Has fixing ur bite changed ur face for the better or worse?

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#16 Post by **joney** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:04 pm

This is scary for people like me who've had extractions. I don't want my face to change, just my teeth. I hope somebody out there who has had extractions can reassure me that I won't end up with a flat face! Surely if it had such a really detrimental effect it would be stopped. I would imagine that orthodontists do not want to ruin peoples' looks through laziness, maybe I am naive but I would hope that each case is viewed on its own merits. My ortho has said that there might be a slight 1mm reduction in my top lip. I don't want to end up with (to quote the article) "Sydney" lips, they don't sound very nice.

#17 Post by **onny** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:29 pm

It surly does not ruin everyones face, just alters some.
For example you 1mm loss on your lip, would look horrible for me, because my lips already look very thin, I'm so happy they look much fuller now with brackets under them and I look better in overall just because of this 1mm change. Imagine how i look with 1 mm less.. After the expander phase of my treatment my face will be look more natural again, because its unnatural small atm. So I cant wait for getting the jaws aligned properly. An alternate would have been an extraction, but that was no choice for me a single second.

#18 Post by **kay** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:11 pm

Hello all! Gosh i'm gettin nervous about having extractions this week now! I have to have 2 teeth out at the back of my lower arch. However, my face is a heart shape, wider at the top and narrow at the bottom. So i'm scared that it will make it more narrow?!?! I will look like an alien!!!!!!!!

One definately has to be taken out as i had a filling in it when i was younger and half of the tooth has broken up and come out so needs to be removed. And i think they need to take the 2nd one out to make it equal/symmetrical?!?!

I do have one tooth in my lower arch that has rotated so this will fill some space, but i am getting worried now!

#19 Post by **metalmizzle** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:13 pm

and here i sit with four missing teeth...did i need anything else to be worried about!?

#20 Post by **kay** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:36 pm

[b]metalmizzle[/b] wrote:and here i sit with four missing teeth...did i need anything else to be worried about!?

Oh sorry Metalmizzle! Well i suppose you should have an idea of how ur face is goin to look as if u have the teeth out already n ur face still looks the same-ish then ure fine!!

#21 Post by **kay** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:52 pm

Can an expander that some people have not solve the problem of jaws looking to sunken after extractions?!

#22 Post by **onny** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:55 pm

Don't be worried mates, it surly is mandatory for some to get teeth extracted, like my 4 wisdom teeth. (And even there I have asked the ortho if its possible to align them, and it would be, just that it would take a vast amount of time and it is difficult to attach an appliance there, so also cost alot of money, without any worth result. My wisdom teetth were half covered by gum, due to lack of space, and that space back there never would be possible to gain. So I'm very happy having them removed, it makes cleaning easier and stoped pain after sleeping or eating, due to there force against the molars and it feels not so overfull anymore, 32 teeth just were to many, 28 is perfect for my mouth.)

But always be careful and ask twice if its front teeth needed to be extracted. If there is a slight chance to get the treatment done without their remove and still get a result, maybe just with a longer treatment time, then don't let them extract. But if there just is not enough space and never will be, then there is no other choice than get it extracted. But always ask twice! and don't only ask one doc! Even if 2 say its totally needed, the third may say it works without extraction too.

Kay: for example a broken tooth is no reason to get it and the corresponding neighbor tooth extracted, usually. There are crones and similar additions for damaged teeth available! An extraction should be the last way out, if nothing else helps! But i assume you are all as careful as me and asked you doc for alternates and there none, so get it extracted without need to worry

#23 Post by **kay** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:11 pm

[b]onny[/b] wrote: Kay: for example a broken tooth is no reason to get it and the corresponding neighbor tooth extracted, usually. There are crones and similar additions for damaged teeth available! An extraction should be the last way out, if nothing else helps!

Onny - i never even thought of a crown as an option. I think it's because my ortho said i had to have the extractions so that's what i thought i had to do. I am definately going to speak with my dentist and see if this could be an option for me now and check with my ortho if he would still be able to straighten my bottom arch without an extractions. Thanks.

