Need opinions based on Xray?

[alexismg2]

That sounds painful getting wisdom teeth removed during jaw surgery. Imagine the added pain during recovery. I do have a very high pain tolerance, but would prefer to get the wisdom teeth out ahead of time, definitely ahead of braces. Dentists said I should've got them removed before, but they never hurted so I didn't. However it's probably a good time these days.

Weird that you mention joints molestrip , because since my teen years, my bone joints...the knees in particular have been bothering me when I put pressure on them. My elbows have sometimes hurted when I was sleeping, but my knee pain is alot more prominent while the elbow pain is very rare.

I always assumed that maybe it was due to too much running or playing in the park. I know there's something called TMJ but I don't meet the symptoms. No jaw pain, no clicking/locking of the jaw, no trouble chewing food. I am seeing a bone specialist about joint pain (should have long ago).

Black people do have mouth protrusion more than other races, true and some have it worse than others...in my case I think it's way too much. Even if it can be reduced to 1-2 mm (instead of 5mm) I'd be super thrilled. I do agree that my case is on the minor side as I don't have serious functional problems, although the sleep apnea can get worse with time, but I guess this is more cosmetic than functional. I just don't understand why I have jaws different from my parents. They have jaws that are the norm (horizontal), neither has an overjet (or atleast one visible like mine), and no recessed chins in sight. It's very strange. I am super observant so when I'm out in public, I look at parents and the children of those parents. I notice a lot of the time the child has the same bone structure of both parents (with the same features). I do have some of my parents features, but not bone structure. I don't get why mine deviated. Maybe it could have been from my mom drinking while I was in the womb before she found out about being pregnant, or it could've been from me thumb sucking way too long (did that until I was 8 ), or mouth breathing (because honestly I'm unaware how long that's been going on). 

Another thing that I see although it's not very noticeable unless you look very closely, is in my teeth xray you can see lopsidedness. I highlighted it in red in a below pic. The bone on my left side (everyone's right) is higher than the other. I have no idea where that came from.

Either way, if insurance doesn't approve me for jaw surgery I will just move on with life. I may look different from other girls with shorter faces, but that's not the most important thing in the world. However, if insurance approves the surgery I'll be happy to take it on. It would be great for improving my breathing, or else I'll just get that fixed through an ENT. I was told since the sleep apnea is mild they don't recommend CPAP but surgery instead.

I'm located in NY and currently seeing Stephen Sachs DDS in Manhattan. He's cool peeps.


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[alexismg2]

Btw y'all, I appreciate everyone who offered thoughts & advice. It was super helpful! Thank you!! 

[kjohnt]

We have to be careful giving advice to you because most of us aren't familiar with the norms for black people. Protrusions are common for example.

I think you generally provide good input, but this bs needs to stop being spread.  It doesn't make sense.  The aesthetic goal of jaw surgery us not to fall within racial norms.  All beatiful people have similar traits in regard to facial bone structure.  Race has nothing to do with anything here.

This is similar to another thread not long ago in which i posted a picture of a good looking black woman as an example for a poster who happened to be white to show het they had similar mandibular projection, but was told by someone else that I am wrong to compare the two because of these different norms.  Like "yeah she's beautiful but oh wait she's not the same race so they have different norms so even though she has ideal bone structure this comparison isn't valid."

[Vic]

Completely agree with you kjohnt

[alexismg2]

