Facial changes with braces (not that happy)

[orchid]

So I've been wearing my top linguals since December 4th and my bottom ceramics since January 22nd and I've noticed that my face has started to change. I noticed it before Christmas actually and I can't say that I'm too happy about the change. My cheekbones are more protruding than before. Before, it seemed like I didn't even have cheekbones and I had to guess where to apply blush. No they are quite evident and I'm also a bit more hollow in my cheek area. I googled and I found that I'm not the only one. See this link: http://www.realself.com/question/my-che ... rom-braces

My facial changes are the same and I can actually live with them. But I don't want them to get any worse! I feel that I do look older and I don't want to. If it stays like this, I'm happy about not having to guess the right place for blush (lol), but if it gets worse I'm afraid I'll regret getting braces to begin with! Maybe the biggest changes have already occured, but what if it gets worse from here? I'll be braced for at least a year.

Has anyone noticed the same changes? Do you guys think it'll get worse from here? I'm a bit scared to ask my ortho. He didn't say anything about this being a side effect from braces and I think he'd just brush me off.

I'm a bit worried and sad now I didn't want to change my cheekbones, temples and cheeks ... just my mouth and my teeth perhaps.

[sirwired]

This is something for you to discuss with your ortho. Certainly facial changes are not unusual with braces, depending on your case. He/she can certainly tell you how much major movement is left.

[zena]

How is your cheekbones?
can you post some pictures?

[rhibee83]

I have noticed that my face appears more skinnier, but i think it is a good thing cos i have always had a bit of a chubby round face.

Did you have teeth removed? I have 4 teeth removed and one wisdom and i was freaking out as I too had read alot of stories about facial changes and you will see in my blog i was freaking out about it haha, i even posted a pic of me not smiling and i thought oh dear! long face!! but really, its not like that at all... i dont even think about it now and dont think my face is bad at all but i am 22 months in, not long to go, and i think my face looks fine so i freaked out for nothing.

i bet its only you who notices, and i'm sure your face looks fine and after a couple more months, you probably won't even be freaking out anymore can you post some pics?

[sirwired]

One thing that is important to keep in mind is that, as braces wearers, we are a LOT more sensitive to our teeth and face than a "mere mortal" might be. What appears to us to be a "big deal" might be utterly unnoticeable to somebody else.

For example, my chin is significantly canted to my right. As in, when you look at my x-rays, it's downright comical. However, prior to seeing those x-rays, I never, not once, noticed it. (This is even before I grew my goatee, which made it difficult for even the surgeon to spot the problem! And I finally had an answer as to why I had such a hard time trimming it straight!) It meant so little to others I had the option to correct it via surgery, and I didn't bother.

Same thing with midlines. The final result for a lot of patients is an off-center midline. It's really obvious to you and your orthodontist, but to a casual observer, it has to be WAY (over 4mm off) before somebody just glancing at your face would notice.

You may notice a difference with your cheekbones, since you look at your own face quite often, but you may find that nobody else, even those that know you well, notice any change at all.

[rhibee83]

One thing that is important to keep in mind is that, as braces wearers, we are a LOT more sensitive to our teeth and face than a "mere mortal" might be. What appears to us to be a "big deal" might be utterly unnoticeable to somebody else.

For example, my chin is significantly canted to my right. As in, when you look at my x-rays, it's downright comical. However, prior to seeing those x-rays, I never, not once, noticed it. (This is even before I grew my goatee, which made it difficult for even the surgeon to spot the problem! And I finally had an answer as to why I had such a hard time trimming it straight!) It meant so little to others I had the option to correct it via surgery, and I didn't bother.

Same thing with midlines. The final result for a lot of patients is an off-center midline. It's really obvious to you and your orthodontist, but to a casual observer, it has to be WAY (over 4mm off) before somebody just glancing at your face would notice.

You may notice a difference with your cheekbones, since you look at your own face quite often, but you may find that nobody else, even those that know you well, notice any change at all.

your right Sirwired, my midline is off, not by to much, and people say they dont even notice until i told them! just like Tom Cruise! no one notices his midline is completly off until someone says it then you look closely and you go OMG! hehehe

[orchid]

Thank you all for your replies. I didn't have any teeth pulled before getting braced, although I did have 4 molars extracted when I was 12 years old, to "make everything fit". I also appreciate the comments about maybe I'm a bit hypersensitive about this...

Well, I found a before shot. It's not straight ahead, but kind of. The right one is today. They are mirrored too. It's not the most flattering pictures and I do see the difference A LOT now. As you can see, my cheekbones stick out from my face and I'm also a bit hollow under them. I've never had this skeleton-like structure before. It's really disturbing to me and I'm really sad right now

It's not that I think that I was super attractive before, I just want to look like me and I think I don't.

[Featheryy1221]

I too have had facial changes, but I'm the opposite and like them because I no longer look 12 at age 23. lol. I had a really long face with no cheekbones at all.

I think sirwired may be correct, we can all be our harshest critic. While I do see a slight difference in your face now, it's not at all as extreme as I think you think it is. I think if you saw a before photo of you looking straight on, you probably wouldn't think it was as severe. Head tilts, like you did in your pre-braces photo, always make people look different (I know because I always tilted my head a certain way to make my teeth look more straight for photos pre-braces. lol. When I compare those photos to ones straight on ones I look different).

