worried about ruining my face :(

[jazzyjazz]

hi everyone, have started my treatment, have on lower braces now and upper to go on in may after 2 premolar extractions. I have quite a severe overbite, probably around 10/11 mm I would say , my orthodontist did tell me I could opt for surgical treatment but I decided to go with the 2 extractions (my top wisdom teeth are almost completely through and I wont need them out) and fixed braces and I would just have to keep in mind that my jaw discrepancy could limit quite how far things could be retracted but my ortho said he thinks I will be surprised with what a good result can be achieved with orthodontics alone.

I really do not want surgery as I do not feel my face as a whole is that bad, what I am concerned about though is that at the moment I feel my face is ok and its my overbite and bad teeth that are noticeable but once the overbite is being pulled back that it will be the problem with my jaw that is more noticeable and my face as a whole will look wrong.

I'm really worrying and stressing about this now..the big thing on my mind is that my teeth will improve but at the same time my face will deteriorate

just need reassurance really..i wont turn into a hideous potato faced monster over the next 2 years..will I??

have attached some pics so can get an idea of my face. (covered eyes because it says no full faces? best attempt lol )

[DaisySmith]

You're a beautiful looking girl, I'm sure you're only going to look even more lovely. Don't stress, I'm sure your ortho wouldn't proceed with a treatment choice he didn't feel wasn't absolutely right for you. Look forward to it all! X

[Bikerchick85]

I think your ortho's treatment choice is a good one for you. Your profile looks protrusive. I had a protrusive profile and severe crowding and went with the 4 extraction route. I am so thrilled with my decision!! You can check out my story and see my pics. I'm not finished yet but getting close. You are beautiful and think you'll be even more so after the braces good luck!

[jazzyjazz]

thanks both for the replies and compliments im trying to not stress and just look forward to the extra bit of confidence it will give me and bickerchick will def check out your story , thanks! xx

[ruchel]

I am so worried about ruining my face as well - I was doing some googling about tooth extractions and I had no idea it was such a controversial procedure - Is it uncommon to need extractions for braces - it felt like no big deal when I was talking with my ortho - but the horror story online are scary! - I like my face but not my teeth!

[twentysomething]

I had four teeth extracted and it went fine! My face seems to be more wellbalanced and teeth/mouth less protrusive.

[ruchel]

@twentysomething - I'm glad your extractions went well - I'm concerned my ortho didn't even mention that extractions is controversial - re bone loss - but it seems a lot of people are happy with there extractions

Did you hear your teeth crack? I hope this ends up being a case of worrying about the extractions was worse than the actual process

[prairiehouse]

When a surgeon says you can get surgery or extractions, I'd consult with other orthodontists, and possibly oral surgeons as well to see what they think in regards to the possible outcomes from both.

Some people get great results from extractions. Others get terrible results. Some orthodontists will go through with extractions even if they think oral surgery will give the better cosmetic result. It seems that often it's those that are offered the choice of both, or that push for extractions, even when (in both cases) the orthodontists recommends surgery, that the patient is left unhappy.


Personally I don't consider jaw surgery to be that high risk (certainly not without risk, but the riskier side effects in my opinion are acceptable). At least no relative to the likely outcome when compared with extractions (sunken face, no correction of bone structure, etc).

[ruchel]

Thanks! @prairiehouse I agree with your risk assessment between the jaw operation and the extractions - I am going to book an appointment with another orthodontist - the risks with extractions are too big for me to just cross my fingers and hope for the best. At least the BSSO that I need seems like a more simple operation than other people I have been talking to about jaw surgery with (doubles, cross bite ect)

- From the reading I've been doing the jaw surgery is seeming less stressful than the extractions!

I have one retained baby premolar that will need to go - so I am assuming taking the others is for balance - I wish I found this site before discussing my treatment plan! I have so many more questions! I had no idea this was going to be such a stressful decision!

