Why Orthognathic Surgery?

September 20th was the big day! And I am definitely feeling it. Most people have never heard of the term orthognathic surgery so let me just clue you in. Some people have told me I don't need it and it is cosmetic including my insurance company, but I disagree.

So this is an overbite. Where the top teeth overlap the bottom teeth. This makes biting, chewing, and overall eating a challenge. Also causes TMJ pain and my overbite also made it hard to close my mouth.

This is how I must have looked to people who were shorter than me (which was most people) so sad and embarrassing.

I was also fortunate enough to have a gummy smile. Which never really bugged me that much, but it aided in the problem of closing my mouth. FYI when a person relaxes their lips are supposed to touch.  It is evident that I had quiet a bit of lip incompetence. So why does that matter? Well because it was so difficult for me to close my mouth I would wake up with sore throats everyday.

Lastly I had a receded chin, which does not provide a very pleasant profile, it contributes to the other problems mentioned above and it also restricts my airway and makes it really hard to breathe because my lower jaw is back so far. I will try to post pre-op x-rays if I can to illustrate that point.

So there you have it people some very flattering photos of me! So orthognathic surgery will correct all of those issues!