I think you still look like you.

[sirwired]

I think that if your lips were the same width in both photos, they'd look much closer alike. (This is one reason part of your orthodontic "record" involves a series of standardized photos with fixed angles and lighting so accurate comparisons can be made.) Your "before" photo looks like a little bit of a smile, vs. your current photo does not have one.

You could ask your ortho to repeat the relevant records photos and you can compare yourself.

[orchid]

I emailed my ortho and his reply was "neither I or my staff has ever heard of this, we will discuss your concern at your next appointment". I feel like he doesn't hear me. This change is REAL. My boyfriend says he sees the change and my sister jokingly said it looks like I've lost 30 pounds. The change is not in my head. I'm hollow under my cheeks, my cheekbones stick out below my temples, my temples appear to be sunken and also the area below my eyes are sunken, which causes wrinkles when I smile. I've never had these wrinkles before.

It feels as though I've aged 10 years in one month. I'm incredibly sad and I've been crying for the last three days. It's not that I'm sad about my good looks disappearing (because I've never been that attractive), it's just feels like this is not me. Like someone took this from we without permission. I didn't know this would happen. I've been reading some other stories similar to mine and it's heartbreaking that orthos don't mention this risk, no matter how small it is.

My face now look skinny although my body isn't. This is not the story you shouldn't read before getting braced in case you get scared and back out. This is MY story and I'm incredibly sad. I'm sure the worst feelings will pass, of course they will. But right now I just feel betrayed.

I'm going to email a professor in orthodontics about this and also seek out another ortho for a second opinion. I doubt there's anything anyone can do, but this phenomenon cannot be this strange thing that orthos don't hear about. I'm probably going to continue my treatment and probably going to put my own ass fat in my cheeks when this is done. Yes, it sounds ridiculous. I'm against the whole notion of plastic surgery, but this feels like repairing damage, not enhancing what's already there. In the meantime I guess I'm going to look old, tired and malnourished.

*end rant*

[winwired]

Hi Orchid,

I feel for you. I have also noticed facial changes; in my case they are definitely due to weight loss which has been quite severe in the 7 months since I had my linguals fitted. I was already quite thin (and had a long thin face) so the net result has been fairly dire and quite a lot of my friends are now really concerned about me and my thin face (thin everything).

Everyone loses weight from different places, do you think in your case you maybe are losing a lot of weight due to the braces, but that it is going from your face first before other parts of your body?

I have spent this week discussing my situation with my doctor and my orthodontist. They have both been sympathetic enough (more so than yours by the sounds of it) but don't really have any helpful suggestions. I'm just going to try even harder to put on some weight and I will smile more, which widens my face! The good news is that after decades of not wanting to smile without covering my mouth because I was so embarrassed about my teeth, I can now smile away with pride, since my teeth are nearly completely straight. I must remember to put an update in the lingual forum, as I've done enough moaning in there, and it's good to finally have some positive results. The other slightly positive thing is that even though I've lost all this weight my skin tone is much much better, probably due to all the fruit and veg smoothies that I've been eating, and that makes the hollow face look less scary! (Well that's what I tell myself anyway!!)

I don't really know what to say to support you, and every case is so different, but I hope you find some peace with your situation soon, and that your friends and family support you.... maybe with time things will settle.

Keep us posted if you get any breakthroughs... all the best.

[Featheryy1221]

I think sirwired is right that you need to look at your before photo from your ortho.

I also think that you should talk to your family and boyfriend and make it clear to them that this makes you really upset. Even if they're joking about it, it still will hurt for them to say those things and will only make you feel even worse about the situation and will bring your attention back to it.

I wish you luck and support as you're going through all this. Hopefully you can find some answers or some peace with this.

[Jewels]

Hello
I've also noticed facial changes and I attributed it to not being able to eat the same way which caused weight loss. The braces also puff out my lips just a bit and I'll miss that when they come off!

I'm older than you and I haven't figured out if these changes have made me look older but I think the more defined look is more attractive and I'm going with that. For some strange reason I am getting a lot more attention from men (and people in general) - is it that the changes in my face are more attractive? Or maybe it's because in some ways I feel more confident since getting my braces ( well, that part took a few months).

You are a beautiful woman and trust me when I tell you that CONFIDENCE is a very attractive trait. If you don't feel very confident right now just fake it until you make it.

[Jewels]

Hello
I've also noticed facial changes and I attributed it to not being able to eat the same way which caused weight loss. The braces also puff out my lips just a bit and I'll miss that when they come off!

I'm older than you and I haven't figured out if these changes have made me look older but I think the more defined look is more attractive and I'm going with that. For some strange reason I am getting a lot more attention from men (and people in general) - is it that the changes in my face are more attractive? Or maybe it's because in some ways I feel more confident since getting my braces ( well, that part took a few months).

You are a beautiful woman and trust me when I tell you that CONFIDENCE is a very attractive trait. If you don't feel very confident right now just fake it until you make it.

[BracesGuy]

The photos are not both straight on so that's a tough comparison. In any case, I expect you might find that to other people the attribute of straight teeth outweighs any minor facial changes that may occur in terms of perceived physical attractiveness.