Expert advice please!!

Message

#1 Post by **MCC** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:28 pm

I posted this question on a previous board but would like an expert advice from an orthodontist, or anyone else who is going through this.
My face has changed dramatically since having braces put on. The top of my cheeks stick out and the bottom looks caved in. It looks like I am sucking in my cheeks. I also look as if I have lost a ton of weight. Everyone has commented and says I look different. My ortho acknowledged the change but says he hasn't changed my bite and that my look has nothing to do with the braces or the extractions of my 4 wisdom teeth and front bottom tooth. However, I noticed the change after getting the braces on. I have been thinner than this before and have never had this horrible look. I would appreciate any advice.

#2 Post by **weird_wired** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:51 am

The braces could be pushing your cheeks out a little further, but it shouldn't be too dramatic. I am also not sure that their position would affect the "top" of the cheek, if you mean the cheekbone.

Weight loss at different times of your life can affect different parts of the body. People's faces also do "thin out" as they get older (which for some people greatly improves their looks). So if you lost a lot of weight at age 18, you could likely be rounder-cheeked than if you later on lost a lot of weight at age 30.

Also in terms of being "thinner" previously - were you more or less muscular then? Because being eg 100lb with a lot of muscle you would have a different, probably much leaner, face than if you were the same weight but less muscular.

Tiredness is another factor - if the braces have affected your sleep for example, this might make you look more haggard/hollow.

If it is the braces causing it, it won't be a permanent change. I feel that elastics are making my mouth look horridly different, but it's not bothering me too much as it's just a temporary thing: they won't always be there.

#3 Post by **dr.j** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:00 pm

In the absence of surgery or very aggressive extraction mechanics designed to purposefully reduce your lip protrusion, I would doubt that your treatment has affected your face that significantly. It may be that you have experienced some aging that has sort of caught up with you just now - or you have become more aware of it b/c of the extra attention you give your smile and profile. This is such a vague area.

#4 Post by **candygrrrl** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:10 am

I have experienced the exact same thing as MCC â€“ only I noticed my facial changes after about a month in an RPE. Haven't lost any weight, but my face is longer, thinner and my cheekbones stick out. I can really tell the difference in photographs and other people have noticed it as well. It is definitely an "anorexic" look.

So I'm wondering, why is this a "vague" issue? Seems to me, Orthodontists just don't want to address it. Because that would open up whole other can of worms. Instead, we're told it's all in our heads, or that we're aging, or losing weight, when we all know that's not the case. Our faces ARE changing.

When I asked my own doc about it, at least she acknolwedged that this is a common occurance. Unfortunately, she was pretty consdescending about it, saying that I should be happy about it because people pay a lot of money for high cheekbones like that.

#5 Post by **ShinySmile** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:16 am

I think it's a little unfair to assume that "orthodontists just don't want to address it". My orthodontist seems open to any questions I have, and answers whatever I happen to ask about. If a person posts wanting an opinion from a professional who has not seen case pictures, x-rays, etc. with a question about facial changes, I would expect an answer exactly like the one dr.j gave.

#6 Post by **nvcarissa** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:47 am

Perhaps when asking a question like this, the poster should post a pre-braces picture and a current one to show what changes he or she thinks is occuring. Otherwise, it is a bit like shooting in the dark for the doctor responding.

There are changes occuring to your bite and so to your ortho the changes are normal and desirable, but to you, if you have not been told just what is going on in your mouth, may seem wrong. Pics would be helpful. Even to take to your own ortho so that you can say, "See? This is how my face looked before. This is how it looks now. See this change, or that change? Why is this happening? Is it normal? Will I be happy with the finished product?"

Even before my surgery, my face looked different due to just the space the braces were taking up. My lips looked odd, etc. Due to the expansion of my bite (and the braces) my small lips extend further on each side and my mouth is not the tiny, pinched mouth it once was. My face is a bit longer since my mandibular advancement (expected and wanted), but my lips now look even larger still because of the advancement AND the braces. That part is temporary.

#7 Post by **payoki** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 9:59 am

I put up an almost exact same post in the metal mouth forum. I'm experiencing the exact samething and it's a little bit frustrating. I too have not lost any weight but people are always commentiong on my thin face or skeletal looking face..

I'm hoping that after my braces come off things will look better but we'll just have to wait and see...

#8 Post by **nvcarissa** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 12:19 pm

I remember several months ago, there was a thread about people's faces getting thinner / gaunter during ortho treatment and if I recall correctly, there was some conjecture that our faces were really not getting their usual "exercise" what with changes to the way we eat, etc, and that this all corrects after the braces come off (or as we get further into treatment and our eating gets back to normal). Just food for thought.