This is all very confusing to me now that I think about it. I overhead the orthodontist say I have a class III bite but he also said I have a convex profile. Class III malocclusions are common in underbites, and despite the fact that you can't see an actual underbite from looking at my teeth, my bottom molars are way ahead of my top molars, so my top molars are touching my bottom wisdom teeth while my top wisdom teeth are further back touching nothing when I bite down. Its all very weird. I just wouldn't expect to have this combination I guess because convex profiles don't usually go hand in hand with a bottom jaw thats too far forward. Hmmm
I found your blog from a post you left on miniscrewsblog.
ReplyDeleteFrom your posts it looks like you've just begun your journey toward orthognathic surgery. I'm new to this surgery journey too and I've started my own blog (www.doublejawbreaker.blogspot.com).
I see what you mean by confusing...your bite looks like an open bite, not a Class III (obviously I'm not a professional). I think your fortunate to have a convex profile, I could use more roundness in my face. Anyway good luck with the process. I'm looking forward to following your experience. Did your orthodontist suggest how long your orthodontic pretreatment would be before surgery?
I found your blog through google and the archwired forums! I have the SAME exact problems as you and am going through braces right now -- I'm 21 (almost 22) so I'm in the same position as you, it sucks having braces in university lol! I'm undergoing something called "6 month braces" at the moment though to speed up the process because I'm moving at the end of this year since I'm finishing uni! :)
ReplyDeleteI have an open bite, a bit of crossbite on the side, AND convex profile (my mom thought I was just naturally born with an ugly side profile... LOL), and I used to have braces when I was in elementary school but my teeth shifted again!
I got my braces on 2/17, I have just normal clear braces with powerchains, but I also have hooks / brackets on my top two front teeth and little hook/brackets on the bottom 8 frontal teeth. I use box elastics (or triagle formation) elastics. The change in my open bite has been DRAMATIC! :)
But I just had a question: is there anyway to fix the convex profile w/o surgery or speech therapy? I also have a tongue thrusting problem and my ortho put in bite wing correctors on my front back teeth, which are basically pointy sharp things on the back of my two front teeth to prevent me from thrusting lol... where is your tongue supposed to rest? The roof of your mouth? That seems so unnatural to me :(
Hey L, Wow you sound just like me, what an issue to be dealing with. My convex profile has always been a huge issue to me, if it wasnt for the fact that i'm having it fixed, I wouldn't post any images. The jaw surgery will help get rid of this as it will align my jaws so that my profile is more appealing. I am hoping it makes my face less long and oval. I know that they are probably going to be removing some of my jaw vertically so that should shorten it. As for my nose, that goes along with my profile, I'm going to get rhinoplasty once the jaw surgery is done and fully healed. I wanted to have the rhinoplasty this year but because jaw surgery can change the shape of your nose, i figure its better to wait and do it after. The reason I want to rhinoplasty is actually because I had a tire swing hit me in the face when I was about 12 and it left a bump that never went down, there is also permanent bruising from that.
ReplyDeleteAre you having jaw surgery too or are you just doing braces?
Oh for the tongue thrusting, I have been working on it a lot!! and it has already changed my profile, my jaw line has become significantly more visible. I have to admit the first week of keeping my tongue at the roof of my mouth where it belongs was a huge challenge, i still can't sleep with it up there. I've become more aware when I eat food too. Although I haven't started speech therapy again I have been doing research and I am working on my tongue position from what I've learned. I was told that without fixing this I will have a relapse after jaw surgery so I'm trying to really change it.
Sorry I didn't even answer the question you had about the convex profile, since it is structural, only surgery will really fix it, correcting the open bite will make a change but since i am having portions of my jaw removed it will probably be more significant. Trust me you need to fix the tongue thrust or you will relapse, its not that hard if you work on it everyday, and you will love how it actually changes your side profile just by doing that. I'll check for the youtube videos regarding tongue thrusting and I'll post them on my blog. Hope that helps :)WIth you case maybe just braces will help and that may also change your profile, but the tongue thrusting is actually what causes the convex profile.