September 26, 2013

It's all in the DNA

I just got back from a visit with to my brothers orthodontist with my mum and brother. He was referred to the orthodontist by his dentist who was concerned about his teeth, his bottom teeth are quite crooked and his two front teeth were chipped a few years ago, one of which is still alive but the other had to get a root canal.

It turns out his orthodontist knows my orthodontist as they went to university together. This isn't too much of a revelation, they look like they are roughly the same age and there's only one school of dentistry here in NZ so I can imagine everyone knows everyone. But exciting none-the-less. Also, she says she recently talked my surgeon and apparently he is going to start doing minor surgeries in October. Hopefully this means mine isn't too far away then! I would love to get it done before I go back to uni in March next year. It sounds like he is recovering well which is great!

Anyway, my brother will need braces on his bottom teeth at least, they quite crooked. I don't think there is much overcrowding which is good so he shouldn't need to get any teeth taken out. However she has noticed how his front teeth meet exactly though instead of the front teeth overlapping slightly, which means his bottom jaw has been growing forward more than it should.

My brother has just turned 17 but has been quite a late bloomer (in contrast to me who was an early one), he has literally grown about 2 feet in the last year, it's crazy. This means that he is still growing (he's already 184cm and counting... compared to me at 173cm!) and there is a chance that his bottom jaw will continue growing out and into an underbite. If this happens then he will also need orthognathic surgery... let's hope this doesn't happen! His orthodontist will continue monitoring his growth over the next 6 months to see if there are any changes.

I guess it runs in the family... have any of you had any siblings or other family members that have had similar jaw problems?

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