How many sets of braces are necessary to permanently align someone’s teeth? Theoretically one set should do it, although we all know people who had braces as a child and again as an adult. What would you think about a 32-year-old adult who has had two sets of braces along with jaw surgery to correct her buck teeth? And then she notices that her teeth are jutting forward again, so she is considering a third set of braces! There is something wrong with this picture!!! Here is Rebecca’s story…
It All Began when Rebecca was a Baby
As a child, Rebecca had all the classic precursors for a tongue thrust; she was bottle fed until age 3. She sucked her thumb until age 6.
She was fitted with her first set of braces at age 14, with head gear at night. Those braces came off at age 16, and Rebecca continued to wear her retainer at night.
By age 23, her teeth had pushed back out into their original position. Rebecca consulted a different orthodontist. This time, she didn’t want any regression. She went to the orthodontist for the stars, and paid top dollar for what she assumed was the best that money could buy. He recommended jaw surgery. He would break Rebecca’s jaw to correct her Class II misalignment and overjet (the upper teeth jut too far forward in front of the lower teeth). He would bring her lower jaw (mandible) forward and place titanium screws in her jaw to secure her new alignment. This would require a hospital stay followed by a liquid diet.
Rebecca bought it! After all, this orthodontist had worked on some of Hollywood’s leading men and women.
She followed her orthodontist’s recommendations to the tee and wore braces for the second time for about a year throughout the process. Her teeth were straight and her jaw aligned perfectly post-surgery and braces. She thought it was a true success… the permanent solution to her problem!
Back to Buck Teeth After Two Sets of Braces and Jaw Surgery
Now fast forward to 2010 when Rebecca is 30. Her teeth are ONCE AGAIN back to where they started before braces.
Her new orthodontist wisely told Rebecca that she didn’t feel comfortable starting a new treatment plan to correct her teeth until Rebecca fixed her unhealthy oral resting posture and tongue thrust. She knew that Rebecca’s tongue thrust would reposition her teeth yet again.
In Rebecca’s initial evaluation, I noticed her engaging smile that reflected her inner happiness. But her teeth were clearly out of alignment; her two upper front incisors protruded out at least 3 – 4 millimeters in front of her lower incisors and there was an opening between her upper and lower teeth. Don’t forget, Rebecca had already had jaw surgery and two sets of braces to correct this condition.
Rebecca was also suffering from jaw pain. She had pain in her jaw after extended chewing, accompanied by a crunching sound in her jaw joints. She had ringing in her ears and intermittent dizziness as well. After all these years, Rebecca had developed a disorder in her TMJ (temporomandibular joint), a debilitating condition that causes chronic pain in the head, neck and jaw and sometimes travels down the back as well.
Our evaluation revealed that Rebecca was an open-mouth breather; day and night, she breathed through her mouth with open lips. She also chewed with open lips, which led to noisy eating and embarrassment during meals with family and friends.
Rebecca also presented with a severely unhealthy tongue resting posture; her tongue rested habitually against her upper teeth, and she swallowed by pushing her tongue between her upper and lower incisors. Rebecca was not keeping her tongue in “speech-ready” position, so she spoke with her tongue against her teeth, which caused a frontal lisp.
Rebecca was Aging Prematurely!
Because her lips were always open, the force of gravity was pulling on her chin and neck muscles, giving her the appearance of a double chin. Her open lips were also pulling down her eyelids, giving her eyes a drowsy, lackluster expression.
Rebecca started treatment with us right away! She learned to suction her tongue to her palate, continually day and night. Rebecca also learned to swallow food and beverages using the correct technique.
We haven’t worked on Rebecca’s lisp – there was no need! She corrected her own lisp by keeping her tongue back behind her teeth where it belongs.
And the jaw pain was soon gone!
It’s amazing what can happen when you treat the cause of the problem instead of just treating the symptoms.
If you know someone like Rebecca who has been suffering from jaw pain or dental relapse, call us at 858.509.1131.