Orthodontics and Jaw Surgery

[Kempsey Dog]

I have lived with an overbite for most of my life, copped some teasing about it through school but was never enough to make me want to have braces... largely because;
1. we were a pretty poor family and i didn't want to be a burden
2. i would have affected me playing football, which at the time was the only thing in life that brought me true happiness
3. like most kids the fear of being teased even more so.
So due to all that i just figured i would life with it like i always had, seeing it as a purely cosmetic issue.

However over the last year or so i've experienced jaw pain (TMJ) and a few other issue.
I went to the dentist to get x-ray to check if it was just wisdom teeth. We found that i have completely sideways wisdom teeth on the bottom that require removal along with ones on top that angle into other molars.

This pretty much gave me the referral to the orthodontist and once there they assessed me and it turns out my overbite is excessive 14mm to be exact and this is largely due to the fact that my lower jaw / mandible has never been aligned correctly which is why i get the jaw pain... and the top part of my jaw is to narrow which needs spacing.

So yeah surgery is required to fix that issues along with braces over 18-24 months. To put the jaw issue into perspective the Dr said that without the surgery, braces would only be able to cut the overbite in half to 7mm at the very best.

Cost for the ortho / braces treatment is $9,200 (3,600 the days braces are applied and 200 bucks a month there after until paid off)
Cost for stage 1 surgery which i believe includes 4 wisdom teeth removal and mandible procedure is $5,530
The surgeon said he would do the procedure in john hunter for me as i don't have private health, not sure if there will be some surprise expenses along the way though.

Has anyone gone through this or something similar? or do you have family or friends that have had to deal this issue and could explain said experience.

If you got this far thanks for reading. Im not one for usually sharing stuff like this, tend to kept shit bottled inside and try deal with it in my own weird way (not healthy i know) but yeah i guess im just scared about the surgery (especially post) and the financial side of things.

 

[K E]

Wow, what a story. I'm sorry that I'm no help to you but want to wish you the best in all of this and commend you on sharing your story. I'm sure that wasn't easy.

All the best, mate.

 

[Kempsey Dog]

Wow, what a story. I'm sorry that I'm no help to you but want to wish you the best in all of this and commend you on sharing your story. I'm sure that wasn't easy.

All the best, mate.

Thanks man, yeah its pretty rough but ill deal with it all. After all theres people out there that have it worse than me so ill be thankful and take it in my stride. Currently saving for me and my partners wedding on august 17th though, so all of this is on hold for now.

 

[K E]

Thanks man, yeah its pretty rough but ill deal with it all. After all theres people out there that have it worse than me so ill be thankful and take it in my stride. Currently saving for me and my partners wedding on august 17th though, so all of this is on hold for now.

Nice. Congratulations and condolences on your wedding haha.

 

[Kempsey Dog]

Nice. Congratulations and condolences on your wedding haha.

haha yeah gotta give the missus what she wants. oh how i tried to talk her into getting eloped on a holiday lol....

 

[Hacky McAxe]

Haven't done the whole thing. Had 4 wisdom teeth and several other teeth removed at one time. Wasn't cheap and was a bit annoying. Took a full week for the swelling to go down.

Due to the way my wisdom teeth were there was a chance they could have permanently destroyed the nerves in my jaw. Fortunately they didn't. Not fun but the damage the wisdom teeth did to my other teeth was pretty bad. Ended up losing a fair few teeth and still need to get 1-2 more removed.

 

[Wahesh]

I would suggest pay off what you can in installments (such as the braces).

Wisdom tooth removal is nothing to be scared off. They don't put you on the knock-out stuff, they just numb your mouth and then it's just a case of twisting and turning, yanking the tooth out. The jaw will bleed for a few 2 hours after the removal so you'll need to continuously put cotton wool in your mouth to stop the bleeding (which is horrid).

I only needed to get 1 wisdom tooth removed and I have private health insurance so it's a good thing this dentist will do it for you at a public hospital. HOPEFULLY there are no hidden fees, but I would speak to him about that thoroughly. I once got nicked a hidden fee at Concord Public Hospital because the doctor I was referred to was in a private suite which he leased from the hospital.

Regardless, whatever you need to pay is a small price for the quality of life you'll get back. My widsom tooth was a pain in the arse, however I took the bastard out, and have't looked back since.