#24 Post by **onny** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:14 pm

No problem, I am happy you are going to ask! It is always worth a try. BTW Do you have a picture of your mouth, so I can see the space used by your teeth and the damaged one ?

#25 Post by **kay** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:31 pm

[b]onny[/b] wrote:No problem, I am happy you are going to ask! It is always worth a try. BTW Do you have a picture of your mouth, so I can see the space used by your teeth and the damaged one ?

Onny i am looking to put pics up soon, i have taken them but cant transfer them across to my laptop at the moment as i need to find the appropriate wire!!

#26 Post by **kay** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:49 pm

posted twice by accident!

#27 Post by **onny** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:24 pm

But don't blindly trust that person of course, ask for details and explanations and when it makes no sense, trust is the wrong thing todo. Whilst most orthos try their best for your health, some really are not much interested in the best treatment for you, just for them. Bad ppl you can find anywhere in any profession!

#28 Post by **onny** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:11 pm

Meryaten wrote: 2. do get your kids in for an ortho eval when they are young, because so much can be solved at that stage that can only be solved later by either extractions or surgery

True and important, and also make sure to have some basic knowledge about orthodontic treatments, and ask the doc everything. I found a website with cases of childs who got so wrong treatments, just because the doc wanted the maximum value from the insurance of the kid. (German cases, in Germany each kid has a free insurance until 18 years and it covers orthodontic treatment!) The time is over where you can just trust the ortho of your kids and let them do whatever they want. Attention is needed.

Btw I haven't seen the 60 minute media, i just read half of the chat log under the link, and it was about the topic of unnecessary extractions and the result of not so nice looking faces afterwards. That was my replies about, complaining about that procedures.

#29 Post by **000Liv000** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:47 pm

I think the skill and treatment plan of the orthodontist can dramatically affect the changes that occur in profiles. One ortho I consulted said that some of the overbite cases he's treated have become unhappy with their noses because they look bigger after treatment (because the teeth on top are moved back-he wanted to shave between a bunch of my teeth to move my top teeth back to fit the bottom.)
I chose a different ortho, then moved and the new ortho I chose said everything right at the consult but did everything wrong in treatment. Both my sister and I went to this guy and both of our chins were being pulled back. Both of us had small slightly receded chins to start with. I have an overbite, she doens't. It doesn't make sense that my chin would be pulled back when I have an overbite, but he was a really bad orthodontist. He didn't straighten my teeth and on both my sister and I our right teeth stick out more and the left curve back different. it looks bad. He "finished" treatment on my sister and she now has a chin pulled back too far, an uneven arch and a less wide smile than when she started (and we both said the whole time we wanted wider smiles.) I stopped treatment after being treated very rudely by the ortho and I realized that his finished was worse than my before. now I can't close my mouth

and I'm trying to mentally and emotionally heal and pray that find a skilled and compassionate ortho who can fix me. (I thought getting braces was going to be a breeze-and the only trouble would be gettin used to people seeing me with metal on my teeth) -sorry about the personal stuff. it just bubbles out sometimes

#30 Post by **onny** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:59 pm

Its a very sad story, I'm sure you will find a skilled ortho who fixes that for your both and hope you didn't sustain serious damage.. I wish you best luck for it. Was you not skeptic when you got you chin moved back with an overbite or other methods of him? How can you sister gotten a smaller smile? Sounds like a doc who should loose his license. Id sue him or something.

Hm btw about the nose change, that reminds me I have to add to my list of questions to my ortho at the next adjustment, that I want to know in what way the expander and HG will change my appearance exactly. Bigger nose would be bad, broader smile and other smiling changes would be good. I realized I'm nearly unable to smile at all. My lips are to short to open so much that I can show all my teeth. Hard to explain.. But with a fixed bite, I can move the teeth more near to each other, which will result in a bigger smile.