what does decomponsated/compensated mean? I had surgery, plus ortho and all that s**t, does this mean i have to have a bunch of ortho before a revision surgery? what is decompensation?
A bite is like a house of cards. You have continous forces from a lot of directions that together hold the teeth in a stable position. There are a lot of definitions on how things "should" be. But the most common is that you want perfect oclussion all around. Starting from the molars you want contact all the way around to the other side. Anteriorly the incisors should meet and have contact so the lower incisors meet the inside of the upper incisors at an angle. You want a molar class I relation, which you fairly easy can google an image for to see what it means. There are some other definisions like IMPA angle, U1/NA angle etc.
So what is a compensated bite. As an example, if you take a "perfect" bite, and imaginge moving the mandible backward, then you disturb this balance and the lower incisors won't meet the upper at an angle any more. So the continious force being applied anteriorly when you bite and chew is lost. This can cause the upper teeth to compensate by tilting inwards, DIV II, trying to make up for the jaw imbalance. Maybe they manage to compensate as much so they get oclussion with the lower incisors, or maybe the overjet is too much. That is a compensation that can occur. In the same situation the lower incisors don't have any continous force stopping them from over extruding, and a deep bite can be developed, also a compensation. Also the molars grow in a state to fit with the current setup. Basically, the alovear bone and teeth are designed to fit and meet in a specific way, and they will try to evolve to that state as good as they can. The alevor bone is plastic and allow the teeth to move to some degree, which is also why orthodontics work.
Some compensated states are obvious like above. Sometimes orthodontists have done camouflage treatments on a class II bite where they set the teeth straight in the situation above, but the problem is not really fixed. Or it can also be naturally camouflaged so a patient thinks it's all straight and good, but the teeth are pushed and in a stressfull position that can evolve to different problems. Having consulted for orthodontics and being told they don't want to do braces, is not the same as going in for a jaw surgery and assume that also don't need braces. The bite is maybe in a stable position, but if you're going for a surgery, it may require certain movements any way.
In short, a compensation is when the teeth adjust and try to make up for for something else being out of balance. It can be the jaws, or it can also be bad habits, like thumb sucking that can create an open bite if it's done in early age or tongue thrusting. And decompensation mean to undo all these movements that the teeth have evolved to, before doing the corrective jaw surgery that will set the jaw position where the decompensated bite will fit and be stable.
Do you need braces again? Well. If you're going in for a revision something didn't work out as planned. Maybe the new plan will tell that your teeth are fine with the previous preparation, or the failed surgery depends on bad orthodontic preparation. I have no idea on your case and the reason you need revision, an expert have to tell you.
