Corrective jaw, or orthognathic, surgery is performed by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon (OMS) to correct a wide range of minor and major skeletal and dental irregularities, including the misalignment of jaws and teeth. Surgery can improve chewing, speaking and breathing. While the patient's appearance may be dramatically enhanced as a result of their surgery, orthognathic surgery is performed to correct functional problems.
Following are some of the conditions that may indicate the need for corrective jaw surgery :-
- Difficulty chewing, or biting food
- Difficulty swallowing
- Chronic jaw or jaw joint (TMJ) pain and headache
- Excessive wear of the teeth
- Open bite (space between the upper and lower teeth when the mouth is closed)
- Unbalanced facial appearance from the front, or side
- Facial injury
- Birth defects
- Receding lower jaw and chin
- Protruding jaw
- Inability to make the lips meet without straining
- Chronic mouth breathing
- Sleep apnea (breathing problems when sleeping, including snoring)
Orthognathic surgery is performed by our oral and maxillofacial surgeon in collaboration with an orthodontist. It often includes braces before and after surgery and retainers after the final removal of braces. Careful co-ordination between the surgeon and orthodontist is essential to ensure that the teeth will fit correctly after the surgery.
The surgery might involve one jaw or the two jaws during the same procedure. The modification is done by making cuts in the bones of the mandible and / or maxilla and repositioning the cut pieces in the desired alignment. Usually surgery is performed under general anaesthesia and using nasal tube for intubation rather than the more commonly used oral tube; this is to allow wiring the teeth together during surgery. The surgery often does not involve cutting the skin, and instead, the surgeon is often able to go through the inside of the mouth.
