We Need to Talk About Our Feelings

I’ve been putting off writing this because I always worry I will sound like I need to get over myself, but after a discussion I had on the Metal Mouth Message Board : (http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/index.php- which is great) with someone I felt obliged to say how I feel about the whole issue of whether this is cosmetic vs. necessity. Basically their point was how is having your jaw/s altered in order to ‘better your appearance’ any different than having your hair straightened because you don’t like your curly hair. They said it was difficult to say, but I totally disagree!
Okay, there is no denying that a malocclusion is going to give you some, well, mal side-effects. By this I’m talking about self-esteem issues, confidence and overall self-perception. I’m not going to talk too much about my personal issues, but let’s just say I do have problems with all of the above.
But the main thing that I think it is important for everyone to know though, is that in terms of vanity, in most of our cases any opinion of our appearance and hope that it might be improved is just a by-product of the underlying fact that an abnormal jaw is just that; an abnormality.

Obviously this is going to have numerous adverse effects on many things- both externally (appearance wise) and internally (about the function of our bites and trouble breathing). I would say it would be a very minor malocclusion for a person to only have a problem with the way they look and no other issues relating to their bite, breathing or TMJ (joint and ear pain). In that case it can be viewed as just a cosmetic thing due to vanity. However in the majority of cases where the problem is bad enough, I think any issues we have about our appearance are totally justified. It’s not about seeking perfection, but seeking normality. If it ain’t broke then don’t fix it; but if it is, then do.

Next important thing to consider is that if it is true that the majority of us considering having or actually are having oral surgery will have a problem bad enough, then problems with appearance and functionality will be interlinked, not separate . By that I mean if you have one you will most likely have the other. The main difference between us all then, is simply how we deal with them. For some of us, the problem with appearance manifests itself into low confidence, little self-esteem and a generally bad self-perception. And it’s not easy to just undo these feelings. For others, this isn’t such a huge downer and it doesn’t affect their character. Could I be presumptuous and say that those of us having the treatment during their teens feel this the worst? Not just because we’re moaning teenagers with so many ‘issues’ (!) but because this means that for most of us it has been a case of knowing we need the surgery from a young age, but having to wait until we have stopped growing to have it done. The older ones among us have led their lives without the thought of jaw surgery on their minds, and without necessarily having to wait for it, but choosing to go through with it in their own time later in life, so the effects of their malocclusions have remained rather dormant in their minds, rather than manifesting like in our minds. Is that a fair assumption?

- This is sounding a bit like a bloody thesis, so I hope I’m not boring anyone, lol. I just think it’s important to think about, especially when people don’t understand what you’re trying to get through to them. Anyway...

Additionally we’ve all grown up with misaligned jaws –and consequently breathing issues and eating problems. So to us this is just natural. We have adapted our bites. You become habituated to it, and cope with it, and so is this going to be the main issue on our minds? Can the same be done about the way we feel about our appearance? The difference is that this is constant, as you can’t escape seeing yourself one way or another every day. So you focus on the way you look most of all. And so maybe people who think they are only having this done for cosmetic reasons fail to realise that they do have other issues because of their malocclusion, it’s just that they don’t register it. Either way what I’m saying is it’s hard to have one problem without the other; if you have a malocclusion chances are you’re going to have bad functionality as well as a problem with your appearance (among other things).

And at the end of the day it’s not vanity to want a ‘normal’ jaw. Everyone else has one, right?