 

[Kempsey Dog]

Haven't done the whole thing. Had 4 wisdom teeth and several other teeth removed at one time. Wasn't cheap and was a bit annoying. Took a full week for the swelling to go down.

Due to the way my wisdom teeth were there was a chance they could have permanently destroyed the nerves in my jaw. Fortunately they didn't. Not fun but the damage the wisdom teeth did to my other teeth was pretty bad. Ended up losing a fair few teeth and still need to get 1-2 more removed.

sounds scary with the whole nerve business, especially the idea of having a tooth pulled :/ ... yeah everyone i've talked to so far has mentioned the swelling / discomfort.

 

[Kempsey Dog]

I would suggest pay off what you can in installments (such as the braces).

Wisdom tooth removal is nothing to be scared off. They don't put you on the knock-out stuff, they just numb your mouth and then it's just a case of twisting and turning, yanking the tooth out. The jaw will bleed for a few 2 hours after the removal so you'll need to continuously put cotton wool in your mouth to stop the bleeding (which is horrid).

I only needed to get 1 wisdom tooth removed and I have private health insurance so it's a good thing this dentist will do it for you at a public hospital. HOPEFULLY there are no hidden fees, but I would speak to him about that thoroughly. I once got nicked a hidden fee at Concord Public Hospital because the doctor I was referred to was in a private suite which he leased from the hospital.

Regardless, whatever you need to pay is a small price for the quality of life you'll get back. My widsom tooth was a pain in the arse, however I took the bastard out, and have't looked back since.

thanks for the advice, if im not knocked out ill be keeping the eyes closed haha. but yeah it will be worth it, affects my breathing and sleep at this point, so will be worth it. ill ask about possible fee's but he seemed pretty straight forward and genuine about the whole process.

 

[Noeasyday]

Do you have private health insurance? It may cover a portion of it. If not, might be worth looking at getting it and delaying the procedures til the waiting period expires.
Some Dr's will work on a reduced fee if you ask them, not sure about dentists though, they seem to like the cash...

 

[Kempsey Dog]

Do you have private health insurance? It may cover a portion of it. If not, might be worth looking at getting it and delaying the procedures til the waiting period expires.
Some Dr's will work on a reduced fee if you ask them, not sure about dentists though, they seem to like the cash...

nah man no health insurance im turning 27 this year, will get it before im 30 as ill likely have kids by then.
i will suss it out though, as i apparently get a discount through medibank as an aus.post employee. Not sure if they could check my (my health record which i forget to opt out of...) and see that i have had appointments and the issues are deemed to be 'pre existing'

 

[Realist90]

I thought this said orthodontist and Jew surgery. I found this ironically funny and somewhat informative on a conspiracy level coz when I got braces by an orthodontist he was a Jew and I was like wait what is there a connection.

 

[Howard Moon]

speaking of

 

[K E]

speaking of

Those aren't motzaballs!

 

[Nexus]

I had 4 wisdom teeth out, but went in under general as 1 of them was under the bone so they had to smash through that first. The doc said I didnt want to be awake for that. I had surprisingly little pain afterward.

$9200 seems hell expensive for braces (or is it bundled with another procedure too?).

Can you get the surgery done and then look at an option like invisilign to straighten the teeth? Mine were all fucked up and they made my teeth perfect. The plus side is that since you are basically using clear mouth guards they arent very noticeable, which was good for me being in my 30's at the time.

 

[Chrisaaar]

My wife has to go thru a similar procedure (at some point). She’s delaying it for now because when the doctors told her what was needed she thought ‘fuck that’ (it sounded so horrific and has scared her - breaking bones / taking teeth out / moving jaw / fusing bone then braces for two+ years).

She’s in her early 30s and she got told that at around 24. As she gets older it’s just gonna get worse (the overbite is causing her teeth to wear away faster than usual so it’s just a matter of time).

I did have braces and teeth removed around 17 so was a long time ago. Fortunately my wisdoms came thru and I had space for them so can’t say what that’s like.

I did however just get lasik surgery (worn glasses for 10 years). I put that off for 8 years cause I was a tad scared of the procedure + the costs were quite high (7k total...). My advice would be to get it done and out of the way as soon as possible. These things really are life changing and the sooner you can get it done the better!

It’ll be over before you know it and then you won’t believe how good it is to have a pain free mouth (or worry about looks etc).