Patient presented with a markedly short neck of the left jaw. This was most likely due to a severe facial accident at the age of 8 years old that arrested the growth of the lower law. Patient had a narrow upper dental and a much wider lower dental arch giving rise to a crossbite and associated slide of the lower jaw to the left side. This exacerbated the underlying lower jaw asymmetry.
We discussed two options with our patient;
1. Orthodontic treatment in combination with orthognathic surgery to improve the occlusion and facial balance as much as possible. This would have given the best possible result.
2. Orthodontic treatment only.
Patient chose option 2.
Patient had Surgically Assisted Rapid Maxillary Expansion under the care of Mr Cascarini, Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon.
As the lower dental arch was displaced to the left side, in order to correct the bite, we subtly angulated the upper left back teeth outwards(buccally) and lower left back in teeth inwards(lingually) to allow teeth to fit well and the occlusion to be as ideal as possible.
The orthodontic treatment was done with upper and lower ceramic fixed appliances on a 15-month treatment duration.
Patient result remained stable on subsequent reviews. Patient had a small surgical procedure to the nose during the orthodontic treatment.