Hey everyone! I saw Dr. Sachs last week and he gave some good news after looking at the xrays. It was mentioned that he sees my problems as more functional than cosmetic, and he thinks insurance will approve it. As it turns out, he can turn the jaw angle from vertical to horizontal. Just as it was discussed here and when I visited the previous surgeon, he mentioned that the lower third of my face was too long so he is going to reduce that length (by removing bone from my chin) and bring it forward. I think he may do something with the lower jaw but I didnt reeeeaally discuss with him the details of that (I know, stupid me). The only difference (compared to the previous surgeon who said he couldn't get a horizontal jaw line because my entire teeth would go from a straight angle to this: /) is that I would need all four wisdom teeth removed plus two regular teeth in the front, then braces for one year. I guess somehow that will help with fixing the jaw angle into a better position plus he mentioned that my mouth protrusion will not be noticeable afterwards, though it will still be there just  softened. He showed me a before and after photo of a black woman he operated on with a similar mouth protrusion like mine (although she had a better jaw line to start with) but after jaw surgery she looked fantastic! She didn't look completely different but her features became balanced and she looked prettier. Then he showed me a manipulated computerized photo of me after jaw surgery and OMG I looked way better. My face was much shorter, I was in disbelief that he could do that seeing as other surgeons said they couldn't or that they didn't see anything wrong with me. I loved his results and was glad he knew EXACTLY what I was looking for without having to explain it to him. Because of that I feel confident staying with this doctor. 

 I emailed and called the other three surgeons a few weeks ago but was unsuccessful in getting replies ( I assume they  all wanted for me to make an appointment) so I decided to call it a day and just see what happens at my next surgeon's visit. I just wanted to once again thank you guys for the help and recommendations, though, cause I would have still kept them on my radar futurwise.

Now I'm planning to make an appointment asap to an orthodontist that Sachs suggested.  I'm gonna look totally busted with two front teeth missing but hopefully the braces will close those gaps quickly. Still a little nervous about insurance, and I should've asked more questions while in his office about the entire plan but he seems quite experienced so I will just trust that he knows what to do.

[Vic]

Hey everyone! I saw Dr. Sachs last week and he gave some good news after looking at the xrays. It was mentioned that he sees my problems as more functional than cosmetic, and he thinks insurance will approve it. As it turns out, he can turn the jaw angle from vertical to horizontal. Just as it was discussed here and when I visited the previous surgeon, he mentioned that the lower third of my face was too long so he is going to reduce that length (by removing bone from my chin) and bring it forward. I think he may do something with the lower jaw but I didnt reeeeaally discuss with him the details of that (I know, stupid me). The only difference (compared to the previous surgeon who said he couldn't get a horizontal jaw line because my entire teeth would go from a straight angle to this: /) is that I would need all four wisdom teeth removed plus two regular teeth in the front, then braces for one year. I guess somehow that will help with fixing the jaw angle into a better position plus he mentioned that my mouth protrusion will not be noticeable afterwards, though it will still be there just  softened. He showed me a before and after photo of a black woman he operated on with a similar mouth protrusion like mine (although she had a better jaw line to start with) but after jaw surgery she looked fantastic! She didn't look completely different but her features became balanced and she looked prettier. Then he showed me a manipulated computerized photo of me after jaw surgery and OMG I looked way better. My face was much shorter, I was in disbelief that he could do that seeing as other surgeons said they couldn't or that they didn't see anything wrong with me. I loved his results and was glad he knew EXACTLY what I was looking for without having to explain it to him. Because of that I feel confident staying with this doctor. 

 I emailed and called the other three surgeons a few weeks ago but was unsuccessful in getting replies ( I assume they  all wanted for me to make an appointment) so I decided to call it a day and just see what happens at my next surgeon's visit. I just wanted to once again thank you guys for the help and recommendations, though, cause I would have still kept them on my radar futurwise.

Now I'm planning to make an appointment asap to an orthodontist that Sachs suggested.  I'm gonna look totally busted with two front teeth missing but hopefully the braces will close those gaps quickly. Still a little nervous about insurance, and I should've asked more questions while in his office about the entire plan but he seems quite experienced so I will just trust that he knows what to do.

What, he's actually going to remove two of your front teeth? Which teeth will he be removing?

[alexismg2]

What, he's actually going to remove two of your front teeth? Which teeth will he be removing?

When looking at my photos on his computer, he pointed towards two front teeth on the bottom but wasn't specific on which exact teeth needs to come out. I guess him and the orthodontist will discuss things back and forth when I get to the ortho. I'll definitely update as the process comes along. I am so freaking happy I will be fixed one day. Hallelujah!!!!!