Orthognathic Surgery

Westfield Oral Surgery
320 Lenox Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090
Phone: (908) 233-8088
Fax: (908) 232-4662

ORTHOGNATHIC SURGERY

BASIC FACTS

Reconstructive surgery of the upper and lower jaw bones may be indicated in cases of facial asymmetry or facial imbalance. This may include the upper or lower jaws being shifted left or right of the midline. This may also include facial disharmony from the lateral or sideways view, with the upper jaw or lower jaw appearing too large or too small.

Often patients with skeletal facial abnormalities have dental abnormalities as well, including malocclusions or a bad bite. Bad bite may be evident when teeth don't line up normally or properly, and may include conditions, such as deep over bite, open bite of the front teeth, or under jet when the lower jaw protrudes beyond the upper jaw. Sometimes facial asymmetry is genetic or congenital. Facial asymmetry can be caused by trauma. Maxillofacial abnormalities are often associated with snoring/sleep apnea, and other upper airway obstruction conditions.

Although facial asymmetry which involves the jaws may be most obvious cosmetically, there is often a functional component or impairment which can result in difficulty chewing, biting, and alteration of swallowing. This can lead to other complications, such as premature loss of teeth, improper chewing of food, resulting in choking, gagging, gastrointestinal upset (GI), and TMJ disorders.

TREATMENT CONSIDERATIONS

This surgery requires hospitalization. Generally, orthognathic surgery requires surgical repositioning of the upper jaw, lower jaw, or both. Because this involves the teeth, bite and dentition, team approach is usually used between our office and an orthodontist knowledgeable in surgical cases.

Orthognathic surgeries are generally performed in the hospital. The procedure generally includes wiring the upper and lower jaws together for a period of six to eight weeks. Screws or mini bone plates are frequently used to hold the jaws in their new position for proper healing. The procedures are generally geared at restoring proper bite between the upper and lower teeth, obtaining proper midline in the frontal view, and creating proper balance of the face from the sideways or lateral view, establishing balance between the nose, upper jaw, lower jaw, and chin.

After the initial healing has occurred, fine tuning of any dental positioning is completed by the orthodontist.