well--as every jaw is different its not always going to be the same measurment on one side as the other. My mid line was also off to the left. do your muscles on the left seem tighter?

well, i don't know if 'tighter' is the word, but on my right side i have developed a laugh wrinkle that i don't have on the left side. Basically the skin on my right side is a little bit saggy, while the left side looks a lot more youthful and firm.

I think that you should try some of dr.christophers joint and tissue ointment. It would help with all that.

what treatment options are you looking at?

None yet. I don't really know where to start. What is this ointment you speak of for?

I was thinking of going to a tmj specialist or something, but i'm fearing that there are none in my area. I live in Mexico, and all i have seen around here are dentist, orthodontists, and maxilo...what's their name?, but none that say 'tmj'. Which ones are the ones likely to know of this matter? the maxilo-facial ones?

maxillofacial surgeons i would assume to know something. I can look for you if you want. Ill pm you the place that you can buy that ointment. Ill look for a good doctor for you. I thought i was out of options but then found a wonderful doctor right under my nose.

Ok, I would really appreciate that, thank you!

oh shoot---i forgot to do this. ill get the ointment web page and pm it to you

Please, thank you very much.
Also, if you happen to know of a good maxillofacial surgeon in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, please tell me.
I have a bad experience with them. I asked the doctor that took out my wisdom teeth to tell me about my deviated jaw. She took my x-ray and drew some lines on it to measure my jaw. Turned out there was a difference of about 2mm all around. Anyway, she suggested she could do a procedure on me in which she would only push my chin bone a little to the right so it matched the midline of the rest of my face. I don't know much about these things, but I don't think that just moving my chin is a good idea. So I am a little afraid of the weird 'solutions' doctors come up with.

ok ill go look. Yeah i know what you mean about the solutions.

Biani - I did some reseach and because your case is so similar to mine I thought I'd enlighten you with what I found. After I read this it a lightbulb started flashing in my head and now I know what happened in my case.

http://www.icnr.com/OrthodonticRelapse.htm l

If my application is correct From the reading, turns out (generally speaking) if the disharmony and the pressure from the elastics is too much the arch caves in or out and deviates to relieve some of the applied pressure. In the article it uses the word 'deformity'. Ouch. Hope this helps.

Thank you number12, ... ugh... so it's even more complicated than i thought!! I had been reading that a deviated jaw affects the posture as well. So that's why it's difficult for me to 'stand straight'. I always have a shoulder higher than the other, and my head slightly tilted to my left side.
Thanks again for the info, i appreciate it! even if they do call us 'deformed' on there, haha.

yeah, guess it is. I'm kind of relieved though considering I now know what to tell the specialists. I'm probably going to print it out and make them read it. Haha. I know exactly what you mean with the posture and shouldering. Do you still wear your retainers or do you still have your bonded retainer on? I find it quite odd that your teeth haven't started to relapse. I took both of mine off and the deviated midline is starting to straighten up a bit.

Oh no... they did relapse a long time ago. See, the braces I had were only on my top teeth, all they did was bring one of my canines down. Back then what bothered me was that every time i smiled my canine poked through. I hadn't noticed my deviation... I had noticed i looked 'weird' in some photos, but I hadn't payed attention as to why.
I wore a retainer for about 3 months after the braces, but i stopped wearing it cause i was left with a small gap where they extracted one molar to make room for my canine, and I wanted it to close. Well, the gap closed, and my teeth moved... for better or for worse, I don't know. The retainer I have doesn't fit at all anymore. But my teeth didn't go to their 'before' state, my canine is still down, and from the front my teeth look straighter than they used to, but in a way, they look more crooked, like they're tilted, and some molars rest lower than the others... it's kind of hard to explain, lol.
I guess the relapse hasn't made it any better 'cause my midline was already deviated to begin with, I think it was a little less though. I do feel like I have to slide my jaw a little more to the left. When i try to close my mouth where I feel it's comfortable, my midlines still don't match, but the lower jaw isn't so far out to the left.
So, your deviation was purely because of the braces and everything your orthodontist did to you?

Did your gap close on its own and was it after the braces that you noticed in the pictures?

Well, I always had a crossbite and minor tmd. My ortho did a lot of weird uneven shifting to mask my crossbite and apparently made things worse and those damn elastics. Sorry the article didn't help.

Your front teeth - from canine to canine - effects your frontal appearance while the molar fits like puzzle pieces and effects how your jaws rest. I don't know if this has anything to do with it but I had uneven premolar extractions as well and realize our uncanny similarities nonetheless. My ortho pushed my front teeth back, especially the right side from midline to canine due to the uneven extraction, hence the facial assymetry. Your ortho had to have done something similar. Do you have an idea as to what he did?

"and from the front my teeth look straighter than they used to, but in a way, they look more crooked, like they're tilted, and some molars rest lower than the others..."
I know what you mean. I had a crooked smile due to that and my right molars still hang lower than my left contributing to my tmj symptoms.

Yes, the gap closed on its own. I just stopped wearing the retainer. Someone told me that all teeth tend to go to the front of your mouth if they have space, and sure enough, my molars on that side advanced towards my canine. They didn't come in full contact with my canine, but are close enough that the gap isn't visible anymore, though i can still stick my tongue in it.
I think my ortho did something like you mentioned. On my right side, where the extraction of the premolar took place, the teeth from the midline to my canine are pushed a little further back than those on my left side.
I have no idea what my ortho did... the whole procedure wasn't how it's supposed to go. But back then I didn't know anything about this subject. All I wanted was to fix my potruding canine, and that's the only thing I payed for. The whole thing was very cheap and I only wore braces for 6 months. She didn't even take x-rays of my mouth or anything. My dr. took them off and my front teeth still overlapped a little (like they used to) and I had the gap at the extraction site.
I remember I just went in, she did her business... we never talked about what was going on. I just expressed concern at one point were I had a gap between my front two teeth, I worried she would leave them that way, but she didn't.

So, molars hanging lower doesn't necessarily mean that your whole jaw is crooked? When I was analyzing my teeth and noticed this, I thought that maybe that was a sign that one side of my jaw was longer than the other.

Hey, I could share pictures of my mouth with you, so you can see what I'm talking about, lol. I could explain with words here forever, but, as they say, one picture is worth a thousand words. If you're interested in sharing pictures to gawk at eachother's "deformity", you could send me a private message to give me your e-mail.

what is your solution(s) to this problem? i may have it. ive been wearing retainers for 2 years and am 17. I only wear it at night time. I have tmj disorder. should i stop wearing the retainer for a long time??

what is the purpose of your retainers> is it to keep teeth in place from braces or is it to help with the tmd--if its to help with the tmd keep wearing it.

Hey Leetx. I don't know what the solution is... I think soon i will be visiting a tmj specialist or an ortho, see what they have to say.
About your retainer, i think you should follow tmddyan's advice.
Does your lower jaw deviate too?