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General Category => Functional Surgery Questions => Topic started by: babyface99 on September 16, 2014, 10:59:03 PM

Title: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: babyface99 on September 16, 2014, 10:59:03 PM
Im considering getting jaw surgery. Im experiencing minor tmj problems, i snore loudly and i believe i experience some sort of sleep apnea as i toss and turn alot at night and no matter how much i sleep im still exhausted through out the day. Finally my my main concern though rather vain, is my non existent jawline/weak chin, after lurking on the forum for a bit ive come too see that many of you are very knowledgeable about abnormal craniofacial structure and the surgery required too correct these problems, can anyone who is knowledgeable on the subject please enlighten me as too what is causing me these issues, what type of procedures i could go to correct them and how to go about this process? Im 21 years old, i had braces for a long time as a child but didnt finish, please help me im extremely depressed because of this and i feel like a hideous monstrosity  :'(

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Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Anna5 on September 17, 2014, 01:39:11 AM
I feel very sorry that you feel so depressed about your jaw, you are definitely NOT a  hideous monstrosity!
The best advise I can give you is to go to a good ortho and/or surgeon and tell them about your concerns. They studied for years and can give you the best advise, much better than we, people on the forums, can give you.
I wish you all the best and good luck. I hope there will be a good solution for your problem. In the meantime I hope you can still happy with the person you are, sure we are our own worst critics...
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Modigliani on September 17, 2014, 03:17:37 AM
That's good advice Anna.
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: notrain on September 17, 2014, 04:09:51 AM
from the photos, it looks like you had extractions in your upper jaw. is that correct ?
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: babyface99 on September 17, 2014, 10:08:08 AM
no extractions
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Mark32 on September 17, 2014, 11:34:59 AM
hi babyface99

i agree with anna you're definitely not a hideous monstrosity. when you say recessed jaws, are you sure both your jaws are part of the problem? what's your bite like? ???

the reason i ask is that from your profile i would wonder if it's just your lower jaw that might be a bit recessed. have you an overjet or has any ortho ever mentioned class 2?

oh, and i don't wanna be patronizing, but have you ever tried chatting to a therapist about your depression? it's just that i often think that if someone doesn't feel good about themselves in general - you know, low self-esteem - then it can creep into how they view their physical appearance. :-\
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Tiny on September 17, 2014, 04:26:57 PM

You do have some recession in the lower jaw - it's not extreme.  Just some.  So there would be some argument for a BSSO or bimax, especially if you have a small airway and sleep apnea as a result

You're not a monstrosity...I'd say you look normal.  Some recession in the lower jaw is very common especially among those of European descent (go the UK, it's a nation of chinless wonders)

See a good surgeon and get a ceph and post it here and we can give much better advice
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: babyface99 on September 17, 2014, 05:59:32 PM
how would i go about doing that and what sort of questions should i ask
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Anna5 on September 18, 2014, 02:18:36 AM
I agree that you look normal. I live in western europe and see many people around me with recessed jaws and little or no chin (including myself), it seems to be inherited. And I wonder, is there anything really wrong with this???? My jaw/chin is also a bit recessed but I think I won't correct it, I think it makes me 'me'.
Please now that the people in your daily life won't be focussed on your jaw, I am sure they just see a nice and beautiful guy.
But if it makes you so depressed, definitely go to see a good ortho and/ or surgeon, who can surely give you good advise about how to 'fix' this.  I wish you very good luck!
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Modigliani on September 18, 2014, 04:20:17 AM
You do have some recession in the lower jaw - it's not extreme.  Just some.  So there would be some argument for a BSSO or bimax, especially if you have a small airway and sleep apnea as a result

You're not a monstrosity...I'd say you look normal.  Some recession in the lower jaw is very common especially among those of European descent (go the UK, it's a nation of chinless wonders)

See a good surgeon and get a ceph and post it here and we can give much better advice

Haha, so true it's especially prevalent amongst the red trouser brigade, bless 'em  ;D
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: babyface99 on September 19, 2014, 12:59:22 PM
 i dont know anyone else who literally has no chin, my neck connect too almost my face surely this cant be normal
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: PloskoPlus on September 19, 2014, 03:26:16 PM
i dont know anyone else who literally has no chin, my neck connect too almost my face surely this cant be normal

I have a big jaw and a projecting chin, but my chin-throat length is not great.  The angle also matters a lot.
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: babyface99 on September 19, 2014, 04:46:36 PM
Do i have vertical growth? I really hate my face wtf can i do
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Mark32 on September 20, 2014, 02:34:55 PM
Quote from: Tiny
Some recession in the lower jaw is very common especially among those of European descent (go the UK, it's a nation of chinless wonders)
this is something i've always wondered about. i live in the uk and have noticed something sort of like this. is it because people in this part of the world have a tendency to have a retrognathic profile? don’t know if that’s the right term but the lower face shape i’m thinking of is the opposite of an ante face, i think. a ‘post face’? ???

i used to think that a class 2 alignment seemed to be remarkably common here. from looking at friends and celebrities and the like. but since becoming a bit more familiar with all this and looking more closely at people’s teeth - especially pics of celebs - i think i may have been mistaking a class 2 with a ?retrognathic? profile.

has any medical research been done into this? is the prevalence of class 2 or a jaw alignment that leans in that direction greater in the UK/Europe? ???
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: dantheman on September 20, 2014, 03:52:37 PM
you made me LOL at the chinless wonders comment. It's true though.

To the OP, i have a similar profile (upturned nose and recessed lower jaw). I used to snore loudly but it seems to have improved with focussing on nasal breathing at night (which isn't alway possible for me). Can you breathe through your nose alright?

