bigger cheeks after putting braces on

[jasv]

Hello everyone,

I had my braces put on almost 3 weeks ago and this is my second time that I have to wear braces. The first time I had to have them put on was due to lack of space and crowding, and plus apparently I have promblem with tongue thrust. I was wearing it from 2009 to 2012. After four years I had to wear it again due to open bite. As I mentioned I've been wearing it for almost 3 weeks and before the braces I was kind of pleased with the way I looked, my face was quite thin and my cheekbones were rather deifned; however, now I look like a chubby bunny. My cheeks have grown and widened which make me look ridiculous and hidous. I cannot stand looking at myself, and I really regret getting them again :( My ortho said that the cheeks look like that because the teeth have to go backward, and once it's done my face will go back to its normal appearance. I'm afraid it won't happen and I will look like a chubby baby forever :( Does anyone have similar problem?

[carrieann]

I think you'll have to just see how it goes and hopefully they will go down. You are under the care of a professional and certainly it must be normal for what he/she is trying to accomplish. I don't have personal experience with this...yet! But maybe it is common with your type of treatment. I hope you stay with treatment. We will all have bad days/weeks. We are all our worst critic. Keep us posted!

[jasv]

[quote="carrieann"]I think you'll have to just see how it goes and hopefully they will go down. You are under the care of a professional and certainly it must be normal for what he/she is trying to accomplish. I don't have personal experience with this...yet! But maybe it is common with your type of treatment. I hope you stay with treatment. We will all have bad days/weeks. We are all our worst critic. Keep us posted![/quote]




Thank you for your reply!Hopefully, you're right. However, I am feeling really down at the moment. I feel like it's been taken away from me without my permission and I'm afraid I will never look the same. I can't even stand looking at myself anymore :( It's a really hard time for me and I don't know what to do. I simply want to look like the old me again :(

[Ziggy]

I really believe that what your seeing in the mirror is 1000 times worse than it is. I doubt anybody notices, and if they do just flash a big smile and say, "Braces."

[jasv]

it's not about what other people think but it's about me. I kind of lost my confidence and don't feel attractive anymore. Also, I've become more self-conscious

[carrieann]

The good new is it sounds like it is not forever. Once your teeth move to the correct spot your cheeks should go down. In the end you will have a great smile and teeth! It's just a bump in the road to get to the end goal. I think everyone's self esteem is affected from time to time. I'm used to it, some days I feel great and other times I don't want to leave my house. You'll get your confidence back and then some. You are improving yourself every day. That's why we are all doing this. We just have to grin and bear it.

[Sakurita]

In your first treatment, how the orthodontist closed your open bite? And now, how will close it?

[jasv]

Thanks for your replies and support!

Actually, I don't remeber having open bite before first braces. I got them due to crowding, there wasn't enough space for my upper canines and they came through very high in the arch. Thus, I had to wear the haas expander with facemask/headgear for 6 months and then I got the regular braces. During the treatment my ortho decided that there wasn't still enough space for my canines, and I had to have two of my 1st bicuspids removed. As a retainer I git the hawley retainer with tongue crib. I finshed my first treatment in 2012 and since then I was wearing the retainer until April this year.
The second journey with braces started April 20. We're working with the regular braces and I will aslo get metal brackets to the inside of my front teeth. Unfortunately, i don't know how severe is my open bite because my ortho didn't say

[CCinBraces]

Do you think some of the cosmetic issue is just the braces themselves?

I have a severe open bite. Without braces though, you can't tell unless Im in a relaxed position...my lips don't close. Smiling, I look like I have a big smile. With braces, my bottom lip looks absolutely weird---like a big, fat lip protruding out and I have sort of this circle outline all the way around my mouth from where the braces make my face/lips/skin stick out even more. I realize that probably made no sense but its not good. My upper lip sits on TOP of my brackets. UGH. So for what its worth, my self esteem is not great either. Its tough having braces as an adult anyway. We all feel ya. Like others have side...theres a purpose for this...just wait---its going to get much better!

[Lovespain5]

That's just a sensation I think. Normally, class II like us use to have bigger cheeks before the treatment. After (I had my braces off), on the contrary the cheeks look less important. That's the chin and the jawline which are become more pronounced, above all if you have been treated with bicuspid extractions (in protrusion cases like me) or Herbst appliance (overbites without mandibular protrusion). Cheeks become bigger only if your mandible is initially retruded and your lower bicuspids were extracted.

[Ajay0803]

I have also experienced what you are describing, did you get your braces off and did your cheeks go back to normal?