Hello @csmiller. Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect.
Could you tell me a little more about your dental issues please? I’m a retired certified dental assistant with 30+ years under my belt so hopefully I can steer you in the right direction. I’m not able to offer treatment or diagnose but I’m familiar with dental related diseases, worked extensively in oral surgery and orthodontics.
Bear with me because I have some questions for you. I want to get a clear picture of what you’re experiencing.
You mentioned being disappointed with your periodontist. A periodontist specializes in preventing, diagnosing, and treating gum disease. They would have little to do with repositioning mandibular or maxillary bones. The mandible is your lower jaw and not associated with your sinuses so I’m a little confused as to what you’re trying to accomplish.
Do you have active periodontal disease or any abscesses of your teeth? If you have, that can cause considerable pain and sometimes an infection can drain into the sinuses. In that case you’d be referred to an Endodontist who would perform a procedure called a root canal to treat the infection. If there’s an infection around your gum tissue only, then the Periodontist would treat that. But either way, moving teeth or repositioning bones would not be a solution to sinus infections.
Have your teeth shifted? You’d like your mandibular bones returned to their original and correct position, is that right? Oh golly, I’m really at a loss. The lower jaw is one solid bone so I’m not sure what you mean by having ‘them’ returned to original or correct position. I’m really trying to understand your dental situation.
An orthodontist is the specialist with whom you’d work to reposition teeth while an oral surgeon would be the doctor to see for reconstructing and repositioning bone. But that’s a significant surgery and again, having lower jaw surgery would not impact the sinuses.
Have you had a recent full mouth X-ray called a Panorex to check the position of your teeth, check the bone support, and look for any anomalies in your bones, tissues or sinuses? What led you to feeling you need jaw surgery to help reduce your sinus infections?
Thanks for your reply. I have been told that I have periodontal disease. Both my upper and lower jaw bones have receded from their original position. The upper bone receded so far that it caused an infection of my sinuses. I had two upper molars extracted that were causing the sinus infection. About 3 weeks ago, my two lower molars came loose in my mouth and came out. Two months ago I had a periodontist gave my upper and lower teeth and through inspection and told me then that I didn't have periodontal disease. This diagnosis was changed last month and I am scheduled to have my gums "packed" so that I may receive and implant. However, I had rather see an MD for this problem, if that is possible. I think this may be the beginning of more teeth lost and maybe further infection. I'd like to save the teeth that I currently have. I have an appointment with a periodontist next week that I'd like to cancel. Would really like to see an MD.