dr. west

[Guest guest]

Hi Diane,

I am glad you found my post to you! You sound actually fairly far

in your process. That would be so nice! I am really happy for you.

I am really early in my process. I am 51 and didn't ever think I

would need to have braces - and certainly not surgery. I didn't

even know I had a problem. I thought everyone ate by pocketing food

in their cheeks and feeding it slowly to the two back molars! I am

not kidding!! lol When I found out that this is not how the vast

majority of people eat, to say the least, I had a DUH moment! lol

It is funny how we never question somethings - we assume everyone

else works the same way we do. And usually that is accurate, but it

is not always so.

I was told by the dentist who took over my former dentists office

about my jaw problem. My jaw " overcloses " . I don't have room for

my tongue to fit in my mouth let alone my tongue and a bite of

food. I choke easily and often. If I clench my teeth, my tongue is

pulled back into my throat a little, and is pinned between the roof

and floor of my mouth. I can't move it when my teeth are clenched.

I can't even handle saliva when I get engrossed in something that

requires me to flex my neck forward (most anything requiring

concentration or writing). That is when I choke most often. I also

have an overbite, that my upper teeth have compensated for by

leaning inward. I have, as you might guess, a very deep bite. And

I have an open bite on my left molar side. My jaw is quite

assymetrical, but you can't tell because the muscles have

compensated. The pictures on this site were the first time I saw

the assymetry the dentists have described, other than that my

midlines do not match up on the upper and lower teeth. When I tip

my head back I have a definate " z " pattern happening. I am amazed I

had never noticed that before!

I have had consults with three different orthodontists. Each has

said they don't really know what to do in my case. They openly

admit that they don't know how to proceed other than to take moulds

and xrays to send to an orthognatic surgeon to see what he can do.

Dr West has been mentioned by all of them. They seem to regard him

very highly.

I am kind of at a loss as to how to proceed. I would not do this

for the small amount of problem I have with my actual bite. All of

the orthos agree with this. I have room for improvement with my

bite, but that is not the real issue. I need more jaw length not a

better bite. And it is a potentially life threatening situation

with the choking, though I am so used to it that while I realize it

is a possibility, it does not seem probable to me. Since they would

move my jaw, my teeth will need to move too. I am told it would

also require full mouth rehabilitation with crowns on every tooth to

correct the problemm as my teeth would be too short if my jaw were

lengthened. That is why my teeth would need to be moved.

The problem is, my insurance will engage more effectively if I

proceed from a medical doctor referral to Dr West, or through a

consult with Dr West directly (he doesn't do direct consults

though). It will cover 100% of the surgery with a referral by a

preferred-plan MD. But if I proceed with the orthodontists, it will

be out of network, and I will be charged 20% of the costs. So I am

seeing an ENT on Friday to get a referral to Dr West. In doing so,

and with a medical referral, there is a chance they will back-door

cover a portion of my orthodontia as well, as a jaw problem without

a bite problem is the primary diagnosis. Insurance is weird! If I

go with the orthodontits initially whose consults were free, and

spare them the expense of another MD consultant, they will

definately not cover the braces! Go figure!

So that is where I am. I will not do this if they cannot improve

the volume in my mouth/jaw. I am comfortable enough with my bite if

they cannot correct my main issues of being able to eat with food

actually in my mouth and to keep me from choking. And it would be

nice to have all of it corrected too. But I am most concerned about

how my jaw is functioning.

I will keep you posted as to how it goes. I have the ENT on

Friday. I am crossing my fingers!

Fran

> > Does anyone have any experiences with Dr. Roger West in Seattle?

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[Guest guest]

Fran & Diane,

I, too, am going to have surgery with Dr. West. I haven't met him yet,

though, since I live in Montana. But most of the orthodontists I

consulted with here send their patients to him. He has seen my records

and I believe I will have lower advancement surgery next December or

January.

Fran, wow, your situation sounds very complex. I also have a deep bite

(and an underbite, I think?), but I have not had problems with eating

or choking. Yikes, you poor thing! I am also curious to know what

insurance company you have. I have BCBS and they cover precious little

of the surgery since West is not a preferred provider. I will end up

paying all the orthodontics and most of the surgery out of my own pocket.

Diane, please do keep us posted on how your experiences with Dr. West

go. I am very curious about his surgical facility; it makes me a

little nervous that it's not a proper hospital, but it must be okay if

he's so highly regarded.

Take care,

Luna

> > > Does anyone have any experiences with Dr. Roger West in Seattle?

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[Guest guest]

Does anyone have Dr. West's # or his website address?

Beth

[Guest guest]

Diane

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>Reply-To: orthognathicsurgerysupport

>To: orthognathicsurgerysupport

>Subject: [Orthognathic Surgery Support ] dr. west

>Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 22:53:16 -0000

>