Functional Orthodontics - Case #12

Blunt Force Trauma - Orthodontic Treatment
Before	After
	X-ray to the left shows result of blunt force trauma as a result of accident. Notice the displacement of the front teeth up into the jaw bone.

Getting Dr. John Halmaghi's expert option changed her life!

SURGICAL ORTHODONTICS
Often, orthodontics is necessary for patients who have suffered trauma and injuries to their teeth and jaws. This young patient was involved in a car accident.  She was only 12 years old.  As you can see in the before photo, her front teeth were pushed up into her jaw bone as a result of the trauma.  She had visited several dentists and orthodontists who gave her very little hope for salvaging her teeth and correcting her problem.  The main recommendation that she had received was to have her teeth extracted and replaced
with implants or bridges.  Her parents were not happy to hear this and they sought our expert opinion.

Other underlying issues included a severe overbite caused by genetics, along with headache and ear ache problems.  Her remaining teeth had some crowding problems, however the patient and her parents were mainly concerned about the long term implications of replacing her teeth with bridges or implants.

After consulting with our oral surgeon, we developed a plan of action to surgically expose and uncover the teeth inside the jaw bone.  This was followed by advanced lightwire functional orthodontics to reposition the teeth back into the mouth using a slow and careful process.  The patient and parents were “cautiously ecstatic” about the effort we began to make for their child.

After 2 years of monthly visits, we were able to achieve what no other doctors were willing to tackle!  The treatment also included reverse functional braces to correct the overbite and provide the proper "jaw to jaw" relationship that the patient required in order to eliminate the headaches and ear pain.