Anterior open bite has made me very depressed

[yeahyeahyeah]

Long story short, I have long face syndrome; bottom jaw asymmetry and an anterior open bite.

It has totally killed my self esteem for the past 12 years. The long face syndrome has longated my face and give me a sad face look, the jaw assymetry often makes me wonder how attractive i will be once it is corrected. I am near the end of my treatment, already had sarpe done, but at 26 I feel as though I have lost much of my late teens and early 20s to this. And until it is fixed, I never feel at peace with my physical appearance. Im very sensitive too people being critical to my looks, and they have been.

This in turn has affected me in the dating game. I see my better looking friends get a lot more attention then me, even if I am confident, meaning just getting girls into me, is such incredibly hard work.

Anyway, felt like I needed to rant on here. Very depressed about this right now.

[keeponsmiling]

You're not alone! I have long face syndrome too, with a very narrow, sad-looking face, open bite, a cant in my bottom jaw. I avoided Sarpe but am due to have maxillary impaction, BSSO and genio in a couple of weeks. Has your bite closed through braces or are you having more surgery? Perhaps you should consider genio to reduce your chin height if your jaws and bite are ok now? I know exactly how depressing it is and my confidence before I had kids (which always changes your perspective) was pretty low. I often wonder how different my life would have been if I didn't keep getting told to 'cheer up' when I wasn't even sad, told I chew like a camel, struggled to eat in public (working lunches were a nightmare), and generally teased (spoon-face, flat-face, Tutankhamun...). Life is too short to get down about your appearance and have it ruin your future. I've not heard any reports of someone's appearance not improving through orthodontic work, though there are a few people who said the improvement wasn't as great as they hoped. Look into your options before you let your twenties slip by too - you're still young!! I really really wish I'd been given a kick up the backside to sort my jaw out sooner.

[yeahyeahyeah]

You're not alone! I have long face syndrome too, with a very narrow, sad-looking face, open bite, a cant in my bottom jaw. I avoided Sarpe but am due to have maxillary impaction, BSSO and genio in a couple of weeks. Has your bite closed through braces or are you having more surgery? Perhaps you should consider genio to reduce your chin height if your jaws and bite are ok now? I know exactly how depressing it is and my confidence before I had kids (which always changes your perspective) was pretty low. I often wonder how different my life would have been if I didn't keep getting told to 'cheer up' when I wasn't even sad, told I chew like a camel, struggled to eat in public (working lunches were a nightmare), and generally teased (spoon-face, flat-face, Tutankhamun...). Life is too short to get down about your appearance and have it ruin your future. I've not heard any reports of someone's appearance not improving through orthodontic work, though there are a few people who said the improvement wasn't as great as they hoped. Look into your options before you let your twenties slip by too - you're still young!! I really really wish I'd been given a kick up the backside to sort my jaw out sooner.

Hey, thank you for your support.

Basically I had SARPE done already, which has done wonders to my smile on my top jaw, HOWEVER I am waiting for my teeth to be perfectly aligned in order to get my bottom jaw corrected. It is a living hell!!!
I am hopeful by march/april I will have my second jaw op, but it seems like the date keeps being pushed forward due to my orthodontist being nit picky about the bite, and life is getting harder due to career aspirations etc. I guess I am happy the ball is moving, but it is taking so long, which is depressing me so much. Some days, I can't get out of bed, because I am so depressed about it all.

I understand what you mean about being bullied, often I get told I am geeky; and not to mention I am not very photogenic at all! Jawline upwards, I have nice eyes, hair, etc but then the jaw being so misaligned totally screws up facial symmetry. Hits me hard on the dating scene, because yeah as you say, people judge you by how you look right now.

Oh and not to mention not being able to smile with my teeth is annoying like hell! Have you ever had people say to you "smile with your teeth"...

[awags]

I just wanted to chime in and say hang in there.... because I'm sure it will get better. I do know how you feel though. Not only was I "blessed" with the long face thing, I was "blessed" with fluorosis. Essentially I was exposed to too much fluoride when I was a child which means my teeth are all discolored and gross. I have HATED (that's an understatement) the way I look and my teeth/smile for so long. My parents insurance didn't cover jaw surgery, and the only way to fix the discolored teeth, really, is with veneers which are also super expensive. This meant at 18 when I wanted to feel like I was on top of the world, I didn't because I looked awful and there was no solution in sight.

Fast forward to 2010 when I was 26. I found out my insurance would cover jaw surgery an I finally got the ball rolling. I have been SO impatient just wanting the end of this journey to finally be here. I underwent SARPE in April '10 and cried the day after, telling my husband I just hated how awful I looked and couldn't wait until I was done. It seemed like my surgery date was never going to get here, but it did. Double jaw surgery happened just 3 weeks ago and it looks as though in 6 months, braces should be off and then my last step is a visit to a cosmetic dentist to get rid of my awful discolored teeth and replace them with veneers.

It will get better! Hang in there!

