THINNING of face during braces

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#46 Post by **larita** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:47 pm

ok thats my first time posting. it seems we're all having the same problems with the skinny face, sunkin cheeks, prominent cheekbones. and we're all asking whether or not our face is gonna go back to how it used to look before. but i havent found one clear answer. im confused. some say yes some no. Can anyone please who has gone through all this and has had his braces removed for a while tell us abt the results of the face shape. I'm pretty worried coz i feel my face looks so bad

and whenever i take pictures, i turn to the side, because i don't want a full picture of my face. It looks scary skinny. and people bother me by always telling me WHY ARE YOU LOSING SO MUCH WEIGHT? they dont believe me when i say its the braces:(

#47 Post by **classII** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:59 pm

Seems to be a running theme with first time posters.

It's an illusion.

If you're able to see that and creases in your face, plain and simple you're either nuts or staring at paint drying.

#48 Post by **larita** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 3:35 pm

huh?

#49 Post by **zmossy** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:38 pm

It's not an illusion when the 10th person who hasn't seen me for a few months asks me why I look so thin. I just want to know if this is temporary & common situation at the first stage of brace, especially if teeth are extracted. Or the impact depends on each person, someone might & someone might not have face changed or thinning at all.

#50 Post by **kimous** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:06 am

I havnt had extractions but I had one issue some time ago that really got me stressed out.

I lost the second molar on one side due to a bad root canal procedure. The othodontist promised me he can closed the gap but a great many things went wrong when he did that. A few months into my braces i noticed a little thinning or small subtle dent in my face and was overly concerned about it cause it was never there before. Then it got progressively worse as they close the gap further and further this only happenned on one side.

I really dont know why it happenned however i have since changed orthodontist and they have reopened my gap. I dont know why this happens but this is just my own personal experience that dent is not no longer a problem or is visible.

So that problem is gone.

Now new problem i now notice that my face appears just slightly thinner or longer. After studying before and after photos i noticed that my molars have been extruded they use to sit much shorter then the rest of my teeth to level everything he chose to extrude my four molars rather then intrude the front few teeth. Now they have been pulled out more so when i bite down it just looks longer and thinner as a result. On top of which they also placed amalgum to build up my two bottom teeth so that when i might down my top teeth dont overbite my bottom teeth. I only had a slight overbite so amalgum at the bottom plus the extrusion they have done now has caused the face to look longer which i hate.

I hope this helps. Braces can cause your face to look thin it did mine. Its not an illusion it really can change your face. I believe if you had a really round face to start off then this would be ideal but if you have a slightly thin face to start off with and it gets thinner as a result of braces then it makes you look haggard and tired all the time and im only 28.

#51 Post by **beth1966** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:01 am

Not sure how old each of you are - - - but our faces do change as we age. When I was in my late 20's my face was plumper and more filled out, I'd bet I weighed a little bit less then, then I do now. I have a long narrow face and high cheekbones, small mouth, strong chin. I'm 5'7 and my weight fluctuates - but if I am stressed out, my weight goes down.

At 115 lbs my face looks VERY thin and sunken in - at 125 lbs it looks better. Right now I am at 118lbs, no one has really said my face looks thin the way they did when I was at 115. I'm not even braced yet - so who knows what will change, but I have found an ortho who takes facial shape and esthetics definitely into account, but for me - what might be changed is the fullest of my upper lip area as he moves both top and bottom teeth out. Not sure how cheek bones could be affected.

Anyway - if you've lost a lot of weight recently, I suggest making a conscious effort to eat high calorie/healthy foods and put on some pounds. It just might affect the overall appearance of your face.

#52 Post by **KLC** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:59 am

I agree with beth1966. When I first got my braces on I lost about 6 pounds (due to braces, extractions, 2 months of straight travel for work and a sinus infection). I have always been skinny skinny and the weight loss did not help. I had a couple of people tell me they could see it in my face. I have made a very conscience effort to eat more and to work out (lifting weights). Weight has come back on but it's good weight. I believe my face is back to normal (at least the comments stopped coming).

I think a lot of people show weight-loss first in their face and sooo many people have stated that they have lost weight due to braces. Though this may not be the only reason for the face-change, it can only help to keep things as normal as possible. I have had braces for 8 months, extractions were done 5 months ago. Maybe I have't gotten to the face-shape time yet, fingers crossed it doesn't happen and I can keep the weight on. I promise to repost when I get my braces off to let you know if things changed and if it changed back... however I've got at least another year plus to go

Anyone out there who has already gone through it and can let us know if your face did go back to normal??

Please put our minds at ease and, for everyone else going through it right now, hang in there!!

#53 Post by **unabraces** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:50 pm

I've posted a couple of times about this issue and I too would love to hear from people who has their braces off and regained their full face again.

But this is my theory...You get your braces on and the first day it seems like you can't properly close your mouth with your lips touching. Gradually as the months go on, you are able to wrap your lips around those huge brackets and wire. This causes stretching of the jaw muscle and since the muscle is connected to the jaw bone, there's resistance. When muscles do work with resistance, they become stronger. Muscles burn fat. If your muscle in your face is becoming stronger you are more able to burn fat in your face. Hence, the disappearance of fat and that full face look. Much similar to doing sit ups to build up muscle so that they get bigger and are able to burn fat more easily.

