Jaw surgery, also known as orthognathic (or-thog-NATH-ik) surgery, corrects jawbones that are crooked, uneven or have other conditions. Surgery lines up the position of the jaws and teeth to make them work better. Making these corrections also may make your face look more balanced.

Jaw surgery may be a corrective option if you have a jaw condition that braces alone can't fix. Usually, you also have braces on your teeth before surgery and while you recover after surgery until healing and alignment are complete. Your orthodontist can work with your oral, jaw and face surgeon, also known as a maxillofacial surgeon, to figure out your treatment plan.

Jaw surgery is best done after growth stops. The timing is usually ages 16 to 18 and older for females and ages 18 to 21 and older for males. Other factors also may help determine the best timing.

Jaw surgery may help:

• Make biting and chewing easier and chewing better overall.
• Fix problems with swallowing or speech.
• Keep teeth from wearing out or breaking down.
• Fix bite fit or jaw closure issues, such as when the molars touch but the front teeth don't touch. This is known as an open bite.
• Make the face look more balanced when there is a small chin, underbite, overbite or crossbite.
• Make the lips better able to close fully and comfortably.
• Ease pain caused by temporomandibular joint disorder and other jaw problems.
• Fix facial injuries or birth defects of the face and jaw.
• Ease obstructive sleep apnea.

Jaw surgery is generally very safe when an experienced oral and maxillofacial surgeon does it, often planning and working with an orthodontist.

Risks of surgery may include:

• Blood loss.
• Infection.
• Nerve injury.
• Broken jaw.
• Return of the jaw to the original position.
• Problems with bite fit and jaw joint pain.
• Need for more surgery.
• Need for root canals on select teeth.
• Loss of part of the jaw.

After surgery, for a time you may have:

• Pain and swelling.
• Problems with eating. Taking supplements to get nutrition and talking with a dietitian can help with this.

Before the procedure

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons do jaw surgery, usually with medicine that makes you sleep through surgery. Surgery takes place in a hospital. You may need to stay in the hospital for a couple of days or you may be able to leave the hospital the same day as your surgery. How long you spend in the hospital depends on the type of surgery and how complex it is.

During the procedure

Surgery usually can be done inside your mouth, so no facial scars show on your chin, jaw or around the mouth. Rarely, small cuts may be needed outside your mouth. If so, these cuts are placed where they're less likely to be seen and are often very small.

Your surgeon makes cuts in the jawbones and moves them into the correct positions. After your surgeon moves your jaw into place, tiny bone plates, screws and wires may be used to secure the bones into their new positions. Rubber bands are often attached to braces. The screws, which are smaller than a bracket used for braces, usually combine with the bone structure over time, but some may be removed later.

Sometimes extra bone is added to the jaw. To do this, your surgeon transfers the bone from your hip, leg or rib and secures it with plates and screws. Sometimes a bone graft can be taken from off-the-shelf bone grafts that don't require bone to be taken from elsewhere in the body. Sometimes the surgeon reshapes the bone for a better fit.

Jaw surgery may be done on the upper jaw, lower jaw, chin or any mix of these locations.

Correcting alignment of your jaws and teeth with jaw surgery can:

• Make your lower face look balanced.
• Make your teeth work better.
• Offer health benefits from improved sleep, breathing, chewing and swallowing.
• Improve speech if you had issues due to your jaw.

You also may be more satisfied with how you look, which can make you feel better about yourself.