Surgical Orthodontics
Your Orthodontist
An orthodontist can generally solve a patient’s problems with misaligned teeth while working without any help from other dental practitioners.
However, there are some major jaw and teeth misalignments, that require much more extensive corrective treatment. At Orthodontic Experts, whether you need minor treatments for crooked teeth or extensive maxillofacial surgery, we are able to help!
Our skilled orthodontists can work along an oral surgeon to make dramatic corrections to breathing, speaking, and chewing problems, as well as aesthetic improvements.
What Is Corrective Jaw Surgery?
At Orthodontic Experts, we are specialists in correcting problems of misaligned teeth. We can also help you if you need a more serious corrective jaw surgery. There are many reasons why you may need this type of surgery. Your jaws can be misaligned due to a birth defect, an injury, or simply growing at different rates and ending up unable to come together properly. These conditions can lead to any number of undesirable effects, including an inability to chew food thoroughly, which can lead to problems with digestion.
Chronic pain in misaligned jaws can also cause headaches and lead to arthritis in the jaw. Your teeth can wear away quickly because they grind together instead of aligning properly when your mouth is closed. Many doctors people recommend us to their patients to correct problems associated with sleep apnea and other breathing problems, which are often caused by structural deformities of the jaw and teeth.
How to Determine if You Need Corrective Jaw Surgery
The decision of whether you require oral surgery to cure problems with your jaws and teeth is a cooperative one. Dr. Yarmolyuk will confer with your regular dentist and a maxillofacial surgeon to determine the best course of action for your particular problems. Corrective jaw surgery can be a long and involved process, and portions of your treatment will be handled by a number of healthcare professionals. Dr. Yarmolyuk is uniquely qualified to handle the entire process for you so that you get the best outcome.
You’ll need to see your orthodontist in Elk Grove both before and after you undergo corrective jaw surgery, and the term of your entire treatment could last for several years. When you undertake such a serious commitment, it’s important that you have one, central caregiver that helps you to understand your treatment fully, and is available at any time when you have questions or complications. Dr. Yarmolyuk will be there for you from your initial consultation all the way through to the day your treatment is completed.
Different Types of Orthodontic Issues
Many patients assume that an orthodontist simply straightens teeth. While Dr. Yarmolyuk can give you or your child a dazzling smile and better overall dental health, there are much more serious corrections to the jaw and teeth that can be addressed.
Open Bite
If only the molars in your mouth come together when you close your mouth, and your front teeth protrude, it can lead to many chronic problems and give you an unusual appearance. Dr. Yarmolyuk can offer a series of treatments along with a maxillofacial surgeon to remove some of the bone in the upper jaw to re-align the teeth and allow your jaw to close properly. This will not only improve your appearance, it will allow you to chew your food properly and stop the uneven wear on your teeth that can lead to serious tooth loss in later life.
Protruding Lower Jaw
Often called an under bite, a protruding lower jaw can cause many undesirable effects. In addition to giving you an unusual appearance, the misalignment of the teeth can cause uneven wear and improper chewing, which harms digestion. Misaligned jaws can cause severe headaches, and the bone structure itself can begin to break down. Many problems with sleep apnea are caused by under bites and over bites. The loss of teeth from uneven wear is also very common. Dr. Yarmolyuk can coordinate a series of treatments to modify the lower jaw and position it properly, and straighten any teeth.
Weak Chin
If you have a receding chin instead of a protruding chin, the problems with the misalignment of your teeth can be still be severe. A receding lower jaw can also have a profound effect on a person’s self-image, as it give them an unusual, turtle-like appearance. Dr. Yarmolyuk can supervise the treatment for a receding chin, which involves a modification of the lower jaw to move the teeth and chin forward. Full treatment will often also include straightening of your teeth in at the office of your orthodontist in Elk Grove.
What to Expect During Corrective Jaw Surgery
Well before any surgery, Dr. Yarmolyuk will begin orthodontic treatment to shift your teeth into the correct position to take full advantage of the improved functioning of the jaw that comes with jaw realignment surgery. The full benefit of this portion of your treatment will become apparent when the maxillofacial surgeon repositions your jaw, and your teeth immediately are in proper alignment.
After this part of your course of treatment at your orthodontist in Elk Grove is completed, most patients will undergo surgery under general anesthesia in a nearby hospital. Some less invasive procedures can be performed in the maxillofacial surgeon’s office. Depending on your particular problem, the surgeon might add or subtract bone in your jaw, or reshape the existing bone structure. Many of the procedures are done using incisions inside the mouth, which hide any scars. Any incisions on the outside of the jaw will be made with an eye toward minimizing their appearance. In an hour or two, your procedure will be over and your jaws and teeth will be in alignment.
