My face looks different to how it did, I think. At the moment my front teeth stick out a lot more than they did, so I have to strain my lips to close them over my teeth which makes my lips look thicker, and probably pulls on my cheek skin too, because my cheeks look thinner in comparison. Also, my face looks longer, because my bite is so jacked up at the moment where my teeth do not overlap properly.
I'll be interested to see how it all ends up.
THINNING of face during braces
Moderator: bbsadmin
Thinning of face with braces
Hi, I'm 38 and got braces last year. I started off with the expander and my face did start to appear very thin. I did not loose any weight but people commented that I lost a lot of weight. It looked pretty bad. I had to then have 4 teeth extracted to provide enough room in my mouth to straighten my teeth. Now my lips look narrow and small and my cheeks are sagging. I'm very upset with my results. After all this I wish I would of not got braces. This experience and my results are not worth the $7,000 I have spent on braces. I'm going to a plastic surgeon to see if he can give me some suggestions. It's upsettng because my face use to look great (I use to model and my face was my best feature) I thought getting braces would improve my looks not make it worse - go figure. Hard lesson learned.
Humm... I am wondering if you notice this less if your teeth are pretty bad to start off with? My teeth were so bad I couldn't model anything with my mouth open! So any changes in my face would be worth it to have okay looking teeth. That said four extractions later and Gaps now nearly closed and I haven't noticed much change in my face.
A friend of mine who had treatment did have noticibly thinner lips at the end, but her teeth stuck out a long way before treatment. They looked pretty bad and she was very self concious about them, so I think that it's good she had treatment, things look a million times better after treatment even with thinner lips.
Great to warn folks so they can chat to orthos and find out if this will affect them.
A friend of mine who had treatment did have noticibly thinner lips at the end, but her teeth stuck out a long way before treatment. They looked pretty bad and she was very self concious about them, so I think that it's good she had treatment, things look a million times better after treatment even with thinner lips.
Great to warn folks so they can chat to orthos and find out if this will affect them.
HI, I had severe crowding and cross bites and dentists have been telling me to get braces since I was a teenager. After wearing the expander for 6 months my Ortho told me the only answer is extractions so I had the 4 teeth extracted to make enough room to straighten my teeth. Now my teeth are almost closed up from the extractions. The teeth are moving back and closing up and now I don't have enough room in my mouth for my tongue and I speak with a "lisp". It's quite awful. My entire facial structure has changed for the worse. If only the Orthodontists explained all the pros/cons before extractions. My teeth always looked pretty good in the front, so I should of just left it alone.
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KittyKat99
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:30 am
Hey,
I have the same problem.I got braced jus over 6 months ago and my face shape has changed. My checkbones are more prodominent and my cheeks have sunk in. People think ive lost weight but i havent. Ive alway been skinny but my face was fuller. Really dont like the change. At first i thought that if i put weight on it might help but nothing is working!!Just going to have to get use to it i think!!Never had a clue that this happened when u got braces!!I hope my it goes back when treatment is over
I have the same problem.I got braced jus over 6 months ago and my face shape has changed. My checkbones are more prodominent and my cheeks have sunk in. People think ive lost weight but i havent. Ive alway been skinny but my face was fuller. Really dont like the change. At first i thought that if i put weight on it might help but nothing is working!!Just going to have to get use to it i think!!Never had a clue that this happened when u got braces!!I hope my it goes back when treatment is over
I don’t think I’ve lost weight since getting my braces (June 08), but my face has definitely changed shape. Thankfully, it’s for the better. Besides gaps in my top teeth, I had some pretty horrible jaw problems. I had a 4mm overbite on my top teeth, as well as a slight cross bite. The cross bite is nearly gone and the overbite has been reduced to just over 1mm with the use of a simple bite plate. Elastics are correcting the last bit.
In the last couple months, my lower jaw has moved forward and created a puffier look to my lower lip. My cheekbones have become even higher and actually moved forward a bit so they’re slightly more flattering. My profile has gone from being rather long to appearing more normal, and my nose doesn’t appear to be as long. Overall, I’m quite happy with my progress so far, and everyone who looks at me notices the change in my cheekbones before anything else. From what people tell me, the higher cheekbones make my face look a little more refined and older, and not quite so young. I’m 21 years old, and I always used to get mistaken for a 14 year old because my face was so young. Now, I look my age thanks to the readjustment of my bone structure.
I'm the opposite - I hope my bone structure remains how it is now, thanks to the braces.
In the last couple months, my lower jaw has moved forward and created a puffier look to my lower lip. My cheekbones have become even higher and actually moved forward a bit so they’re slightly more flattering. My profile has gone from being rather long to appearing more normal, and my nose doesn’t appear to be as long. Overall, I’m quite happy with my progress so far, and everyone who looks at me notices the change in my cheekbones before anything else. From what people tell me, the higher cheekbones make my face look a little more refined and older, and not quite so young. I’m 21 years old, and I always used to get mistaken for a 14 year old because my face was so young. Now, I look my age thanks to the readjustment of my bone structure.
