u/BarWild495

**Pictures included for visual reference**

I’m hoping to get advice from oral surgeons. As a child, I had two canines extracted because my orthodontist recommended it due to a severe overbite. From the front, I’m somewhat happy with my smile. However, from the side, my teeth seem to angle backward, and it’s become one of my biggest insecurities. My bite is fixed, but how do I go from an overbite to teeth that angle back??? I remember wearing rubberbands for majority of my time with braces, but part of me feels like I would rather have an overbite than have teeth that angle backwards.

A separate issue is that my mouth physically doesn’t open very wide. Every dental appointment is painful because I have to keep my mouth open for so long, and I can’t bite into large sandwiches or burgers without cutting them into smaller pieces first because my mouth just won’t open wide enough. I do not think it is TMJ/jaw clenching related because this is a chronic issue that still shows up despite mouth guards, Botox, etc. My jaw physically cannot open wide and I hate it. One time I had suspected strep throat and couldn’t get a throat swab because the nurse could not see far enough to swab my throat because I could not open my mouth wide enough. Multiple staff tried and could not see. I am often told I have a small mouth by hygenists at appointments. I just want to fix this so I can move forward.

My questions are:
Is there any surgical procedure that can increase how far someone’s mouth opens?
Has anyone seen or treated a case like this?
Could the limited mouth opening and the side profile of my teeth be related, or are they likely two separate issues?
If surgery is an option, what procedures should I be researching or asking about?

I’m just trying to find out whether this is something that can actually be corrected surgically before I schedule a consultation.

Pictures included for visual reference

I’m hoping to get advice from oral surgeons. As a child, I had two canines extracted because my orthodontist recommended it due to a severe overbite. From the front, I’m somewhat happy with my smile. However, from the side, my teeth seem to angle backward, and it’s become one of my biggest insecurities. My bite is fixed, but how do I go from an overbite to teeth that angle back??? I remember wearing rubberbands for majority of my time with braces, but part of me feels like I would rather have an overbite than have teeth that angle backwards.

A separate issue is that my mouth physically doesn’t open very wide. Every dental appointment is painful because I have to keep my mouth open for so long, and I can’t bite into large sandwiches or burgers without cutting them into smaller pieces first because my mouth just won’t open wide enough. I do not think it is TMJ/jaw clenching related because this is a chronic issue that still shows up despite mouth guards, Botox, etc. My jaw physically cannot open wide and I hate it. One time I had suspected strep throat and couldn’t get a throat swab because the nurse could not see far enough to swab my throat because I could not open my mouth wide enough. Multiple staff tried and could not see. I am often told I have a small mouth by hygenists at appointments. I just want to fix this so I can move forward.

My questions are:
Is there any surgical procedure that can increase how far someone’s mouth opens?
Has anyone seen or treated a case like this?
Could the limited mouth opening and the side profile of my teeth be related, or are they likely two separate issues?
If surgery is an option, what procedures should I be researching or asking about?

I’m just trying to find out whether this is something that can actually be corrected surgically before I schedule a consultation.