Since a corrective jaw surgery can dramatically enhance a person’s appearance, it’s often thought to be a cosmetic surgery. However, a patient who undergoes for orthognathic surgery often does it for more practical reasons, such as improved speaking, breathing, or chewing.
If you’re thinking of undergoing a jaw surgery in Singapore, here are a couple of things that you should know first.
What is Orthognathic Surgery?
Orthognathic Surgery, or corrective jaw surgery, is the correction of the facial skeleton and jaw structures. Performed by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, it’s conducted to correct a range of dental and skeletal deformities, both minor and major.
The indications for this surgery are poor bite, speech difficulties, jaw joint, and muscle strain, or pain and disharmony of the jaw and facial form. Disharmony of jaws, or jaw deformities, are mainly due to developmental anomalies. This anomaly can be further categorised into long jaws, small jaws and crooked jaws. The extent of the deformity may include the upper jaw (maxilla) and lower jaw (mandible) and associated structures including and not limited to the cheekbone, nose and orbits.
Assessing the Necessity for Jaw Surgery
Just like in every major surgery, a patient needs thorough assessment first before undergoing the procedure. Oftentimes, the surgery is needed if it’s already causing difficulties for the patient or completely hindering their ability to function.
Though braces and invisalign can help improve a patient’s dental appearance or to improve bite, surgery is needed when the malocclusion is due to the patient’s jaw structure. Typically, this type of surgery is performed on older teens or adults to ensure that the jaws are done growing.
Some of the common dentofacial deformities, birth defects, or facial injuries that need jaw surgery are:
- an open bite,
- a protruding lower jaw,
- a receding lower jaw, or a weak chin,
- a severe crossbite,
- and a chronic jaw pain.
Upper and lower jaws are bases for our teeth. In some patients, there are anomalies in the size and lengths of the upper and lower jaws. If the discrepancy is excessive, braces alone will not be able to correct the bite or teeth alignment well . In such cases, jaw surgery is indicated to realign the jaws to ideal positions for braces treatment.
Recommended Corrective Jaw Surgery Experts
There are times when the treatment will require a before and after orthodontics surgery, which could take years to finish and might require numerous visits to the surgeons. Before undergoing a jaw surgery in Singapore, it’s best to consult an oral maxillofacial surgeon that’s trusted and experienced.
Orthognathic surgery is common with hundreds of cases done in Singapore every year in every hospital. Most Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons and some Plastic Surgeons offer this surgery. The surgery is usually performed in conjunction with braces treatment but the sequence may vary.
For more information about OMFP’s jaw surgery, send us an inquiry or read more about the procedure below.