By the way, does anyone know how to gain face only in the face and not body? Or what is a healthy way to gain weight?

#54 Post by **classII** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:19 pm

Good point.

But it's the bite that is doing that. Once your bite is corrected and all teeth contact evenly and 100% muscles that were never used or were weaker when your bite was off - say if you only ever had contact on 4 teeth total or if your molars were always the first to contact when you bit down even if the rest did contact, you'd be developing muscle from there. With a complete bite, 100% contact all teeth all the time you bite or chew will strengthen the muscles in the face evenly. Tighten up the flabby face as the muscle develops just like any flabby part of the body toned by working out or developing the muscles.

You can even feel it if you push up your molars on your top arch with your thumb, then the first premolar you can feel the difference or pressure in the different postiions in your face.

#55 Post by **unabraces** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:24 pm

for me i don't think i was my bite. my bite was good on my right side when I had chubby cheeks and now it hasn't changed much bite wise and it looks pretty sunken in.

I have a small mouth and it had to over come much bracket and wire space to properly close.

regardless of why, i'm now looking into ways to gain weight in a healthy way. hopefully it will all go to my face.

#56 Post by **theKurp** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:53 am

unabraces wrote:I've posted a couple of times about this issue and I too would love to hear from people who has their braces off and regained their full face again.

But this is my theory...You get your braces on and the first day it seems like you can't properly close your mouth with your lips touching. Gradually as the months go on, you are able to wrap your lips around those huge brackets and wire. This causes stretching of the jaw muscle and since the muscle is connected to the jaw bone, there's resistance. When muscles do work with resistance, they become stronger. Muscles burn fat. If your muscle in your face is becoming stronger you are more able to burn fat in your face. Hence, the disappearance of fat and that full face look. Much similar to doing sit ups to build up muscle so that they get bigger and are able to burn fat more easily.

By the way, does anyone know how to gain face only in the face and not body? Or what is a healthy way to gain weight?

Um, nice try, but no. At least you're thinking though.

The act of trying to wrap your lips around your new braces would not engage the jaw muscle. However, it *might* cause the skin to stretch if your efforts were consistent enough.

Muscle does not "burn fat" - at least not directly. It is true however that increased lean muscle mass will result in increased metabolism. Your body draws energy from a number of sources, one of which is fat. Unfortunately, fat is usually near the bottom of the list of reserves from which energy is utilized.

Genetics determines where your body will store fat. Generally speaking, most fat cells on men are in the mid-section, while for women they are in the hip areas. Targeting a muscle for growth does not mean it will produce fat loss in the same area as the muscle. Again, genetics determines where and what fat cells will be most affected by weight loss; but it is safe and accurate to say that you cannot spot reduce fat in any particular area of the body.

#57 Post by **Princess123** » Mon May 04, 2009 1:56 pm

I have had my braces for 15 months now. I am so surprised to see all the replies i got since i started this thread in November 08. I'm sorry for everybody that are unhappy with unexpected changes

My face still looks narrower and longer but no real changes for the past 6 months. My cheekbones have always been very high so they look even higher now!

Larita, like you, people don't believe me when I tell them that the changes are due to the braces and it's definitly not the "correct me" that
I'm seeing now like someone here suggested!

I'm getting my braces off in July (or sooner I hope)and I will definitly let you know if my face is back to normal... I'm really looking forward to getting them off, it's such a pain to have braces at 26!

Good luck everyone

#58 Post by **John37** » Tue May 05, 2009 3:04 am

theKurp wrote:Genetics determines where your body will store fat. Generally speaking, most fat cells on men are in the mid-section, while for women they are in the hip areas. Targeting a muscle for growth does not mean it will produce fat loss in the same area as the muscle. Again, genetics determines where and what fat cells will be most affected by weight loss; but it is safe and accurate to say that you cannot spot reduce fat in any particular area of the body.

I agree with most of your explanation and correction of unabraces post.

I think that fat is lost proportional to the amount on each area of the body, but new fat cells will get added mostly on those particular areas of men and women. In other words, if you put on fat then lose it, you won't end up back where you started. So putting on weight and losing it will sometimes make a person's face look thinner.

#59 Post by **Ebony** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:26 pm

This post has really scared me.

Iâ€™m planning on getting braces in a bout a month and the ortho wants to extract 4 teeth.

Iâ€™m 36 and have been sucking my thumb on and off my whole lifeâ€¦the results is that I have an open bite with my top two teeth protrude, and I now have a lisp.

My lips looks full (I love it) and I donâ€™t want the caved in cheek look

I came across this book â€œFacebuildingâ€

#60 Post by **aspirex** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:37 am

If my lower teeth are crowded because the lower arch is too narrow...then I have a expander or anything that can enlarge the arch and straighten the teeth...will it make my lower portion of/lower jaw on my face look wider? vice versa to the top jaw...or the teeth will not affect the facial aspects?