I'm the opposite - I hope my bone structure remains how it is now, thanks to the braces.
I set up a consultation with my Ortho for tomorrow to voice my concerns. Yes, my face was thinning when I wore my expander, but since my extractions my face has filled back in, but not in a good way. My lips are narrow and my cheeks are sagging. I'm really upset the most about the loss of fullness in my lower lip, now my lower lip curves "inward" when I smile. It reminds me of the way a person's mouth looks after they take out their false teeth. (if you can picture that). I want my teeth pushed back out and I'll probably have to get bridges to fill in the gaps. I'm kinda freakin out about this and hope he gives me hopeful news tomorrow. I will not settle for these results.
THINNING of face during braces
I have lost about 3 kgs (6.6 lbs) since I got braces, which doesn't sound like a lot, but my weight was only 50kgs (110 lbs) to start with! The first place that weight loss shows with me, with or without braces, is in the face, which I don't like. People have commented that I look a bit drawn, which again I don't like, but I am optimistic that when the braces come off, and I can eat properly again, then I'll put on some weight. Of course being 56 years old, gravity and natural sagging is also a contributing factor so I can't 100% blame the braces!
I've noticed a slight change too. It seems like my cheeks were a slight bit fatter in June of 07 than they are now, but I really can't tell. I thought they were thinner last year too. Could this just be to age too? My face was a LOT rounder/chubbier when I was 16 (just before braces) than it is now (18 ). I don't know if it's from braces or just getting older. Hopefully it doesn't get any thinner, since I'm not too thrilled about my jawline. 
Last edited by KLOU117 on Wed Nov 19, 2008 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I saw my orthodontist yesterday and had an adjustment. I voiced my concerns about my in-turned lower lip and lack of bottom lip fullness because my lower teeth have went in and back too far. He took my wires out and put in new wires that help to bring the back teeth forward. He explained that right now my teeth are leaning inwards but will eventually start to lean forward like they are suppose to, but first the back teeth have to come forward. I feel much better now! I have hope that this will work out for the better. They explained to me that I am in a real funky stage of treatment but it will pass. The anxiety from braces is quite an ordeal. I have at least another year to go. I'm not and have never been a patient person, so this is really difficult for me.
I visited three different orthodontists before settling on one. The one I chose was far more expensive than the other two - and price was high on the list of considerations - but I chose him because he was the only one who spoke about facial aesthetics during the initial consultation. In fact, he spent an inordinate amount of time talking about specific lip/tooth relationships (both at rest and at smile), smile design, and facial symmetry.
I have an 8mm overjet, 100% overbite, narrow smile, and severly over-erupted teeth in the lower front. I will need lower jaw surgery at some point during the treatment phase. Despite the fact that the inside of my mouth is a mess (with the exception that my teeth are fairly straight), the orthodontist talked mostly in terms of how my face would look when all was said and done, instead of talking about how my teeth would look.
My orthodontist uses dimensional imaging extensively for treatment planning and also uses Insignia for custom design and fabrication of the brackets and archwires.
During my initial consultation the orthodontist told me exactly how my face will change, what my lips will look like at the end, and how my smile will change - including changes to the skin (removing wrinkle lines) around my mouth.
I'm a 50-year old male and 6 days into braces. The jaw surgery is estimated at 12 months with a total treatment time of between 18 - 20 months.
I have an 8mm overjet, 100% overbite, narrow smile, and severly over-erupted teeth in the lower front. I will need lower jaw surgery at some point during the treatment phase. Despite the fact that the inside of my mouth is a mess (with the exception that my teeth are fairly straight), the orthodontist talked mostly in terms of how my face would look when all was said and done, instead of talking about how my teeth would look.
My orthodontist uses dimensional imaging extensively for treatment planning and also uses Insignia for custom design and fabrication of the brackets and archwires.
During my initial consultation the orthodontist told me exactly how my face will change, what my lips will look like at the end, and how my smile will change - including changes to the skin (removing wrinkle lines) around my mouth.
I'm a 50-year old male and 6 days into braces. The jaw surgery is estimated at 12 months with a total treatment time of between 18 - 20 months.
I think someone mentioned earlier in the strand that there are a couple of other "strands" out there on this very topic. Seems like a lot of people out there have noticed changes to their face, many who had skinner faces to begin with. I have always had a thinner face and have had a couple of people tell me it looks like I have lost weight. My mother saw me the other day and said she didn't think I had lost weight, my lips just looked bigger (they are big to begin with and the braces don't help) and this could be giving the illusion that my cheeks were more sunken in. I have only been in braces for 4 months and it sounds like people have noticed this a lot in their 8-9 month anniversaries. We'll see what happens...