[prairiehouse]

To add, I'm getting a BSSO. My orthodontist strongly recommended a BSSO instead of extractions, but it seemed like maybe I could have pushed him into extractions, or at least another orthodontist. Maybe not though.

I guess what I'd say is that if your orthodontist recommends surgery, go for surgery. They're the expert. Obviously it's your body and you'll have to live with the consequences, but for that reason you should listen to them. It seems like I've read a number of stories where the orthodontist recommended surgery, but was willing to do extractions and they ended up giving a bad result. I don't know how often this happens, and obviously more people come online to complain about poor results than to cheer about good ones, so it's difficult to ascertain.


My point I suppose is that you shouldn't live by fear. Don't be afraid of the idea of surgery. That's what seems to scare a lot of people off. I also don't want to make anyone think that extractions don't work either. I just want to communicate that you shouldn't have to try to convince your orthodontist into extractions. I'd go with their recommendation (in a general sense, I can't speak specifically situation to situation). They're committed to fixing your dentition, and perhaps that's why some (many?) seem willing to go ahead with that kind of fix, even if they think a surgical result would give a better cosmetic outcome. Because in the end it fixes your bite.


Obviously if your surgeon recommends extractions, and others do to, then you probably don't have much to worry about.


With surgery (BSSO), for myself, the main possible side effects are permanent numbness and relapse. Relapse can be corrected. Permanent numbness goes away in most cases (my OS who is among the top in North America gave me a very low number. I forget now what it was, but it was very low). And if it doesn't go away, it's localized to a small area.

Anyway, I was sufficiently displeased with my appearance to be willing to undertake the risk. Dentition wasn't my concern (but requires correction in the process).

[helricha]

To give a point of view from a nurse who works in the operating room: I was recommended jaw surgery for my condition since I was 14, which was 22 years ago. I know very well the risks of the surgery having been involved with it on multiple occasions.
The choice is yours but the surgery does significantly change a person's appearance. You must weight that as well since it is your facial features that you are concerned about changing.
People have great successes with surgeries and also great successes with extractions. I personally had 4 extractions and my face still looks the same but had I ended up choosing to have surgery, my appearance would have changed, which I was told by multiple surgeons and orthodontists. I wasn't willing to change my face. Not to mention the risk of facial paralysis from the nerves that are in your face and also the risk of general anesthesia for an elective procedure.
Which unfortunately, while most people do fine with general anesthesia, the risk of something happening is very real. If you look on the consent form, the risks are lung infection, stroke, heart attack, death.
Be informed and make your own decision. Do not let someone else's thought process make it for you. Just food for thought.

[JM572]

I had extractions as a teenager and I want to reverse it and it has damaged my face.

I think the difference with some people coming out fine from extractions and others coming out terrible is due to how bad the overcrowding was in the first place, specifically the palate that the teeth are connected to.

In my case given that my overcrowding was bad it only makes things worse as it doesn't make sense to remove 4 teeth and retracting the remaining teeth backwards when the root problem is the collapsing of my upper arch not how many teeth I have in my mouth. So by orthodontists thinking (if that is the word) that removing teeth, pulling the remaining front teeth backwards to fill the spots while my narrow arch still stays narrow is somehow a solution to my problem is an absolute joke.

My result is a narrow dished in profile, the narrow part which I've mentioned before is due to the collapsing of my front ach, and the dished part is due to teeth being pulled backwards. Also beisdes that my jaw is also going to have to move backwards by 1 tooth in length because if the front teeth were originally more forward have now been moved backwards then the original position of the jaw isn't going to be forwards or I would have an under bite.

I think the most ridiculous thing is that even now orthodontists at least in the uk still take out teenagers/children's teeth when it should be blatantly obvious to someone who is meant to be educated ( that removing teeth doesn't solve the problem of a narrow palate and furthermore if a force can push a palate out of shape then you can bet that a force can push it back into shape hence why we have functional orthodontists, Its not like expanding palates is a theory, you can legitimately do it.

[ron1697]

I have to get extractions too!