Get a ceph and post it if you can.

You do have some recession in the lower jaw - it's not extreme.  Just some.  So there would be some argument for a BSSO or bimax, especially if you have a small airway and sleep apnea as a result

You're not a monstrosity...I'd say you look normal.  Some recession in the lower jaw is very common especially among those of European descent (go the UK, it's a nation of chinless wonders)

See a good surgeon and get a ceph and post it here and we can give much better advice
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Anna5 on September 22, 2014, 12:52:55 AM
i dont know anyone else who literally has no chin, my neck connect too almost my face surely this cant be normal

Really I don't think that is the case. I do think you have a nice chin and I truly think you look normal.
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Mark32 on September 22, 2014, 08:08:29 AM
Quote from: dantheman
To the OP, i have a similar profile (upturned nose and recessed lower jaw). I used to snore loudly but it seems to have improved with focussing on nasal breathing at night (which isn't alway possible for me). Can you breathe through your nose alright?
i have an upturned nose as well but in my case i think it may be my upper jaw that's recessed. i too snore loudly and mouth breath at night - and my nasal breathing often feels restricted during the day. i always thought this was possibly caused by the shape of my maxilla, however, from what you're saying it could actually be the shape of my nose that's at fault? :-\ is there something unusual in the development of the septum or something when you have an upturned nose?

also, how have you gone about shifting to nasal breathing at night? does it involve exercises or trying to adopt a different sleeping position before you nod off or something? ??? i'd love to able to stop mouth breathing at night.
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: dantheman on September 23, 2014, 05:22:04 PM
It's a complicated association. Some will say that mouth breathing will cause a narrowed maxilla, others will say that a narrow maxilla will cause mouth breathing. I myself have a well-developed maxilla and don't have a narrow arch. Nevertheless I have some nasal congestion issues that are related to chronic sinusitis. I'm not sure why I can breathe better through my nose now, it's still a mystery to me. I've always been a mouth breather at night, though I usually don't have daytime issues breathing through my nose. Most pictures have me with my mouth closed.

In regards to the upturned nose issue, I think this is mostly genetic but can signal vertical maxillary overgrowth. Others can correct me if I'm wrong. I actually have a degree of maxillary prognathism, and a mild mandibular recession, that together give me a more obvious class II jaw appearance.
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Alue on September 23, 2014, 05:51:05 PM
i dont know anyone else who literally has no chin, my neck connect too almost my face surely this cant be normal
I agree with what tiny said, your lower jaw is a little bit recessed but it's not extreme. 

I know how you feel, but believe me, mine's even worse, and thanks to orthodontic treatment as a kid my maxilla is as recessed as my chin now, which is much harder to fix.  I have searched far and wide and have never came across a case similar to mine.    Your case isn't that bad really, but I know what you are talking about.   And there are actually a lot of people with profiles similar to yours. 

I don't know if you have bite issues or a narrowed airway, but if you do decide to go the surgical route, you are in a position and age where you could have a very strong result. 
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: Mark32 on September 25, 2014, 11:14:04 AM
Quote from: dantheman
...Nevertheless I have some nasal congestion issues that are related to chronic sinusitis. …
aside from something like a narrow maxilla restricting the size of the nasal cavity or symtoms of chronic sinusitis, what else can make it difficult to breath through your nose? ???

Quote from: Alue
I know how you feel, but believe me, mine's even worse, and thanks to orthodontic treatment as a kid my maxilla is as recessed as my chin now, which is much harder to fix.  I have searched far and wide and have never came across a case similar to mine.
was the recession in your maxilla caused by treatment that involved extractions in your upper arch? :-\ would an advancement with a le fort 1 not move your maxilla to where it should be?
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: ticktickatick on September 26, 2014, 12:55:35 PM
Based on my own experience and also observing the jaw development of my siblings, I believe that starting out with a smaller (but still in the normal range) sized jaw and airway often leads to mouthbreathing and bad tongue positionin which changes the growth until the jaw is no longer normal (retrognathic).

When I was in elementary school I actually had an underbite, but a relatively small sized jaw and a small airway with a deviated septum. As my adult teeth came in my jaw never seemed to catch up and I went from an underbite to an overbite and retrognathic profile. I don't know when the mouthbreathing started, but I remember one of my sports coaches around age 10 telling me to breathe through my nose because I was always winded on the field. Didn't work though because I simply could not get enough air that way.

Tongue position also has a lot to do with jaw growth. Your tongue can exert a ton of force on your jaw as it's growing. If your tongue isn't properly placed on the roof your mouth at rest, you will have problems. As an adult researching these things I noticed that my natural tongue position was in the bottom of my mouth. That probably had a huge negative effect on my growth.
Title: Re: Need help recessed small jaws
Post by: OrthodontistExpert on September 27, 2014, 04:29:28 PM
Fixing a small jaw also aims to fix a constricted airway, prevent or cure snoring, improve your facial proportions, normalise your profile, enhance jaw joint health, and gives you a functional interdigitating occlusion that you can chew with.

Ideal treatment is lead by a jaw correction expert, who then leads a team that includes an orthodontist.

Almost all patients are however primarily treated by an orthodontist, leading to inefficient or poorly coordinated treatments and often very poor or restricted outcomes.

This video helps explain idealized surgical-orthodontic treatment, and the outcomes of coordinated surgical-orthodontic care vs unilateral orthodontic care alone. I use it to help explain processes and outcomes to my own orthodontic patients.

I hope it helps you in discussing your own needs to your treating dentists.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bIivMIcwGhQ&list=PLjC4hIwmyQfjQWNkTyvRUV1iqKdaIAgjD