Orthodontic intervention does more than just straighten teeth. When patients have overbites or underbites, solutions like braces gradually align the bite by moving the jaw into the correct position. However, less invasive treatment options are more effective with younger patients. Not everyone has the opportunity to correct their bite with braces when they’re young. As you age, the jaws finish growing and become more rigid, which means some types of correction are harder to achieve with orthodontics alone. For patients with more severe misalignments, braces and temporary anchorage devices might not provide enough movement, which is why surgical orthodontics becomes an important treatment option.
Types of Surgical Orthodontics for Jaw Issues
We occasionally encounter bite issues that braces and other orthodontic devices can’t fully correct. This may be because a bite is too misaligned or your bone structure has solidified with age. In these cases, we may recommend corrective orthodontic surgery.
To achieve the ideal bite, we perform specific surgical interventions to treat different malocclusions. By repositioning bone, we bring the upper (maxillary) and lower (mandibular) jaws into alignment to correct malocclusions.
Here are a few surgical corrections we can make to the bite:
- Mandibular advancement surgically moves the lower jaw forward to correct overbites.
- Mandibular setback surgery brings the lower jaw backward to address overbites.
- Maxillary advancement surgically positions the upper jaw forward to fix underbites.
- Maxillary setback surgery moves the upper jaw backward to correct underbites.
Depending on the bite misalignments, we might recommend surgical intervention on both the maxillary and mandibular jaws.
We also recommend surgery to correct other bite issues. For example, if you have an open bite, where the upper and lower teeth don’t touch when the mouth is closed, we may be able to correct this with surgical orthodontics. We can also perform chin advancement, which shifts the chin’s projection to fix bite issues and improve appearance.
Do I Need Surgical Orthodontics for Jaw Issues?
With so many surgical treatments for malocclusions, you may wonder if surgical orthodontics is right for you.
We recommend surgical orthodontics when patients have an extreme bite issue past a specific measurement, especially if it hasn’t responded to less invasive treatments. We may also recommend surgical orthodontics if you’re struggling with TMJ or sleep apnea from narrow airways. If you find these conditions are interfering with your life, correcting them with orthodontic surgery might reduce pain and improve your sleep quality.
But surgical orthodontics isn’t right for everyone. At our office, we don’t recommend it until around age 16, since surgery should be done after growth is complete. If performed too soon, continued growth can cause the bite to become misaligned again.
If you’re wondering whether your child needs surgical orthodontics to correct a jaw issue, we tend to recommend early intervention with orthodontic devices. Early intervention takes advantage of a child’s natural growth period. This allows us to correct bite issues more quickly and reduce the need for more invasive intervention later on.
Regardless of the situation, we can only determine the best treatment for you once we see you for a personalized consultation. We don’t charge for consultations until treatment begins, and we take the time to get to know each patient’s specific needs and develop individualized treatment plans. By the time you move forward with surgical orthodontics or an orthodontic device, you’ll feel confident about your decision.
Free Consultations Until Treatment Begins
There are a variety of surgical orthodontic procedures to treat different jaw issues. We determine the best course of action based on your specific case, though we typically wait until the patient has finished growing before considering them for this treatment. In younger patients, earlier, less invasive intervention helps prevent the need for surgical orthodontics. Regardless, we don’t charge patients until treatment begins, so you can come in for a consultation and learn about all of your options without paying anything up front.
Schedule a free consultation at any of our many offices across the region. With locations in Buffalo, Hamburg, Olean, Orchard Park, Dunkirk, Lancaster, Niagara Falls, and East Aurora, we’re happy to serve you.
