Sophia1985
New Member
Okay, this will likely be slightly lengthy but I'll try my best to keep it short.
I broke my jaw in December of 2012 (Mayans were on to something I guess) with a nasty chin-first fall to a hardwood floor. Broke it in three places as well as my chin. I went to an orthodontist and he wired me up. Said it wasn't necessary to have pins or any other hardware inserted. I was wired for about eight weeks, but the entire time I felt malocclusion and had constant teeth popping in and out of place, pain, and general discomfort. I expressed these concerns to my orthodontist numerous times, until he frustratingly cut the wires off and replaced them with elastic bands. The elastic allowed my teeth a minuscule amount of freedom, reducing the pain to a more manageable level (with liquid Lortab). However, I still felt the malocclusion problem as well as a gap in my teeth.
Around four weeks later, my orthodontist removed all wires and bands from my mouth. My bite was off, terribly. Not only was it off - but I had a significant amount of pain. I consulted with an uncle (a dentist) and he recommended that I give everything a couple of months to settle in. After a few months, my pains only got worse. I returned to my orthodontist in early September, and he prescribed me anti-depressant sleeping pills (similar to trazadone but can't remember the exact name) and heavy muscle relaxers. At first, the nurse came in (she was new and wasn't aware of my situation) and asked me what brought me in. I told her that I had been having a lot of pain in my jaw, and was about to explain that it was post surgery from that very clinic, but she cut me off and said, "Sounds like you've got an off-bite, that can cause a lot of problems! There's a lot of options we can discuss to fix mal-occlusion, but I'll let the Doctor know. About ten minutes past then he strolled in. After a terribly performed lounge act while looking at my x-rays and saying, "oooh, ahh," along with the same nurse that had just informed me of many different 'options' they offer, the ortho said, "You know, you shouldn't keep your mouth closed very often. Just when you're chewing and that's pretty much all. The impact of the fall(...) blah blah.,
The muscle relaxers he prescribed seem to assist with the tooth pain, but obviously my occlusion is still way off. However, the pain in my jaw has not subsided. ANY posture other than lying on my back causes a constant jaw pain. It feels like my lower jaw is too far back into my skull. Also - when the wires came off I noticed that my four front bottom teeth were pushed way further back than they were before. They have since shifted. There is TMJ pain as well as clicking/popping (which I never had before) as well as another pain the feels close to my ear. I'm in misery. I can't afford to go to another orthodontist at this point (still paying the $18k from the first surgery). I'm seeing the original orthodontist again on Tuesday. He tried to charge me for my first appointment, but I explained to him that this was a constant pain since the surgery. I'm hoping to eventually see another ortho - possibly one that is more reputable.
A) Is this common for post-broken jaw patients? and B) Is this grounds for legal action if he does not correct this (or even if he does)? I'm not really sure I want him performing the surgery again. It has taken not only a physical toll on me, but mental as well. It's interfering with my everyday life to an extreme.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I broke my jaw in December of 2012 (Mayans were on to something I guess) with a nasty chin-first fall to a hardwood floor. Broke it in three places as well as my chin. I went to an orthodontist and he wired me up. Said it wasn't necessary to have pins or any other hardware inserted. I was wired for about eight weeks, but the entire time I felt malocclusion and had constant teeth popping in and out of place, pain, and general discomfort. I expressed these concerns to my orthodontist numerous times, until he frustratingly cut the wires off and replaced them with elastic bands. The elastic allowed my teeth a minuscule amount of freedom, reducing the pain to a more manageable level (with liquid Lortab). However, I still felt the malocclusion problem as well as a gap in my teeth.
Around four weeks later, my orthodontist removed all wires and bands from my mouth. My bite was off, terribly. Not only was it off - but I had a significant amount of pain. I consulted with an uncle (a dentist) and he recommended that I give everything a couple of months to settle in. After a few months, my pains only got worse. I returned to my orthodontist in early September, and he prescribed me anti-depressant sleeping pills (similar to trazadone but can't remember the exact name) and heavy muscle relaxers. At first, the nurse came in (she was new and wasn't aware of my situation) and asked me what brought me in. I told her that I had been having a lot of pain in my jaw, and was about to explain that it was post surgery from that very clinic, but she cut me off and said, "Sounds like you've got an off-bite, that can cause a lot of problems! There's a lot of options we can discuss to fix mal-occlusion, but I'll let the Doctor know. About ten minutes past then he strolled in. After a terribly performed lounge act while looking at my x-rays and saying, "oooh, ahh," along with the same nurse that had just informed me of many different 'options' they offer, the ortho said, "You know, you shouldn't keep your mouth closed very often. Just when you're chewing and that's pretty much all. The impact of the fall(...) blah blah.,
The muscle relaxers he prescribed seem to assist with the tooth pain, but obviously my occlusion is still way off. However, the pain in my jaw has not subsided. ANY posture other than lying on my back causes a constant jaw pain. It feels like my lower jaw is too far back into my skull. Also - when the wires came off I noticed that my four front bottom teeth were pushed way further back than they were before. They have since shifted. There is TMJ pain as well as clicking/popping (which I never had before) as well as another pain the feels close to my ear. I'm in misery. I can't afford to go to another orthodontist at this point (still paying the $18k from the first surgery). I'm seeing the original orthodontist again on Tuesday. He tried to charge me for my first appointment, but I explained to him that this was a constant pain since the surgery. I'm hoping to eventually see another ortho - possibly one that is more reputable.
A) Is this common for post-broken jaw patients? and B) Is this grounds for legal action if he does not correct this (or even if he does)? I'm not really sure I want him performing the surgery again. It has taken not only a physical toll on me, but mental as well. It's interfering with my everyday life to an extreme.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