[yeahyeahyeah]

I just wanted to chime in and say hang in there.... because I'm sure it will get better. I do know how you feel though. Not only was I "blessed" with the long face thing, I was "blessed" with fluorosis. Essentially I was exposed to too much fluoride when I was a child which means my teeth are all discolored and gross. I have HATED (that's an understatement) the way I look and my teeth/smile for so long. My parents insurance didn't cover jaw surgery, and the only way to fix the discolored teeth, really, is with veneers which are also super expensive. This meant at 18 when I wanted to feel like I was on top of the world, I didn't because I looked awful and there was no solution in sight.

Fast forward to 2010 when I was 26. I found out my insurance would cover jaw surgery an I finally got the ball rolling. I have been SO impatient just wanting the end of this journey to finally be here. I underwent SARPE in April '10 and cried the day after, telling my husband I just hated how awful I looked and couldn't wait until I was done. It seemed like my surgery date was never going to get here, but it did. Double jaw surgery happened just 3 weeks ago and it looks as though in 6 months, braces should be off and then my last step is a visit to a cosmetic dentist to get rid of my awful discolored teeth and replace them with veneers.

It will get better! Hang in there!

I just had my picture taken with a friend. I looked quite good in the picture, but the assymetrical jawline has definently knocked 1 or 2 points off my look. My bottom jaw, visibly slants to the right and as a result of this, the assymetry gives my face less structure. Looks like something is not right, if you get my drift.

God, feel so depressed about this. I know for sure, if I never had this problem I would be very good looking, as I have quite masculine features and not bad looking as I am, just average - 7. I am 26 now, really want to go out there and hit the dating scene hard. But this is always affecting my self esteem because the defect is on my face.

[TheDude]

"really want to go out there and hit the dating scene hard. But this is always affecting my self esteem because the defect is on my face."

I know that feeling unfortunately, since I got braces and my underbite has got worse I have lost all confidence in myself and have given up trying to get a girlfriend because of it. Not good

[yeahyeahyeah]

"really want to go out there and hit the dating scene hard. But this is always affecting my self esteem because the defect is on my face."

I know that feeling unfortunately, since I got braces and my underbite has got worse I have lost all confidence in myself and have given up trying to get a girlfriend because of it. Not good

recently had my orthodontist appointment. Turns out I have terrible assymetry, and they need to do a lot of work to correct my face. Basically my chin is not in the right place! it slants to the left. They may also need to fix my nose, as it is off too one side.

fortunantly I am in the final stages off my treatment, so i will be operated on in the summer, but the wait is killing me.

I have been quite down about this, admittedly. I was planning on going out and hitting the clubs to get a girl, but now i am demotivated in doing so.

I am 26. Feel like my youth is slipping by.

[TheDude]

"really want to go out there and hit the dating scene hard. But this is always affecting my self esteem because the defect is on my face."

I know that feeling unfortunately, since I got braces and my underbite has got worse I have lost all confidence in myself and have given up trying to get a girlfriend because of it. Not good

recently had my orthodontist appointment. Turns out I have terrible assymetry, and they need to do a lot of work to correct my face. Basically my chin is not in the right place! it slants to the left. They may also need to fix my nose, as it is off too one side.

fortunantly I am in the final stages off my treatment, so i will be operated on in the summer, but the wait is killing me.

I have been quite down about this, admittedly. I was planning on going out and hitting the clubs to get a girl, but now i am demotivated in doing so.

I am 26. Feel like my youth is slipping by.

The waiting is the worst thing, so frustrating! I found out today that it will be another 8 months until I can get surgery and I have been in braces for 2 years next month .

Good to here you are in the final stages of your treatment, I also noticed my nose points to one side, is this corrected with upper jaw surgery?

Don't worry man, you aren't alone with this. It will be worth it in the end and you are still young considering the amount of people on here in there 40s and 50s getting surgery.

Hope it all goes well for you and gives you the confidence boost you need

[sirwired]

Guys, don't let your asymmetrical jaw get you so down... my jaw is so crooked my ortho bust out laughing when he looked at my frontal cephalogram. It took him two entire hours of staring at models and x-rays to try and figure out even a vague treatment estimate, my case is so tough. (18-24mos of braces + 3-piece LeFort + BSSO + Genio + 6 more mos of braces.)

And all this orthodontic evaluation happened eight years after I married the woman of my dreams. (Our 10th is in June.) My jaw certainly didn't shift any after I was married; the right woman is not going to care how straight your jaw is.

As a side note, my ortho said my full goatee hides my asymmetrical jawline really well. (And I thought it was just because I was left-handed that I could never get the right side of the goatee straight.) Yes, ladies, I know that isn't very helpful to you, but the rest of the post still applies.

SirWired

[PrincessLea]

I can totally relate to the SMILLLLLE taunts always get it. used to get it a lot especially at school in those sarcastic ways! I was always like what?? I'm not in a bad mood... well NOW I am! Never really knew it was all related. from fully relaxed pics I just look tired and moody. Can't wait until thats sorted and my lips don't droop down and hang open!