Stop! Don't break that jaw!

Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting an art museum with a friend of mine from out of town. As I was walking through the lovely paintings, I heard someone call out my name. I looked up to see the mother of one of my former patients was approaching with her arms ready to enfold me and a smile on her face from ear to ear. I was delighted to see her, as well, but her first words surprised me. She said, "We were just talking about how you saved our son's life again the other day."

She went on to thank me repeatedly for saving her son from the surgery he had been scheduled to undergo to break his jaw.

It made me remember all over again the good looking but scared young man who had come to me for a Tongue Thrust evaluation upon referral from his dentist/orthodontist. He was scheduled for surgery to have his jaw broken to correct a bilateral medial open bite. He was on his third round of orthodontia treatment. Through three periods of having braces, in fact throughout his life, he had never been able to chew well enough to eat regular foods such as steak or pizza! He could use his front teeth to bite but they were the only teeth that came together to chew as well. As a college guy, he was becoming more and more uncomfortable eating in front of others. So, he had decided that the surgery to break his jaw, the months of taking all his nutrition through a straw and missing the Fall semester to have time to recover fully were what he had to do to live a normal life.

Well, I had a different plan. One without broken bones! We worked together for one hour per week for 15 weeks. I communicated with his orthodontist on a regular basis to coordinate our treatments. And in the end, we sent a young man back to college with a beautiful smile and the ability to chew and swallow anything his heart desired!

As his mom and I were wrapping up our conversation, her husband approached. And much to my surprise, he too, asked to hug me and thanked me for "saving his son's life".

As I walked away I felt a new appreciation for the paintings I was seeing as well as for the delicious lunch I was about to enjoy.

Contributing to a happy and healthy life may not be creating a work of art, but for that day, and many that followed, it certainly felt like helping that young man had been time well spent!

Every case is unique, but please, contact a speech pathologist that specializes in Tongue Thrust therapy before you get your jaw broken to correct a malocclusion or other dental issue!

Keep Smiling,

Suzanne