ortho as a kid then ortho again and surgery as adult?

[Guest guest]

I'm just curious how many of you that post to this board went

through full orthodontic treatment as a young teenager perhaps

for a number of years, only to turn around and do it all over again

with the added excitement of surgery as an adult.

I started braces at age 12, endured such things as a mouth

chock full of rubber bands, headgear, spurs and constant

reminders of what a stupid person I was because I had tongue

thrust. (Honest.... I was made to feel stupid about it) Then I wore

one type or another of removable appliance until I was roughly

twenty years old all that time still having spurs on the back side

of my teeth. Then somewhere along in that time period, my OD

got the brilliant idea to " adjust " my open bite by grinding down my

molars a little. Well, ever since that I haven't been able to truly

enjoy things like steak or any foods that require any significant

mastication. But of course I looked awful due to my recessive

chin and lower jaw, so I worked up the courage to go through it

all again with high hopes of looking good at the end. So along

comes the pallate expander, the SARPE surgery, braces again,

the jaw surgery and the genioplasty, and although I managed a

good bite out of the deal, I was deliberately left with lip

incompetence and still having a very recessive chin. Of course I

was told I " looked wonderful " . So I tolerated that result for ten

years until I finally got fed up with my sorry profile and found a

doctor who would perform the biggest genioplasty possible and

thank goodness he understood what a good profile actually is.

So the story pretty much has a happy ending but it took 28 years

to get there. Anyone have a similar tale to tell.