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Rocky · Full-Mouth Reconstruction
A reversible, test-everything-first approach rebuilt Rocky’s bite and his smile — and revealed the surgery was never necessary at all.
No surgery · Fully reversible plan · 14-month journey
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Treatment at a glance
Everything you’d want to know, in five seconds.
Primary concern
Underbite
Class III bite + severe wear
Timeline
14 months
Across 6 phases
Approach
Reversible
Tested before anything permanent
Surgery avoided
Yes
No orthognathic procedure
From Dr. Monica Two specialists told Rocky the same thing: to fix his bite, we’d have to break and reset his jaw. I wasn’t convinced — so before committing to anything permanent, we tested the whole plan, reversibly.
Rocky came to us frustrated. For years he’d been told his underbite was skeletal — that the only real fix was orthognathic surgery to reposition the lower jaw. He’d lived with worn-down teeth, a bite that didn’t meet correctly, and a smile he hid in photos.
When I examined him, something didn’t add up. The way his jaw moved suggested the prognathism might be muscular and habitual, not bone-deep. If that was true, surgery would be a drastic answer to a problem we could solve another way. But I wasn’t going to guess. We were going to prove it — one reversible step at a time.
We started with a complete diagnostic work-up — 3D imaging, jaw-tracking, full photographs, and mounted models. The goal wasn’t to confirm what others had said. It was to find out what was actually driving Rocky’s bite.
The records told a more hopeful story: his jaw joints were healthy, and his lower jaw was being held forward by muscle posture and habit — not locked there by bone. That single finding changed everything about the plan.
Instead of surgery, we built a removable repositioning appliance — a custom device that gently guided Rocky’s lower jaw into the position we believed it could hold naturally.
This was the heart of the strategy: nothing permanent. If his muscles and joints fought the new position, we’d know surgery really was the answer. If they relaxed into it, we’d have our proof. Within weeks, his jaw settled comfortably — exactly as the records predicted.
Once Rocky’s jaw held its corrected position comfortably and reversibly, we had what no scan alone could give us: certainty. Surgery would have been a permanent solution to a problem his own muscles were ready to release. From here, the work was restorative — not surgical.
With the corrected bite confirmed, we stabilized it. Rocky wore the appliance through daily life — eating, speaking, working — so we could be certain the position was functional, not just comfortable in the chair.
We monitored his muscles and joints over several weeks. No strain, no relapse, no pain. The foundation was solid. Only now were we ready to make anything permanent.
Before a single tooth was prepared, Rocky got to test-drive his new smile. We placed a temporary mock-up directly over his teeth in the corrected position — so he could see it, feel it, and live with it.
This is where the plan becomes a partnership. Rocky weighed in on shape, length, and proportion. We adjusted until it felt unmistakably like him — only then did we lock the design.
With the design approved and the bite confirmed, we restored Rocky’s worn teeth to the corrected position using full-coverage restorations crafted to the exact shape he’d already approved.
Because we’d done the hard thinking up front, this phase was precise and predictable. Each restoration met the bite the way the appliance had proven it should — no guesswork, no surprises.
Fourteen months after he walked in expecting surgery, Rocky saw his finished smile for the first time. A balanced bite. Teeth that met correctly. And a profile that looked completely natural — because nothing had been forced.
He didn’t just look different. He functioned better, chewed comfortably, and — for the first time in years — smiled in photos without thinking about it.
Beyond the smile
Rocky’s transformation wasn’t just cosmetic. He avoided a major operation, kept his natural jaw, and walked away with a bite that finally works — and the confidence to show it.
Rocky, 14 months after his first consultation
Your turn
It may not be. Like Rocky, you deserve a plan that tests the gentlest path first — and only commits when it’s proven. Let’s talk about your smile.
Start Your Smile Story See How We Did It
Free & no-obligation · Bring your existing scans & treatment plans
Conservative-first philosophyReversible options explored before anything permanent
Second-opinion welcomeBring your scans & prior treatment plans
Flexible financingPlans to fit complex, multi-phase care
Out-of-town patientsWe coordinate travel & scheduling around you
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