Sunken / thinning face during treatment (overbite)

[Raquen]

Hello everyone,

I put my upper braces in august and lower three months ago. I have a significant (or class 2) overbite that actually never bothered me as I was happy with my features and teeth overall, the only thing negative was misalignment on my bottom teeth but it wasn't too noticable. Ok, now that the braces are correcting my teeth I see that my "old" smile was less attractive but still noone saw the reason why I should wear braces. I chose to wear braces mainly for the esthetics, I am 33 years old. Now I am not sure it was a good thing.

As I was researching I've read many topics and even academic works about extractions potentially causing faces to sink and how fixing bite could cause face changes. I spoke to 3 orthodontist and it seemed everyone was reluctant to talk about it, basically acknowledging that the face could change but no one explaining how and what could I expect. In the end I choose a really young doctor, but the only one willing to even discuss this topic in more details. She told me to fix overbite we would have to extract 4 teeth, which would change my profile, but there was also an option to not totally fix the overbite but basically make the inward teeth in the correct position and correct the alignment - something that would make my teeth nicer but not change anything I don't want or risk with the extractions. I was super happy.

Well how did I end here?? I don't know. After she put my bottom bracket and bite blockers, I walked out with a strange face. Most of it was the turbos, but as I keep going, turbos wearing off, my bottom teeth moving, I notice my face being different. I am skinny with high cheekbones, now I look much older and emaciated without much change in weight. I am so confused, as it all happens with my teeth going forward and my smile that was narrow getting actually wider. It is so hard to know what to do. I went to another consultation to another doctor who basically told me it can't be the braces. It is quite annoying as people notice it, I don't imagine it, and now I am so scared and in doubt if I should continue the treatment. As I said, my smile is obviously getting more broad and beautiful but my resting face looks longer, without any fat, narrow, sunken, not oval as before but more diamond shape. My only hope is scraping the remaining of the turbos (very little) and somehow my face returning to normal, but then my lower teeth will still quite significantly move forward which I am afraid is causing all this. How can my smile get wider but my chin narrower??

There were many topics of this sort, but rarely anyone updated after finishing the treatment. I open this topic hopefully to be the one who will give an update whatever I decide (now I kind of plan to continue wearing and pray for the best). But I am so so confused how this is not talked about, how this can happen, how anyone even put braces if this is such a high risk! I hope to hear your experiences. English is not my native language.

[bigopenbite]

Yah from what I understand there definitely is a place for extractions. That being said I would want to be sure it's the best way as I think orthos sometimes use extractions for convenience. Perhaps there are other options like TAD's or headgear that could reduce the need for extractions.