Re: Why do you have to have braces?

[Guest guest]

Kate,

In regards to one of your last lines: " which will in effect give me a

chin and stretch out some of the redundant skin under my neck. "

Having had my lower jaw moved back, I asked my Surgeon about the

possibility that I might end up with somewhat of a double chin -

there being " extra skin " and all. He was very supportive and advised

that no, the skin will kind of reform itself. Might you be able to

give any feedback on that process - the opposite of what you

originally commented on?

Thanks in advance for your time!

Oh, and I have that on a post it on my PC at the office ... saw it as

a bumper sticker once and just adored it: My Karma Ran Over My

Dogma ... too good!

Thanks again,

Carol

> Hi!

>

> First of all - I'm 30 and never had braces, so they weren't any

sort of an option for me.

>

> Second of all - and the biggest reason why they are important -

they act as a support frame for your teeth and mandible / maxilla

when it is sectioned out. They are somewhat of an external fixator,

and you don't want any chance of movement while your bones are

knitting back together!

>

> Pull all your teeth out? Are you crazy? I argued with my

orthodontist over the surgery vs. extractions... I have a clotting

disorder which worries him to the point he's convinced I will bleed

out on the table, and he tried to get me to concede to having ONE

tooth pulled which could cosmetically correct my misalignment, rather

than functional correction with surgery. I have absolutely NO

intentions of losing even one tooth - you don't get another one!

>

> Roots that are too big? Is this your personal conclusion, or a

radiographic interpretation? I've never heard of such a creature,

but my ortho experience is more of the four-footed variety.

>

> Here's how the upper can help you - when your maxilla is adjusted,

it will affect where your mandible will rest. Think of it as a

swinging gate... the way your mandible is hinged, it can continue to

swing upwards, if your maxilla wasn't there. My maxilla is going to

be impacted, which will give my mandible several more mm of " swing "

space, which will in effect give me a chin and stretch out some of

the redundant skin under my neck. It's really an engineering concept

which I find fascinating!

>

> Kate

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> Katrina M. Hissam

> OSU College of Veterinary Medicine

> Class of 2007

>

> ~my karma ran over my dogma

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Carol,

I don't know that I can answer this 100% correctly, but here are a

couple of my theories...

There is the physiologic vs. pathologic... If a jaw is too far

forward, what " should be " is actually stretched. If a jaw is too far

back, what " should be " is scrunched up a little. And the " should be "

not only involves skin, but muscle - and lots of it! Whichever

direction the lower jaw is moved, it will affect the function of the

muscles involved in eating - including the tongue and those

associated. I really don't have so much of a " double chin, " per se,

but a pouch of muscle that, when relaxed, tends to create more of a

slope from chin to neck rather than a nice contour. But, when I hold

my tongue to the roof of my mouth, where it is apparently supposed to

rest naturally (but doesn't because I'm a mouth-breathing-tongue-

thruster :-), that " redundant " skin tightens up.

When muscle is stretched for long periods of time, beyond the normal

range, the fibers tend to elongate and LOSE tone... (It's really

counterintuitive!) I'm not sure how much physiology of muscle you

want, but if you want more (even if to disprove my theory ;-) you

could study up on myosin and actin...

Anywho... After your jaw is moved back, and your muscles are

retrained, the normal " what should be " will no longer be over-

stretched, and your muscle fibers can eventually become MORE toned as

they return to their correct " length, " especially if you consider

that your muscles will be functioning in a more physiologically

normal setting.

I'm not sure if this will help you or not, but if my theory is total

bunk I can at least say I'm still a student and haven't learned

everything yet! LOL (But I do know enough to know that a surgeon is

wacked if he doesn't think a tongue can move teeth over time!)

Kate

> > Hi!

> >

> > First of all - I'm 30 and never had braces, so they weren't any

> sort of an option for me.

> >

> > Second of all - and the biggest reason why they are important -

> they act as a support frame for your teeth and mandible / maxilla

> when it is sectioned out. They are somewhat of an external

fixator,

> and you don't want any chance of movement while your bones are

> knitting back together!

> >

> > Pull all your teeth out? Are you crazy? I argued with my

> orthodontist over the surgery vs. extractions... I have a clotting

> disorder which worries him to the point he's convinced I will bleed

> out on the table, and he tried to get me to concede to having ONE

> tooth pulled which could cosmetically correct my misalignment,

rather

> than functional correction with surgery. I have absolutely NO

> intentions of losing even one tooth - you don't get another one!

> >

> > Roots that are too big? Is this your personal conclusion, or a

> radiographic interpretation? I've never heard of such a creature,

> but my ortho experience is more of the four-footed variety.

> >

> > Here's how the upper can help you - when your maxilla is

adjusted,

> it will affect where your mandible will rest. Think of it as a

> swinging gate... the way your mandible is hinged, it can continue

to

> swing upwards, if your maxilla wasn't there. My maxilla is going

to

> be impacted, which will give my mandible several more mm of " swing "

> space, which will in effect give me a chin and stretch out some of

> the redundant skin under my neck. It's really an engineering

concept

> which I find fascinating!

> >

> > Kate

> >

> >

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> > Katrina M. Hissam

> > OSU College of Veterinary Medicine

> > Class of 2007

> >

> > ~my karma ran over my dogma

> > __________________________________________________

> >

[Guest guest]

Kate,

I'm not sure that I follow you 100% so that's works!

Any concerns I had seem to have been unjustified, as my Surgeon

explained pre-op, because I have yet to see any signs of a double

chin. So, that's one less thing I think I need to worry about.

Thanks again,

Carol

> > > Hi!

> > >

> > > First of all - I'm 30 and never had braces, so they weren't any

> > sort of an option for me.

> > >

> > > Second of all - and the biggest reason why they are important -

> > they act as a support frame for your teeth and mandible / maxilla

> > when it is sectioned out. They are somewhat of an external

> fixator,

> > and you don't want any chance of movement while your bones are

> > knitting back together!

> > >

> > > Pull all your teeth out? Are you crazy? I argued with my

> > orthodontist over the surgery vs. extractions... I have a

clotting

> > disorder which worries him to the point he's convinced I will

bleed

> > out on the table, and he tried to get me to concede to having ONE

> > tooth pulled which could cosmetically correct my misalignment,

> rather

> > than functional correction with surgery. I have absolutely NO

> > intentions of losing even one tooth - you don't get another one!

> > >

> > > Roots that are too big? Is this your personal conclusion, or a

> > radiographic interpretation? I've never heard of such a

creature,

> > but my ortho experience is more of the four-footed variety.

> > >

> > > Here's how the upper can help you - when your maxilla is

> adjusted,

> > it will affect where your mandible will rest. Think of it as a

> > swinging gate... the way your mandible is hinged, it can continue

> to

> > swing upwards, if your maxilla wasn't there. My maxilla is going

> to

> > be impacted, which will give my mandible several more mm

of " swing "

> > space, which will in effect give me a chin and stretch out some

of

> > the redundant skin under my neck. It's really an engineering

> concept

> > which I find fascinating!

> > >

> > > Kate

> > >

> > >

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> > > Katrina M. Hissam

> > > OSU College of Veterinary Medicine

> > > Class of 2007

> > >

> > > ~my karma ran over my dogma

> > > __________________________________________________

> > >