
Improper teeth alignment, aka malocclusion, and jaw abnormalities can cause underbites and overbites, gummy smiles that show too much gum, long face syndrome where the lower part of your face grows too long, and toothless smiles where the upper jaw is too small and lips cover all your teeth.
Jaw deformities, however, can cause more than just aesthetic problems. Deformities and malocclusions can result in:
- Difficulties in chewing, speaking, breathing, and swallowing
- Gum disease and degeneration
- Stress on facial muscles and the temporomandibular joint (TMJ)
- Jaw clicking
- Sleep apnea
- Mouth breathing
What are common surgical orthodontic treatments?
The providers at Northern Virginia Oral, Maxillofacial & Implant Surgery will pick the surgical orthodontic treatment most likely to fix your particular jaw or alignment problem.
Corrective surgery involves moving the upper and lower jaw into a balanced position. Your jaw can be moved up, down, backward or forward. The providers at Northern Virginia Oral, Maxillofacial & Implant Surgery also can add bone originating from your own body or from a donor.
Most surgical orthodontic treatments are performed inside the mouth, so you won’t see any scars. Orthodontic surgery is typically performed in a hospital. Extensive procedures and recovery may require a hospital stay, while minor surgery can be performed on an outpatient basis.
Healing can take a month or two, depending on your body and the type of surgery performed. Then, your provider will straighten your teeth with braces or other orthodontic appliances.
In all, surgical orthodontic treatments can take a few years to complete. On average, adults wear braces from 18 months to 3 years; teens wear them for about two years.
Who are good candidates for surgical orthodontic treatments?
Your jaw and teeth change as you grow, creating some problems and curing others. That’s why it’s important that your face fully develops, past the possibility of a growth spurt, before undergoing surgery.
The best candidates for surgical orthodontic treatments, therefore, are adults and patients in their late teens.
The providers at Northern Virginia Oral, Maxillofacial & Implant Surgery will layout the timeline for your complete orthodontic plan before beginning treatment. Call the Northern Virginia Oral, Maxillofacial & Implant Surgery office to schedule a consultation today.