How to get treatment

Considering Orthognathic Treatment

Orthognathic treatment is rarely essential and when advised to patients the decision to go ahead is entirely their choice.  

Orthognathic treatment may be helpful for people who have the following:

• Problems biting or chewing food - e.g. when you eat a sandwich you only bite off the bread and leave the filling behind
• Difficulty getting your lips to meet together without straining them
• Large or protruding lower jaw
• Small or receding chin
• Flat midface e.g. upper jaw and cheeks
• Long and narrow lower face
• Teeth not meeting together
• Unbalanced or lopsided face
• Sleep apnoea and chronic mouth breathing
• Conditions or syndromes e.g. Cleft lip and palate
• Jaw/teeth disharmony following trauma

Jaw surgery is best done when growth of the face has stopped growing usually around age of 17 to 18.

The following cannot be treated with orthognathic surgery:

• Chronic jaw joint pain or headaches from clenching - sometimes these symptoms can get worse. 
• Mild jaw differences
• People with complex medical histories which can affect the surgery e.g. haemophilia

Getting a Referral

If you or your child would like to be considered for orthognathic treatment the best person to see is your dentist.  They can refer you to a specialist orthodontist for an initial assessment or to one of the orthodontic consultants at Bristol Dental Hospital.  Alternatively your GP or another doctor (e.g. respiratory consultant for cases such as sleep apnoea) can refer you.    

Before you are referred you must have excellent dental health in order to avoid some of the risks associated with braces and jaw surgery. If you have any decay, gum disease or outstanding treatment with your dentist you are unlikely to be accepted for treatment until these are fixed.

Once your referral letter has been received it will be assessed by a consultant in the Dental Hospital and you will be sent an appointment to attend an Orthodontic New Patient Clinic.  If you are suitable for treatment you will then attend an orthognathic joint clinic.