Orthognathic surgery is commonly known as “corrective jaw surgery”, and is a medical process carried out so as to alter the shape and structure of someone’s jaw to remedy a physiological or aesthetic issue. This operation will have to be performed by a professional oral and maxillofacial surgeon, who is a dentist who has endured extensive study and training in corrective jaw surgery and other related issues.
The patients normally also work with an orthodontist and a dentist over the course of the treatment and it can take several years to successfully complete therapy for such a jaw complication.
A Number of Causes
Those patients that require corrective jaw surgery may need it due to an issue that makes it difficult to:
- Talk properly
- Breathe
- Chew their food
- May involve an overbite or an under bite
- Or some type of misalignment of the jaws
Patients with sleep apnoea may certainly be candidates for corrective jaw surgery, as would any patient who has a condition such as temporomandibular joint disorder.
Frequently, patients who book an appointment for jaw surgery in Singapore with broken jaws are in need of reconstructive surgery, and there are other particular conditions that may help a medical professional to recommend an orthognathic procedure.
Cosmetic Reasons
- A number of patients seek corrective jaw surgery due to them being unhappy with the structure of their jaw.
- This procedure is invasive and is normally only proposed to address certain issues like asymmetry, a protruding chin, a particularly weak chin, and similar types of problems.
- Occasionally transsexual patients apply for the procedure to assist in feminising or masculinising the jaw if they have any woes and are unhappy with their facial features after numerous years of hormone treatment.
Consultation and Recovery
- It may be required to wear orthodontics before any kind of corrective jaw surgery, to begin to pull the jaws and teeth into the required place.
- A patient might also find it necessary to wear them for a number of months or even years after surgery has been performed.
- In the planning process, the surgeon will consult with the patient about the level of commitment necessary to make sure he or she knows what the future holds and be ready for several years of recovery.
- Other types of jaw surgery are much less far reaching and usually take only a couple of months to heal.
Planning and Recovery
Surgical planning also involves the taking of x-rays, calibrating the jaw, and recording the change in the patient’s facial features. More and more doctors now use computer modelling programmes for use in surgical planning and this assists the surgeon during the process when it comes to removing any excess bone, the placing of implants, and any other type of activity to reshape the jaw.
Rehabilitation may need several weeks of complete rest and any patient will have to be careful when eating over this period and may need speech therapy afterwards.