Before & Afters
Irnie’s Story
Irnie came to our office because he was unhappy with his smile and wanted to do something about it.
Key Problems:
- Irnie's teeth were crooked and crowded.
- His lower jaw was too far back, and as a result, the lower teeth too far back.
- The front teeth overlap 100%, leading to significant wearing.
- The plan for Irnie involved aligning the teeth within the 'arches' to prepare him for jaw surgery to bring the lower jaw forward. It was not necessary to pull any teeth in his case.
Pre–Treatment → Progress
Progress → Final Result
Progress
At this point, Irnie’s teeth are aligned to fit together when the jaw is brought forward.
While the bite is still off significantly, he felt much better about his smile already, and you can begin to see him show some teeth in his smiling picture (which you can’t in his initial ‘smiling’ photo)
Final Results
For most patients who require jaw surgery, our goal is to be able to remove the braces at 6 months after the surgery. This was the case for Irnie and he was ecstatic with his result! His smile and bite are greatly improved and he is proud of his result.
The idea of jaw surgery can sound intimidating, but typically the recovery is quite fast and patients are surprised at how well it goes. No longer is it necessary to have the jaws wired shut, as was done in years gone by. For those with jaw imbalances, jaw surgery allows the orthodontist and oral surgeon to achieve a superior result with fewer compromises.
Courtney’s Story
CL II Surgical Treatment
Courtney presented at our office with a mismatch of the upper and lower jaws. The lower jaw was too far back.
She had too much up- down overlap of her front teeth (overbite) and less than optimal alignment of the teeth and bite.
Pre–Treatment → Progress
Progress → Final Result
The plan for Courtney involved upper and lower braces to move her teeth into the proper position.
After her initial alignment of the teeth and jaws was achieved, the oral surgeon corrected the jaw mismatch with a mandibular advancement (bringing the lower jaw forward).
Krystin’s Story
Surgical Treatment CL III
Krystin presented to our office with a mismatch of the upper and lower jaws. The lower front teeth were in front of the upper front teeth (underbite) with crowding of the upper teeth.
Pre–Treatment → Progress
Progress → Final Result
The plan for Krystin was to extract 2 upper side teeth and one upper back tooth, align the teeth in their proper positions, followed by jaw surgery.
The oral surgeon moved the upper jaw forward and the lower jaw back.
Bailey’s Story
Gummy Smile
Bailey presented at our office with more gum showing when smiling than average, spacing of the upper teeth with less than optimal alignment, and mismatch of the upper and lower jaw with the lower jaw is too far back and the upper jaw too far down.
Pre–Treatment → Progress
Progress → Final Result
The plan for Bailey was to place braces on the upper and lower teeth.
After the initial alignment of teeth and jaws had been achieved, the oral surgeon moved the upper jaw upward and the lower jaw forward.
Marlee’s Story
Open Bite & CL II
Marlee presented at our office with a lower jaw that was too far back and a thumb sucking habit. Due to the habit there was not enough up-down overlap of the front teeth (open bite) the lower teeth were shifted back compared to the upper side teeth (CL II) with less than optimal alignment of the teeth and bite.
Pre–Treatment → Progress
Progress → Final Result
The plan for Marlee was to widen the upper jaw with ‘tongue tamers’ to act as a reminder not to suck her thumb. Braces were placed on the teeth so we could move the teeth into their optimal positions.
After the initial alignment of the teeth and jaws had been achieved, the oral surgeon surgically corrected the jaw-position problem. Post-surgical treatment was approximately 6 months with braces.
Melissa’s Story
Impacted Cuspids
Melissa presented at our office with 2 impacted upper cuspids (eye teeth). There was too much up-down overlap of the front teeth (overbite) with less than optimal alignment of the teeth and bite.
Pre–Treatment
Progress → Final Result
The plan for Melissa was to place upper and lower braces to move the teeth into their optimal position.
At the appropriate time, we referred Melissa to the oral surgeon who located the tooth in the jaw and placed an attachment on it so we could then move it into the proper space.
Nico’s Story
Crowded With Extractions
Nico presented to our office with less than optimal alignment of the teeth and bite, he had a mismatch of the upper and lower teeth. The lower front teeth were fused together and a lower front tooth was missing.
The plan for Nico was to place Headgear to create more space for the eye teeth. Later braces were placed on the teeth so they could be moved into the optimal position. We started Nico’s treatment without removing teeth but as we progressed through treatment, we removed 2 upper teeth.
Nolan’s Story
Crossbow Appliance
Nolan presented at our office with a mismatch of the upper and lower jaws.
The lower jaw was too far back and there was too much front-back overlap of the front teeth (overjet) and too much up-down overlap of the front teeth (overbite).
Sydney’s Story
Substituting Cuspids
Sydney presented at our office missing four adult teeth (upper laterals and lower second biscuspids). Baby teeth were still present at the time.
The plan for Sydney was to remove the remaining baby teeth and allow the adult teeth 6-12 months to grow in before we started treatment. Once she was ready for treatment we closed all the spaces where Sydney was missing teeth with braces and substituted the upper eye teeth for the missing ‘lateral incisor’ teeth.
Derek’s Story
Crowded Non-extraction
Derek presented at our office with crowding of the upper and lower teeth, with too much up-down over lap of his front teeth (overbite) and mismatch of the upper and lower jaws: the lower jaw was too far back.
The plan for Derek involved upper and lower braces with bite correctors to help shift the teeth in to their proper position. It was not necessary to remove any permanent teeth.
Hannah’s Story
Phase 1 Lip Bumper
Hannah presented at our office with upper and lower crowding of the teeth and jaws. Her lower incisors were blocked out.
The plan for Hannah was to extract three primary teeth and place a lip bumper for 6 months followed by a Lower Lingual Arch to regain space and to maintain space.