Corrective Jaw Surgery (orthognathic surgery) may be required or requested when a person’s upper and lower jaws grow at different speeds. At the speed that your jaws grow (very slowly), an under-bite or over-bite can be noticeable early on or it could take many years to develop. Fundamentally, this procedure is available and practiced on those whose jaws do not fit together correctly.

With orthognathic surgery, this problem can be reversed. Correcting misaligned jaws can solve a broad range of problems for a patient, including speaking, chewing, breathing, and swallowing.

Before surgery, the teeth are properly aligned through orthodontic therapy (braces). Orthodontics corrects the crowding of teeth and abnormal tooth angulations and rotations. Once the teeth are properly aligned, orthognathic surgery is used to fix the misaligned jaws.

Click on the following link for further information on corrective jaw surgery from the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.