3 Reasons to Have Corrective Jaw Surgery

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Your jaws play a significant role in your smile’s appearance and function, so when they don’t fit together properly, it can be problematic. In some cases, jaw surgery may be needed to correct a malocclusion.

Jaw Surgery Can Benefit Patients in the Following Ways

  • Restore ability to chew properly: A malocclusion can make it difficult to chew your food thoroughly. Depending on the way that the misaligned jaws fit together, chewing can put extra pressure on certain teeth or make the patient prone to biting on the soft oral tissues, potentially damaging them.
  • Eliminate TMJ symptoms: When a patient’s jaws do not meet correctly, the patient can be at risk for developing a temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder and its associated symptoms, including jaw, ear or facial discomfort, locking of the jaw, and clicking or popping noises while chewing. Restoring proper balance in the jaws through jaw surgery can eliminate these symptoms.
  • Improve the patient’s appearance: Issues like overbites, underbites, crossbites and overbites as well as other abnormalities that can arise during the jaw’s development detract from your smile’s appearance. As such, jaw surgery can boost a person’s self-esteem and confidence when smiling.

Your first step in the process of corrective jaw surgery is to schedule a consultation with an oral surgeon. At this appointment, the surgeon will examine your jaw and take x-rays. If you have been working with an orthodontist in advance of the jaw surgery, the surgeon will review those records as well. Jaw surgery is often performed in conjunction with orthodontic treatment.

Depending on the nature of the surgery that is needed, your oral surgeon may be able to perform the procedure in an outpatient setting. Your surgeon will thoroughly review the plan for the procedure, as well as any pre- and post-operative instructions so that you know what to expect.

Corrective jaw surgery can improve the aesthetics and structure of a patient’s smile in many ways. To learn more about this procedure and how it might benefit you, schedule a consultation with our team at Commonwealth Oral & Facial Surgery.