Just as orthodontics repositions teeth, surgical orthodontics (also known as orthognathic surgery) corrects jaw irregularities to improve the patient’s ability to chew, speak, and breathe and improves facial appearance. In other words, surgical orthodontics straightens your jaw and improves your extraoral appearance. Moving the jaws also moves the teeth, so braces are always performed in conjunction with jaw correction. This helps make sure teeth are in their proper positions after surgery.
Who needs surgical orthodontics?
Dr. Azariy Yusupov will consider surgical orthodontic treatment for non-growing patients with improper bites and those with facial esthetic concerns. Jaw growth is usually completed by age 16 for girls and 18 for boys. All growth must be completed before jaw surgery can be performed. However, the pre-surgical tooth movements can begin one to two years prior to these ages.
How does it work?
During your orthodontic treatment, which usually lasts 6-18 months, you wear braces and will visit Dr. Azariy Yusupov for scheduled adjustments to your braces. As your teeth move with the braces, you may think that your bite is getting worse rather than better. However, when your jaws are placed into proper alignment during the orthognathic surgery, the teeth will then fit into their proper positions.
Surgery is performed in the hospital by an oral surgeon. Patients are fully asleep during the procedure. Once the surgery is done, patients are usually kept in the hospital for one night just to be sure everything is alright before they go home.
When you have completed surgery, you should be able to return to school or work within two weeks. After the necessary healing time (about 4-8 weeks), Dr. Azariy Yusupov “fine-tune” your bite. In most cases, braces are removed within 6 to 12 months following surgery. After your braces are removed, you will wear a retainer to maintain your beautiful new smile.
Surgical orthodontics is an involved process, but it yields the most spectacular results, both for your teeth and for your face!