There are two main issues that orthodontic treatment deals with. The first is tooth crowding and the second is jaw disorders. There is no age for treatment of crooked teeth; crooked teeth can be corrected at any age. The situation is slightly different in jaw disorders. In order to intervene in the jaw with orthodontic appliances, the patient must be in adolescence. Since the jaws cannot be intervened with orthodontic appliances after adolescence, surgery comes into play. In patients over the age of 18, in cases where the lower or upper jaw is forward-backward, below-above or sideways, orthodontic treatment is combined with surgically restoring the jaw to its normal position. Such treatments, in which orthodontic treatment and surgical treatment are performed together, are called "orthognathic surgery" or "surgical orthodontics".
What awaits the orthognathia patient?
Usually 6- During the pre-surgical orthodontic treatment, which will last 18 months, a normal orthodontic treatment is performed by placing brackets on the teeth. At the end of this period, the patient's turn comes for jaw surgery. The patient is taken into surgery before the wires are removed from the mouth.
The surgical operation is performed in a hospital under general anesthesia and with a maxillofacial surgeon or a plastic surgeon. The surgery may take several hours or longer, depending on the amount and type of surgery planned. In lower jaw surgery, the part of the jawbone behind the teeth is divided into two and the bone part containing the teeth is moved forward or backward according to the planned surgery. In upper jaw surgery, the jaw is moved forward or backward or repositioned upward or downward. Sometimes, some bone addition (graft) or removal may be required after the bone is divided into two parts in order to provide certain movements to the jawbone and to ensure appropriate correction and stability.
The patient can return to school or work about 2 weeks after the surgical procedure is completed. After the necessary recovery period (approximately 4-8 weeks), braces treatment lasts approximately 6-12 months. At the end of this period, the brackets are removed and the treatment is terminated.
In summary, orthognathic treatment takes approximately two years. In the middle of this two-year period during which the wires are in the mouth, a surgery is performed to put the jaw in its proper position. r.
Read: 0