When your surgery is complete, you’ll be given detailed instructions on a modified diet to aid in healing, with a timetable for returning to a regular routine of eating and other physical activity. Pain medication will be provided to make your recovery as pleasant as possible.
Most patients are able to return to school or work in one to three weeks, and within about six weeks the majority of the healing will be complete. Complete healing takes from nine to twelve months.
Additional Visits to Your Orthodontist
Dr. Yarmolyuk will continue to see you in his office to make sure that your entire course of treatment is proceeding properly, and to deal with any complications that might arise. He’ll make sure that you’re able to enjoy the dramatic improvements in your health and appearance that corrective jaw surgery can bring!
Dentofacial Orthodontics
Dentofacial orthopedics is a branch of orthodontics that takes its roots from the Greek words dento, which means “teeth”; ortho, which means “straight”; and “pedics”, which stands for “child”.
Whereas orthodontic procedures are aimed at straightening teeth, dentofacial orthopedics uses special orthodontic appliances (headgear, expander, functional appliances) to align jaws and facial bones with the neighboring tissues in a growing child. Dentofacial orthopedics is done by an orthodontist, like who has been trained in it during his post-dental orthodontic specialty program.
Once the child has grown, his or her jaw position can only be altered surgically. Therefore, it is important to have your child evaluated by our orthodontist Dr. Yarmolyuk and treated early for potential problems arising from jaws misalignment in order to avoid surgical treatment (orthognathic surgery) in the future.
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that a child gets his first orthodontic consultation by age of 7. This allows for early detection of severe orthodontic problems which are easier to treat while your child is still growing. If our orthodontist does not detect any problems that warrant early treatment, your child will be placed in our Kids Club and will be observed during regular 6-12 mo follow-up visits until he/she is ready for comprehensive orthodontic treatment.
Cleft Lip and Palate Treatment
A cleft of the lip and/or palate can produce multiple of dental problems. These may involve the shape, size, position and number of primary (baby) and permanent teeth. Clefts occur between the canines (eye tooth) and the lateral incisor and most commonly affect those teeth. The lateral incisor can either be misshaped, displaced or entirely absent. Due to the dental problems, children with clefts require early evaluation by a dentist who is familiar with the needs of the child with a cleft.
Children born with a cleft lip and/or palate require proper cleaning, good nutrition, and fluoride treatment. Oral hygiene instructions and preventative counseling can be provided by a pediatric dentist or a general dentist. Many dentists recommend that the first dental visit be scheduled at about one year of age or even earlier if there are special dental problems. The early evaluation is usually provided through the Cleft Palate Team. Routine dental care with a local dentist begins at about three years of age. The treatment recommended depends upon many factors. Some children require only preventative care while others will need fillings or removal of a tooth.
Orthodontic Care
The first orthodontic evaluation may be scheduled even before the child has any teeth. The purpose of the orthodontic visit is to assess facial growth, particularly the growth of the jaws. Later as teeth begin to erupt, the orthodontist will make plans for the child’s short and long-term dental needs. For example, if a child’s upper teeth do not fit together (occlude) properly with the lower teeth, the orthodontist may suggest an early period of treatment to correct the relationship of the upper jaw to the lower jaw. It is not unusual for this initial period of treatment to be followed by a long rest period when the orthodontist monitors facial growth and dental development. With the eruption of the permanent teeth, the final phase of orthodontics completes alignment of the teeth.
Coordinated Dental-Surgical Care
Coordination of treatment between the surgeon and dental specialist is important since several procedures may be completed during the same anesthesia. Restorations or dental extractions can be scheduled at the same time as other surgery.
Coordinated Orthodontic-Surgical Care
Coordination between the surgeon and the orthodontist becomes most important in the management of the bony defect in the upper jaw that may result from the cleft. Reconstruction of the cleft defect may be accomplished with a bone graft performed by the surgeon. The orthodontist may place an appliance on the teeth of the upper jaw to prepare for the bone graft. A retainer is usually placed after the bone graft until full braces are applied.
When the child approaches adolescence the orthodontist and the surgeon again coordinate their efforts if the teeth do not meet properly because the jaws are in abnormal positions. If the tooth relations cannot be made normal by orthodontics alone, a combined approach of both orthodontics and surgical repositioning of the jaws is necessary. Such surgery is usually performed after the pubertal growth spurt is completed.
Information taken from Cleft Palate Foundation
This information contained on this website is for the purposes of learning more about the different treatment options.