Orthodontic work covers a wide variety of treatment options for the correction and alignment of a person’s teeth and jaw. Traditional orthodontics that most think of involves metal appliances such as braces, retainers, palate expanders, and other, more invasive options. For the majority of patients, this type of treatment is sufficient for their overall oral health or cosmetic needs. However, for patients that require more extensive correction, that’s where surgical orthodontics comes in. Just like its name says, surgical orthodontics is a type of orthodontic work that requires surgery for positioning and correcting. Steel City Orthodontics provides surgical orthodontics for patients in need of intervention that requires a more in-depth treatment.
Orthognathic surgery, otherwise known as surgical orthodontics, is a subset of orthodontic work to correct many different types of health and aesthetic concerns. This option for treatment requires surgery to fix jaw/bite problems or skeletal abnormalities that cannot be corrected by traditional orthodontic treatment alone.
What Causes The Need For Surgery?
Just like many other abnormalities, needing corrective surgery can be genetic, caused by environmental factors, due to jaw or face injury, or are the result of birth defects.
Who Can Benefit From Surgical Orthodontic Treatment?
There are several reasons a person requires surgical orthodontic treatments, such as
- severe overbite or underbite that causes chewing, biting, and speaking problems due to underlying jaw displacement
- abnormalities in the overall appearance of the facial bones
- TMJ (temporomandibular) disorder: a disorder where the jaw and/or jaw bone don’t move correctly to perform everyday functions
Surgical orthodontic treatment can only be used on adults, as adult jaws have stopped growing. Doing surgery on a child or adolescent whose jaw and facial structure may still shift is not recommended, as additional problems may arise in the future that could require more surgery, or the child’s abnormality may correct itself in time, rendering surgery unnecessary.
Surgical Orthodontic Procedure
Adults who suffer from problems speaking, chewing, biting, putting their lips together comfortably, have excessive wear of the teeth, have a receding chin, or a protruding jaw are all candidates for surgical orthodontics. Orthodontists will be decide upon the need for surgical orthodontic treatment through either consultation or routine care. The orthodontist will then monitor the condition(s) and determine what the next best step for treatment is. Patients can expect to talk to their provider about a multitude of topics, but especially
- Their overarching diagnosis and analysis of any and all discrepancies
- Purpose of treatment
- Treatment options and timelines
- Risks and benefits of different types of surgery
In surgical orthodontics, close consultation and treatment with the patient’s primary dentist, along with an oral surgeon and a maxillofacial surgeon is common to ensure patients are receiving all-inclusive care every step of the way. Typically, traditional orthodontic work (such as metal or invisible braces along with other applicable orthodontic appliances) precedes and succeeds surgical orthodontic work for this same reason.
How Can Surgical Orthodontic Treatment Help Patients?
The purpose of surgical orthodontic treatment is to help alleviate pain in the mouth, face, jaw, and other subsequent symptoms that stem from the initial abnormality such as headache. It can also help patients by correcting cosmetic issues pertaining to the face and jaw that have caused functional issues or self-esteem issues.
Surgical orthodontics, just like any other orthodontic work, is a common method of treatment. With all different types of specialists working in conjunction to execute a specialized care plan, patients can rest assured that whatever the abnormality is, surgical orthodontics is a safe and viable option for correction.
The orthodontists at Steel City Orthodontics are trained and ready to give you the beautiful smile you deserve. Start your smile journey today by scheduling your complimentary consultation online or call us at one of our convenient locations!