Metal Mouth Message Board

does anyone of you feel that you hv a longer face after braces?

or is it just the illusion given by braces being in mouth?

My face definitely looks longer than before braces. I think it is caused by the open bite that I now have that I did not have before. I expect it to change back after my bite gets corrected. Maybe you have something similar? If so, I would think that it would change back so try not to worry about it. You are probably the only one who even notices. Everyone keeps talking about how much weight I've lost but I've not lost any since I was braced. I think that since my face looks longer it makes it look thinner so people think weight loss.

C.

Horse walks into a bar, bartender asks "Why the long face"?
Ha, this is happening to me as well, everybody asks me if I've lost weight then I ask how can they tell and EVERYONE says your face looks thinner. This in my case is not a good thing.

My face looks longer, i used to have these cute chubby cheeks...i was 18 about to turn 19 *10 months ago*, and my cheeks went bye bye...which is not a good thing...that was my signature trademark. I hope my face gets it's youthful cheeks back, instead of these sunken devils i have now. Most people say braces make you look younger...but since my cheeks sunk in *because my lip is stretched by the braces* i look like a young/ old lady...when women get older their cheeks tend to look sunken, that has happened to me...errr but i hope when the braces come off i will go back to "normal"...

I have a long thin face to start with, and since getting my expander, which prevents me from closing my teeth together, I think my face looks longer and more sunken in the cheeks than before. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who notices such things.

Right now when I take my expander out, my teeth don't line up properly anymore. I hope that once I get braces and they start to do their thing that my face will broaden again.

Most people probably want a thinner face, but if you're like me with a very narrow/oblong face to begin with, it just accentuates the problem.

I don't think that getting braces would significantly change your face unless you had extractions, surgery, or a huge change in your bite.

If you have extractions, there is a risk that your face will flatten or look more angular or in some cases, sunken. It's something that seriously has to be considered before getting extractions.

As for being 18 and looking different at 19 -- that's called getting more mature. Most everyone goes through that at different points in their lives. If you lost weight, it also affects the look of your face. Unless you had a significant change in your bite or had extractions, the braces alone (straightening the teeth) wouldn't cause it.

thanks for all your replies! <3

i guess that i found my face looking longer is mainly due to firstly, me getting more mature (18 this year) and also because of the lip strain thing Denise talked about..~!

really hope things might become a little better after i got my braces off in april. i'm always upset about this change because my face was already oval and long in the first place.. before any braces

orangetammy wrote:thanks for all your replies! <3

i guess that i found my face looking longer is mainly due to firstly, me getting more mature (18 this year) and also because of the lip strain thing Denise talked about..~!

really hope things might become a little better after i got my braces off in april. i'm always upset about this change because my face was already oval and long in the first place.. before any braces

Your only 18?!!! aww hunny don't worry your face is going to go back to normal and you will look even hotter than ever before...dude i thought your were almost 20 like me....if you are just about to be 18 or are 18, then your face still has cute baby fat on it, your probably still in highschool! unless your lindsay lohan and stress yourself out alot, i'm sure you will look great when they come off....not much changes from 17-18...and even if it does you are still kinda "coming into" your features..i'm worried because i am going from teen to adult...your still a baby! Lots of girls in H.S get braces and when they come off...woooaaahhhh total hotties...hope that made you feel better...ps. i like your avatar..your face doesnt look bad at all!

19Braceface wrote:

orangetammy wrote:thanks for all your replies! <3

i guess that i found my face looking longer is mainly due to firstly, me getting more mature (18 this year) and also because of the lip strain thing Denise talked about..~!

really hope things might become a little better after i got my braces off in april. i'm always upset about this change because my face was already oval and long in the first place.. before any braces

Your only 18?!!! aww hunny don't worry your face is going to go back to normal and you will look even hotter than ever before...dude i thought your were almost 20 like me....if you are just about to be 18 or are 18, then your face still has cute baby fat on it, your probably still in highschool! unless your lindsay lohan and stress yourself out alot, i'm sure you will look great when they come off....not much changes from 17-18...and even if it does you are still kinda "coming into" your features..i'm worried because i am going from teen to adult...your still a baby! Lots of girls in H.S get braces and when they come off...woooaaahhhh total hotties...hope that made you feel better...ps. i like your avatar..your face doesnt look bad at all!

haha no, maybe i'm a little premature.. but i already can see I AM already coming into my features. like my face got a lot more angular.. much less soft baby fat.. longer chin.. more protruding cheekbones (which i absolutely HATE)
but i do hope that the problems are caused by the lipstrain or facial muscle strain due to lips stretching over braces..
last time i saw your photo u look really great! no need to worry! i guess in your case ur just taking a bit of time adjusting to the more mature face.. n its not a bad thing!
when will ur braces be off?

Protuding cheekbones are a good thing! It means you have "good bone structure". Think of Catherine Deneauve (spelling?) or any of the great beauties. They don't have round little girl faces. They look feline. Also my mother always said, "Cute doesn't age well, beauty lasts." I don't know if that is true or not----guess we'll see.

When I went away to college my face really changed (no braces then) so I think a lot of this is just a natural part of growing older and maturing through the late teens and early twenties.

I know I am going to sound like an old fogey, but try not to worry about it as you will change your whole life.

Good luck on your journey!

Hi. In my case, yes, my face "looks" longer - and probably is. That is because the orthodontic work straightened my once sloping teeth, and the use of elastics brought my open bite together. You can see the difference in the pictures that my orhtodontist office took. But, having told you about the change, after my teeth settled, I lost some of that "length". I like the new look much better than before.

well by looking at your avatar i don't know who will be done first, because your teeth are looking spectacular...my ortho said 6 months? that was almost two months ago, but i don't know that was just an estimate. and i feel you on those potruding cheekbones, im of Mayan descent..and if you have seen the movie apacolypto or type in Mayan in google, you will see those angular devils ! In Mayan culture it is seen as a sign of beauty... but i prefer cutesi, like jessica alba, adriana lima, and racheal bilson, rather than beauty of the women from the 50's and 60's *high cheek bones, small lips* but i also think it might just be the lips stretching over my braces, because i have ceramic...bulki bulki bulki...which ever the case i'm so excited to have met you here...hope you get yours off soon and love them!

Yea my bottom lip potrudes...dont really care though to be honest, its just looks.

Newmetal

In the year since I was first expanded and braced, I noticed a significant change to my facial shape. Some orthodontists are in denial about these changes, telling patients that braces "move teeth, not bone." Or that they've aged or lost weight.

Although my orthodontist never mentioned facial changes to me prior to treatment, nor was it written anywhere in the pages of documentation given to me beforehand, she at least admitted to me when I queried her that yes, almost all her adult patients experienced facial changes, regardless of whether they were expanded or not. Even my periodontist during my last visit said, "How do you like your new face?" She then elaborated and told me that of course braces move bone and most orthodontic patients undergo some kind of change to their facial structure. Some people like them, some don't. Again, I'm astonished that these changes were only acknowledged after the fact.

To be honest, I'm not happy with the changes. Had I known that I would lose my naturally round, youthful face and end up looking like a hollowed out anorexic stupor model, I most probably would never have done this. Is the trade off – straighter teeth, a proper bite, and improved dental health worth it? I honestly don't know . . .

I've had extractions and my face is noticeably thinner and more gaunt looking. I've lost weight over the past 5 years nearly 4 stone in total, but i've only lost about 6lbs since having my braces put on. My face appears more gaunt since i've had them on. I've had my hair cut and restyled differently as a result as I found my face looked too long especially if I put my hair up.