Who knows what the result of tooth extraction in adolescents will affect the current situation this much? The teeth gap causes a tilting and falling tooth which leads to wearing braces just because wanting to have a good smile. However, this is not the end-solution when you found that only wearing braces is not enough.

Malalignment teeth maybe a simple thing to anyone but for me, it is not. I want to have a beautiful smile. So, I decided to go to the recommended dental clinic as my friend suggested and also a nearby clinic. All dentists told me surprised advice. “You need to do the jaw surgery first before wearing braces which this local clinic could not do it. However, you can consult with the Mahidol dental department for more detail.” This surprised me. I tried to ask that is it okay to not do any operation because I was not ready for it. However, I did not have confidence in that dentist, so I went to another 5 clinics to get more advice.

“It is not that scary. It is only a general beauty surgery. Only orthodontics may cause some problems in the future such as abnormal misalignment jaw after chewing food which makes your jaw and ear base hurt.” The second dentist at another clinic said. This made me feel nervous and thinking what do I really need to do the operation. No, I will not give up. I went to a few clinics and finally the clinic with the oral and maxillofacial surgeon who is an old female professor dentist at Mahidol. I received a clear message that only orthodontics cannot solve my problem because I had an abnormal jaw situation which is a tilt upper jaw. It will be clearly seen after done the orthodontics and teeth midline will be misalignment. In summary, only done orthodontics will make a whole face worse. She told me that “Doing orthognathic surgery is the best solution. If you decide to do only wearing braces and change your mind to do the surgery later, it will be difficult because the orthodontics and arrange misalignment teeth are not on the same plan. The cost of jaw operation is 100,000 Baht for each side. For your case, you need to do both upper and lower which cost approximately 200,000 Baht. So, please reconsider this option.” I was shocked because it is a high cost. I did not prepare myself for this. So, I decided to consult with my family and that took around a year. While searching for more information, I was also saving some money. `

Let’s get to more academic information after searching from many sources.

Some people have a chewing problem. Some are young with a low abnormal level which could be cured by only doing orthodontics. If they also have an abnormal jaw problem whether unmatching of the upper and lower jaw size or too much misalignment. These people, especially an older one, only can be cured by orthognathic surgery.

People with unmatching upper and lower size which causes an improper occlusion. They need to move the lower jaw to the front or left or right which affects nearby teeth and tissues. Jaw surgery will help adjust the jaw size and location for proper teeth movement.

Moreover, there are other problems that need to be treated by orthognathic surgery to improve the better face shape proportion such as people with a gummy smile, tilt jaw or tilt face which cause unequal face shape.

For 1 year, I began to observe myself and found many symptoms whether a sound in the ears while chewing and tired jaws. Then one day, I decided to do something about it. This time, I joined the orthognathic surgery group on the Facebook platform, and I saw many reviews, procedures and operating information from many doctors. After searching for information, it is time to receive the treatment.

• Consulting with an orthodontist to evaluate how to cure. Some may be cured by only doing orthodontics. Some need to be cured by both doing orthodontics and jaw surgery. Yes, I was one of them that definitely needed to do the operation.

• Consulting with the Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon and cooperating with the orthodontist to evaluate the treatment plan that consists of how to move teeth and where to place the upper and lower jaw in the proper position for that patient. There are many orthodontists and oral and maxillofacial surgeon in many both public and private hospitals such as
  

·         Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University

·         Golden Jubilee Medical Center, Mahidol University

·         Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University

·         Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University (Rangsit Branch)

·         Dental Center, Yanhee Hospital

·         Bangkok Christian Hospital  

For the public hospitals, you need to register at the registration first then you will be transferred to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology where I met many patients with this mutual problem. It was beyond my expectations.

While wearing braces, the orthodontist will evaluate the readiness of the teeth movement for the surgery. The dentist told us the approximate wearing-braces period to know how long I needed before doing the operation. After teeth moved to nearly the position, the orthodontist will issue the transferring document to the oral and maxillofacial surgeon to make the operation appointment. The operating que is very long that sometimes it takes a year. However, I had to meet the doctor to evaluate and plan periodically.     

Almost the time for operation, I must prepare equipment for post-operation which are as following,

1. Saline, for washing mouth lesion
2. Syringe for saline injection with several sizes; 20cc, 10cc
3. Blender for food blending because of no chewing in the first month
4. Gel pack to reduce swelling, pain, and inflammation at the beginning
5. Sterile cotton swab
6. Liquid food such as soup can
7. Spare blood; Due to a large operation, you need to prepare some spare blood whether by donation or by yourself. In my case which was operated at The Hospital for Tropical Diseases by Mahidol doctor, I need to store blood at Ramathibodi Hospital.
8. Money

Here comes the time! I had to admit first to prepare myself then the staff will take me to the operating room. The surgery took about 5 hours. I returned to the room and fell asleep until the next morning. I woke up because of my hunger and my first meal was boiled-rice soup, broth soup, and red-syrup drink. I could not suck or even open my mouth. I have to eat by sucking liquid in the syringe, injecting in my mouth and swallowing.

After the operation, the surgeon told me that the swelling will be reduced within 3 - 6 months and it takes a year for a proper face-shape. The post-operation instruction is in the first month, do not chew anything which makes me lose a lot of weight and only liquid could be eaten. So, I became more beautiful, skinnier and able to save more money because I could not go dining outside and could pay my loan debt.

The conclusion is this surgery went well and the result is the better and healthier chewing activity together with the more proportional face-shape and delightful eating. Although it is very normal at done beauty surgery these days, the operation for healing and treatment is also important. Moreover, an emergency personal loan from the bank is the best!