Metal Mouth Message Board

I did talk to my ortho and he compared my before pic and told me I do look different but that it's probably due to my weight loss. (I've been thinner before and my face didn't look like this). I told him that gained the weight back and my face still appears the same. He tried to make me feel like I was being petty and asked me if I was depressed and that it may be related to stress which made no sense. He told me he has been doing this for 15 years and he has never had anyone complain about their facial features changing. I should mention that he does accelerated orhodontics. My treatment is only 6 months.

This experience has me depressed and I am not even excited about having straight teeth, especially since I can't find anyone who has had the same experience.

MCC--did you say it is your cheeks that have changed or your profile or both? I think gaining and losing weight doesn't always produce the same result...I mean, you can look differently each time. If you think your ortho's story is sketchy, why not call your doctor to pose the reliability of this diagnosis? Sounds like something your family doctor would know more about. Also, did you post this question on the "ask a doc" thread? Perhaps you can send pics to Dr J and get his opinion.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Hey, I have had lots of facial changes when I had braces for the first time. The day I took them off I was a different person, for the better!
Are your teeth sticking out or something? Mine were (and still are) so that has been the biggest obstacle to putting braces, I know that untill my teeth get better I will look quite bad. But I think it's def. a good sacrifice, try and think that in 6 months everything will be fine. It goes bye so much faster than we expect! Good Luck. I'm getting braces soon (ceramic) and I know that I'll l start to cry when I get home.
Take Care
Joe

my face hasn't really changed but what i did notice is that when i close my mouth my lips look bigger and plumper maybe it's from the braces but they look a lot nicer and people now tell me i have big lips and before they were so thin! it's very confusing but i hope they stay like this.

My top lip stuck out prior to braces because of the overjet. It almost looked like I had a mouth guard in there. Then after being braced, it looked worse until they started to move back. Now it looks better. My ortho took profile shots, so after treatment, I'm sure I'll see the overall effect.

venusasaboy wrote:my face hasn't really changed but what i did notice is that when i close my mouth my lips look bigger and plumper maybe it's from the braces but they look a lot nicer and people now tell me i have big lips and before they were so thin! it's very confusing but i hope they stay like this.

Hey! From my experience it's only when you have the braces in. And that's why I'm scared, my bottom teeth are really sticking out and my lower lip already seems super full (because of the teeth) so when I get the braces in I'm going to look quite bad I'm sure. I suppose in a couple of months the teeth will move back and it will be alright.
Joe

My face changed considerably in the beginning of braces due to:
1) I lost weight (about 8 pounds) and looked very gaunt.
2) I stopped smiling because of my self-consciousness of having a gap and braces.
3) I couldn’t bite down or really chew due to a very annoying wire loop.

The last 2 resulted in muscles in my neck, jaw and cheeks not getting a work out, atrophying a bit and adding more to the already gaunt look.

Add a slightly puffier mouth from lips stretching over braces and – BINGO facial changes.

I'm still in braces, but I’ve gained back my weight, smile and chew more and look more like the “former’ me of a year ago.

Just remember that we are all works in progress at the moment. I don’t think any judgments on what you look like should be made until AFTER the braces are off, when you are chewing properly and the teeth have settled. If you aren’t happy at that point, then you should do something about it.

My mum looks at me in the morning sometimes and says "You don't look so good today" - in other words, she thinks I need to eat more because she thinks I've lost weight. The funny thing is, three years ago she was bugging me about losing weight because she thought I was getting fat!

A friend from work who I haven't seen in a while also commented on my appearance and said "You've lost weight since the last time I saw you". I asked how she knew and she said "Your cheekbones are really noticable".

I guess having braces and your face changing has a lot to do with weight loss and just how your teeth are structured before you get braces. For example, if you have an overbite, obviously when your teeth straighten out, you will look somewhat different because your front teeth will be flatter than they were.

I noticed that when I got my wisdom teeth removed, I lost heaps of weight and looked really bony and gaunt in the face. I gained the weight back once my mouth healed but I think I started to look gaunt again when I got braces because I lost weight again. My bottom lip also looks bigger than how it used to because of the braces.

I've now had my braces for 3 months, and went to get my hair cut today. I had a picture from six months ago before I had the braces, and wanted to make my hair look like that. When my hairdresser cut it today, I told her that I didn't like it because it didn't look the same. Then she pointed out to me that compared to the "before braces" picture, I had a more defined jawline (the same shape as Jennifer Aniston's) and fuller cheeks, but now that I have the braces, I have lost the defined jawline and it just looks a bit rounder, but my cheekbones are much more prominent and indented underneath, and my weight before and after the braces is still the same. So, the only thing I can think of is that the extra room required by the braces has stretched the skin away from my cheekbones and jaw and caused a complete facial change. I'm really hoping to get back my original face shape when they come off in another 21 months!!

Many people have been commenting that it looks like I'm losing weight, because my face looks more gaunt, and they're telling me to stop, that I look thin enough, etc. It's been rather upsetting to hear those comments, but a relief to now know that I can just explain the facial change because of the braces!

I'm 33, but I looked back at some pictures of when I had braces as a teen, and checked out the before, during and after photos. The facial structure did change in much the same way while the braces were on, but went back to the original shape after the braces were removed, so that's great news for me, and many of us when the braces finally come off!

This is an interesting post. When I had my x-rays and photos taken pre-braces, I was concerned about my teeth and never gave my profile a thought. It was my ortho that said I have a low jaw and he would monitor my progress and the effect that it has on my profile. Yesterday I noticed that my cheek bones stand out more and my cheeks sink in a bit now. A friend commented on this tonight too. I put it down to losing weight (i'm very slight built so it notices more) and the fact that my bite plane and TPA is pushing my top teeth out more, before I have 2 top extractions and then pulling the teeth back in again. I have an overjet of 13mm so I suppose on reflection I should expect to see quite a change.

Keep us up to date with what your ortho says, I find it very interesting. I do hope that you end up with the desired look you are after, especially after putting yourself through all this in the first place.

Julie

I originally went for braces to do something about my overjet...which caused a pinched look to my mouth. Over the course of my treatment, my ortho has widened and rounded my arches which has broadened my smile. I wasn't expecting that and with braces on, my mouth seems so big. Now I have had my surger and my jaw is where it is supposed to be and I really can't wait to see the finished product. But, yeah, with the braces on, pushing out my lips, etc, it does look a little strange after having dealt with a teeny mouth all these years.