Metal Mouth Message Board

Do adult braces change the face more than for younger people? If you haven't smiled most of your life - what does it mean to start? Does the mouth change as it now has to expand to show teeth, etc. Can you look worse than you did?

Clearly, I'm a little overly concerned, probably. I guess because I now only see a closed, braced mouth that sticks out a little more, and I wonder if the face changes in a way that you didn't expect. And wonder if the adult face changes more because of a radical change later in life.

Thanks for any thoughts. Figured it's better to get feedback than to ruminate.

I would think that a younger person's face would change more easily b/c they are still growing and bones are fusing, etc. I don't know if it's the truth though b/c a lot of adults here say their face changed a lot. It depends on things like if you had teeth taken out, but they say that extractions towards the front only affect your lips and not really the shape of your face.

What i'm realizing though is that when teeth are fixed or especially if there are extractions, there are facial changes b/c the back molars move forward too and that will possibly make your face either more narrow, or more hallowed, etc.

And, if your ortho doesn't do any leveling in the front and the teeth just get extruded in the process, your face will look longer too.

I think a lot of these can be prevented or mitigated w/a good ortho who is aware of possible facial changes.

My face has changed shape, but for the good. My teeth mainly tipped inwards, so my face was a bit pouchy because my teeth didn't fill it out properly. Now my teeth are in place, I have cheekbones for the first time and the pouchy bits around the jawline have gone - think of one of those makeover programmes when they show a woman in saggy underwear then with lovely new supportive underwear, lol!

He said I will have more top lip support , but he said my profile shouldnt change.

My face is already narrow, if it gets any narrower i wont have a face. lOL

believer1964 wrote:He said I will have more top lip support , but he said my profile shouldnt change.

My face is already narrow, if it gets any narrower i wont have a face. lOL

When did you get your braces on? What are you achieving w/the braces that will give you more lip support?

It's pretty amazing all the different ways your face can change with braces... my profile is definitely going to change, it already has.

i am losing lip support. my two teeth next to each front tooth is rotated and look like they are sticking out. and my insisors are tipping in too. I guess it will make my lip fuller. anytime your teeth go in, your lip can go flat looking. I have a deep overbite as well. my back teeth cant meet anymore.

I get braced wednesday, and boy do i have butterflies. I am having to pray to the lord and ask the lord to help me with this, cuz i am just about ready to cancel.

how were your teeth before. did you have extractions?

believer1964 wrote:how were your teeth before. did you have extractions?

If you're asking me, I did have extractions. I do wonder if those had something to do with it, however I sort of don't think so. What happened with me is that the fat IN my cheek is diminished. Extracting or not extracting teeth should have no impact on the amount of fat in my cheeks.

Are you getting extractions?

I wish that palatal expansion would have been an option for me, however my understanding is that as an adult, this doens't really work and all it does it tip your teeth outwards a little bit, and that could result in a bad bite relation, with undue stress on roots.

I am wondering how I'll look after braces. I'm really hoping that any facial changes I might have experienced is not so obvious after they are off.

My face has just lost a lot of fat in the cheeks. That's mostly it. I don't think my face looks longer or narrower in the sense that my bone structure is probably just as narrow as it was before.. but for some reason the fat in my cheeks is less.. and that is just really weird for me.

Thanks for all the responses so far.

its funny he was the only one who said he did not want to do extractions at all as he said would not be esthically pleasing for me .


the other consultations were extraction happy.

I removed one tooth. One of my bottom central incisors. I have noticed changes in my face. As some persons mentioned, the "fat" in my cheeks are now gone. My face looks more oval. All of this however is in a good way. It took some time and still getting used to this new face. I see it when I take photos, my smile has changed somewhat. Again....for the better.

llehsal wrote:I removed one tooth. One of my bottom central incisors. I have noticed changes in my face. As some persons mentioned, the "fat" in my cheeks are now gone. My face looks more oval. All of this however is in a good way. It took some time and still getting used to this new face. I see it when I take photos, my smile has changed somewhat. Again....for the better.

Why do you think that is.. that you'd lose fat in your cheeks.. (that was me who mentioned it too). Did you lose weight everywhere else too? I just think it's the weirdest thing that I lost my fat pad on my cheeks. I don't get it at all.

I really can't say, but I have not lost weight anywhere else really to talk about. I am naturally slim, but with high, full cheeks/cheek bones. Now I have to up on the blush to make them look as plump As I mentioned, my face narrowed out quite a bit :S

My kids have noticed a change in my face,I have as well.Wrinkles that I didn't notice before,the brownish shadow next to my mouth is gone.My daughter said they make me look younger,which is good

My face has changed in a positive way. I'm in my late 30's. I had an impacted canine which meant I still had a baby tooth in my top arch. The teeth on that side tipped inwards, whilst my front teeth overlapped slightly as I have a small mouth - my arch was more of a v shape than a u shape.

As part of the braces process, I had two extractions on my top arch (the baby canine and the first premolar on the other side - this is because I'd had two lower teeth removed when I was a kid). The braces have evened up my face - it wasn't really noticeably wonky, but people who haven't seen me for a while comment on how symmetrical my face looks. Despite the extractions, I think my face actually looks fuller and more healthy now. I have lingual braces, so it's nothing to do with the brackets pushing my lips out.