Lower Jaw Tension Treatment

There is no single treatment method for people with lower jaw retardation. Many factors affect the type of treatment, such as the person’s age, their stage of growth and development, their profile, and the patient’s expectations.

CHILDREN
To give parents an idea, treatment for lower jaw retrusion in children typically begins between the ages of 11 and 13. However, as physicians, we decide when to start treatment by looking at the spine or hand-wrist film on the side head film. So what are we looking at in this x-ray? What we are looking at is; It is the growth curve of your child who is in the growth-development age. In other words, we can say that it can be expected if it is at the beginning of the growth-development curve. On the contrary, if it has reached the end of this curve, we state that there will no longer be much skeletal benefit from the appliance to be applied. Therefore, it is very important not to be late, as in all treatments, also in lower jaw retardation. The responsibility of parents is to take their child to an orthodontist before it is too late and get an opinion on when to start. As it is known, the course of growth and development differs between boys and girls. In general, the peak phase of growth and development is reached later in age in boys, while the opposite is true in girls. However, it is also taken into consideration that there are individual differences. In other words, while it may be appropriate to start treatment at the age of 10 for a girl, it may be more appropriate to start at the age of 12 for another girl. As I mentioned before, the decision on this is determined by which growth-development curve you are on. In other words, what is important is not biological age but skeletal age.

The treatment to be done is; It is the use of an appliance called Activator that will support the forward development of the lower jaw. Activators can be single or double pieces. While the single piece is called ‘Monoblock’; Its shape, which has two separate parts for the lower and upper jaw, is called ‘Twinblok’.

Since these appliances can be put on and removed by the child, the duration of use of the appliance may vary depending on the person’s compatibility. But the average is 6 months.

In children with delayed onset, fixed metal intraoral devices, which we call fixed functional devices, are often used instead of such appliances. See: Fixed Functional Devices

I would like to do point out again; For these appliances to be effective, the person must be in the growth and development age. It is not possible to ensure forward development of the lower jaw in adults with such an appliance.

ADULTS
Surgical Option:

In case of severe lower jaw retardation in adults; Bringing the lower jaw forward with jaw surgery is the first treatment method recommended by the physician. In the surgery option, the patient is informed about all the advantages and possible complications of this operation. Brace treatment is started and when the patient is ready for surgery, the surgery is performed by an oral surgeon or plastic surgeon who has worked in this field. These treatments last an average of 2-2.5 years.

Camouflage Treatment:

If the patient is satisfied with the patient’s profile and does not want surgery for mild or moderate lower jaw retardation that does not seriously affect the patient’s profile, only dental correction options are considered this time. According to this;

If the upper teeth are too far forward compared to the lower jaw and affect the closing of the lip, if there is compatibility with the x-ray taken, we can apply orthodontic treatment, which we call camouflage treatment, by extracting two premolar teeth from the upper jaw.

If this situation can be corrected by moving the upper teeth backwards without tooth extraction, this option can also be used. See: Distalization

As a physician, we always support double chin and the ideal treatment option; In some cases, if the patient does not want surgery and extracting teeth from the upper jaw will affect the profile more negatively, a non-extraction treatment plan can be chosen. In this case, the existing bite situation is preserved and only the crookedness in the upper and/or lower jaw, etc. is removed. The treatment is completed by eliminating the dental problems.

Information provided on the internet contains generalizations. Deciding on treatment for the patient requires planning. In this planning, photographs taken from the patient, intraoral models and x-rays taken are evaluated. Therefore, you can only find out which treatment will be suitable for you by consulting with an orthodontist. You can also find orthodontic specialists by province on the page of the Turkish Orthodontic Association.