What is orthognathic surgery?
Jaw surgery designed to correct irregularities of the jaw and face to improve the way they work. This surgery helps with issues related to structure, sleep apnea, growth, TMJ disorders, facial appearance, or other orthodontic problems that cannot be easily treated with braces.
Why might I need orthognatic surgery?
- Your jaw has stopped growing (typically later teen years)
- Difficulty chewing, biting, or swallowing food
- Chronic jaw or jaw joint (TMJ) pain and headaches
- Excessive wear of the teeth
- Open bite - space between the upper and lower teeth when the mouth is closed
- Unbalanced facial appearance from the front or side
- Facial injury
- Birth defects, including facial imbalance
- Receding lower jaw and chin
- Protruding jaw
- Inability to make the lips meet without straining
- Chronic mouth breathing
- Sleep apnea- breathing problems when sleeping, including snoring
What should I expect at my first appointment?
Your first consultation visit with the doctor will be to evaluate you for treatment. The doctor will use this time to understand your needs, review treatment options and suggest a treatment plan based on your unique situation.
Please let us know in advance if you have recent (within six months) panoramic X-rays and cephalometric x-rays. The standard full-mouth X-rays are not sufficient for a complete evaluation. Please send electronic files of your panoramic X-rays to OMFSxrays@ucsf.edu. If you bring a copy on a disk or jump drive, and our system is not compatible with that digital format, we may not be able to view them. In that case, we will need to take panoramic X-rays on the day of your evaluation. You will be responsible for the cost of those X-rays.
What should I bring to my first appointment?
- Government issued identification
- Health insurance information including authorizations or referrals
- Registration forms
- List of prescription medications and dosages
- List of medications that you're allergic to
- List of questions you may have
- Recent test results related to your condition
- Models
- Images (photos if any)
- Paper and pencil to take notes