IMDO jaw surgery provides a vast array of health, functional and aesthetic improvements.
Facial Appearance
The change to your teenager's profile will change dramatically by the end of treatment. You will see most of this within the first two weeks following the IMDO procedure.
Their jaw line becomes more defined and the skin under the chin becomes more taut. Their lower lip becomes more prominent, and the appearance of their nose, lips and chin becomes more balanced.
The sense of big front teeth disappears as the position of their teeth is normalised. All of this results in the proportions of the face being normalised.
Breathing
One of the biggest benefits of IMDO, and one that your teenager gets to keep for life, is the dramatic improvement in their breathing and their quality of sleep.
Teens with small lower jaws almost always experience some degree of airway obstruction when sleeping, which you might hear through snoring or abnormal breathing sounds.
Airway obstruction results in poor quality sleep which carries over into everyday life in the form of poor concentration at school, behavioural issues and persistent tiredness.
IMDO eliminates airway obstruction by pulling the airway forward and open even during sleep. Most issues associated with impeded breathing and poor sleep disappear relatively quickly following IMDO.
Teeth alignment
Over a short period of time, the teeth in the lower jaw will begin to uncrowd and align naturally in the next few months following the IMDO procedure.
The movement that naturally occurs during this time usually means only short and simple orthodontic treatment is needed to give the finishing touches to an ideal bite and beautiful smile.
There is usually adequate room for the wisdom teeth to come through, which avoids the need for wisdom teeth surgery in the future. The end result is a beautiful smile with no loss of teeth.
IMDO is a combined process that involves an orthodontic practitioner and maxillofacial specialist working in close coordination.
Upper jaw expansion
The first part involves growing the upper jaw to create optimal space to grow the lower jaw forward. The orthodontic practitioner will place an expander to widen, and then brackets on the front teeth to lengthen the upper jaw. Maxillary expansion opens the nasal airway and increases the dental arch length, and because the treatment expands the midfacial structures, there is often improved cheek bone definition.
IMDO surgery
IMDO then widens and lengthens the lower jaw over a period of 12-14 days. This is easily done at home by you the parents, with regular review by your maxillofacial specialist. With all the room created by growing the lower jaw, crowded teeth will begin to naturally align and settle into the ideal bite. Making the lower jaw bigger substantially opens their airway which improves sleep and ability to exercise.
Dental alignment
Orthodontic treatment following IMDO surgery is usually required to perfect your teenager's bite and put the finishing touches on their beautiful smile. This is usually delayed until facial growth is nearly complete, so as not to interfere with natural facial development. With their jaws are in proportion and space for all their teeth, their orthodontic treatment is usually short and simple and can often be completed with Invisalign.
IMDO is a whole new way of treating small lower jaws and big overbites in teens and young adults.
IMDO works by surgically creating a separation between the first and second molars, which is where growth devices called distractors are securely and safely placed.
The IMDO distractors grow the lower jaw forward by 1mm per day in an extremely stable and predictable manner to a maximum of 16.5mm, all in the comfort of your home.
This advancement is extremely well controlled, with the amount that the tongue is pulled forward being balanced against eliminating snoring and establishing the ideal bite.
This surgery is little different than removing wisdom teeth. It produces little swelling and unlike the BSSO, has virtually no risk of damage to major sensory nerves in the jawbone.
Kids go to school, they can talk and eat, and breathing actually improves as their jaws are grown. IMDO creates room for crowded teeth to begin to align naturally with the goal to preserve all teeth.
If IMDO is performed at the ideal age of 12-14, there is usually adequate room made for the wisdom teeth as well, which avoids the need for wisdom teeth surgery in the future.
Unlike traditional jaw correction, IMDO has no need for braces or elasticising the jaws together after surgery. It is substantially lower in cost, with far less swelling and much faster healing.
One of the biggest and lifelong benefits of IMDO is the dramatic improvement in your teenager's breathing.
The muscle attached to the inside of the chin extends back to hold the airway open. A small lower jaw means there is not enough stretch of this muscle to keep their airway open, especially when sleeping.
As they drift off to sleep, their muscles relax including those holding their airway open. In a teenager with a normally proportioned jaw, the relaxation of these muscles doesn't result in airway obstruction.
In a teenager with a small jaw, the relaxation of these muscles causes their airway to partially or completely collapse. This leads to snoring and over time can progress to sleep apnoea, especially later in life.
To overcome this airway collapse and the development of snoring and sleep apnoea, IMDO captures the muscle supporting the airway and pulls it forward to keep it open even during sleep.
The longer the lower jaw the greater the degree of airway opening and improvement to breathing. This also allows the lips to close naturally, which promotes healthy nasal breathing.
We as parents are aware of how important self esteem and confidence is in our children and their developing personalities.
We watch our children interact with their friends, and many of us have been there and experienced the cruelty of peers if we stand out. We want them to fit in and be accepted as much as possible.
We don’t want them to feel different and while this may seem superficial, scientific research supports improved facial attractiveness as the primary motivation in seeking orthodontic treatment.
Improving facial aesthetics increases a teenagers confidence and their perceived "social acceptance", which has a huge positive impact on their personality at it is developing.
The impact that IMDO treatment has on teens is about far more than the aesthetics. Treating a growing face with IMDO usually avoids the need to remove teeth and minimises orthodontic treatment times.
The enhancement in breathing dramatically improves their quality of sleep meaning that their ability to concentrate at school and perform academically generally increases.
Being able to breathe more easily increases their exercise tolerance and stamina. This can help instill a love of physical activity which is important for their current and future physical and mental wellbeing.
