Q.
I am a 25 yr. old male with spacing of my upper front teeth as well as an open bite developed from a tongue thrust condition. This also causes my chin to appear recessed somewhat. I have been in Invisalign treatment for about 6 months. I already had mild lip and chin strain due to the open bite. Upon wearing the aligners I felt a lot more discomfort and strain with the added thickness of the aligners over my teeth. I explained this to my orthodontist who suggested I could just wear one aligner at a time, 12hrs. a day. I have been doing this but I feel like the compensation the muscles around my mouth had to make for the aligners changed the shape and appearance of my chin and lower lip muscles causing some “rippling.” I now wish I had gone with Lingual braces which go behind the teeth, but they are not provided by this orthodontist. Is it possible to seek another orthodontist providing lingual braces and just get them done on the top teeth and continue invisalign on the bottom? I have also been looking into having a chin advancement (genioplasty) done to correct the recessed chin and hopefully relieve some of the lip strain. But could you give me any information on types of surgery that can be done to correct the open bite itself? As I have been told braces alone cannot correct the open bite. Thanks so much for your help.
Dr Mark Hughes
Harley Street Dental Studio
42 Harley Street, London W1G 9PR
Web: www.harleystreetdentalstudio.com Tel: 020 7636 5981
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Dr Hughes