Have a lot of issues and would like to know what my options are

[a19h92g]

Pretty much what the title says. I'll try to cram as much info in here as possible so that you guys can help me out.

I'm a complete newbie to this kind of thing and after following the Google rabbit hole more and more I stumbled upon this site. You all seem to have a good understanding of issues caused by skeletal abnormalities and how to go about starting down the correct path to fixing them.

First, a little backstory:
I've always had some clicking/popping and occasionally grinding sounds near my ear when I eat/chew but recently I started developing some semi-frequent pains when I eat something chewy or am chewing gum. Basically any time I am moving my jaw for a slightly extended period of time, I get a fairly sharp ache that starts to develop. After some Googling and such I found that I was probably experiencing mild TMJ pain.

Then I looked up what could cause TMJ and one big factor was (for lack of better terms) a screwed up jaw.
I inspected myself closer and closer and I came to the realization that I had a goofy-looking jaw that extended more downwards than outwards.
I kept searching on the subject of longface syndrome and realized that my messed-up jaw was also a major factor in why I struggle to breathe through my nose and must always end up mainly mouth-breathe instead.

I got a little caught up in the issue to the point where I started recalling instances when people have picked at me for looking funny (but I just passed it off as friendly, non-serious, joking about that friends do to each-other) or having a "weird chin" or being a "mouth-breather" or "having a small, funny-looking head"
I realized that my abnormal jaw is the reason for this. I became obsessed with the feeling that it makes me look terrible, and naturally I tried to push the bad feelings away and convince myself it's all in my head.

I've tried for the better part of two years now to ignore the urges to seek dental work or surgery or whatever will fix this, but it's become an unhealthy obsession to me.

I'll link to an imgur album (making it temporary, probably a full day or two, and I kindly ask you to not copy images for reposting purposes as I'm very paranoid at having pictures of myself on the internet) of a few different pictures illustrating this abnormality that I'm talking about:

http://imgur.com/a/ALoP8

Here are my main issues:
-Pain when chewing/eating
-Difficulty breathing through nose; exclusive mouthbreather
-Lip incompetence (accentuated by 2 giant bucky front teeth)
-Retruded chin
-Jaw goes downward at a far steeper angle than seems to be normal. (in one of the pics, my finger is aligned along my jaw to demonstrate this)

I also included some shots of my teeth so you can get a relative idea of my bite and if that might be a problem in and of itself.
Some issues with them:
-My front 2 upper teeth are bucky
-I feel that my lower bite is overall narrower than my upper bite; I can line up the top and bottom on one side of my mouth, but the bottom teeth on the other side are much farther inward than their upper counterparts (I hope that makes sense). Also have crowded lower front teeth (these should be visible in the pic).
-(Side note) Don't be fooled in the one side-teeth picture when I strain and tilt my head upward, and my chin/jaw looks almost normal-ish. It's nowhere even close to my neutral, relaxed state.

This is the part where I beg you guys to apply some of your knowledge to help a poor idiot out.
Anyway, if you could please offer any advice on what needs to be fixed, what procedures are necessary, if additional orthodontic work is necessary, any recommended orthodontists/surgeons (Northeastern US), price range estimate, insurance advice (Aetna), or what my next steps should be.

Any constructive input from you guys would be greatly appreciated. I really hope you can set me straight and help me work to resolve this one way or another.

Thanks for your time.

[DrBirbe]

Hi there
Your comments are consistent with what you mentioned: maxilo-mandibular retrusion with long face, visualized through lip incompetence and  long lower third. You might also have a short cervico-mental distance.
You need further analysis, but in my practice these findings point to a maxilo-mandibular adcancement with maxilary impaction, to shorten your long face.
This treatment will not warrant you will no longer have TMJ pain, but at least your skeletal relationships will improve your TMJ function.
It seems you have a posterior cross bite on the right side. You will need ortho treatment and you could be a candidate for a Surgery First approach.

[a19h92g]

snip...

Thank you so much for the quick reply and professional response.
A few followup questions for yourself or anyone else with knowledge on the subject:
-the treatment that you suggest I look into, maxilo-mandibular adcancement with maxilary impaction, would it also help to alleviate my mouth-breathing issue?
-Does the treatment have any serious risks? If so what are some more prominent ones?
-As far as orthodontic work, would "invisible" braces be a viable option or would I require full metal tracks?

Financial related questions (to anyone in the US):
-Is this a procedure that is covered by any insurance company?
-What are some realistic price ranges for this procedure?

Again, thank you DrBirbe for the great response, and thanks to anyone else who can provide input.

[Ben]

Get on to fixing the nasal breathing problems man, that is likely why your face has grown downwards rather than forward like it should. Your oral posture will be all screwed up if your mouth is constantly hanging open and the tongue isn't supporting the maxilla to grow forward.
Basically your life is going to suck unless you can reliably breathe through your nose so try your best to fix the issue. I don't think you should get turbinate reduction or anything like that though as there are so many factors that could be causing your nose to be stuffed up that you can explore to hopefully solve the problem on your own.