Can't smile normally since braces

[ur5girls]

I am 44 years old and over the years my bottom teeth shifted and were no longer straight. I decided a couple of years ago to have something done about this so the orthodontist put braces on my bottom teeth. I had them on for quite a while-- maybe 15 months or so and now that they have been off for over a year now I am so discouraged and sad that I ever even thought about having my teeth fixed! It is so much worse now! Honestly, I was not happy with my smile before this because my teeth are not white at all-- actually they have a gray tint to them and when I tried whitening (both at the dentist office with Zoom and at home with the trays made by my dentist) it did not work at all. I really wanted to give the Lumineers or Veneers a shot, but my husband was not a big fan of this decision to put it mildly.....probably a large part of that was financial! I decided that the first step needed to be straightening out my bottom teeth and then I would decide from there.....well, I am so depressed now because the way my bite is now I can't even smile at all without looking like the Joker or something! There is no way at all for me to smile naturally and I truly do not know what step to take next. Obviously I will not ever go back to this orthodontist again, but I don't want to make another bad choice that cost thousands of dollars only to be even worse off than I am now! (although I don't know how that could happen to be honest!) If my bite would go back to where it was so that I could actually have a normal smile I would go ahead and do whatever it took to have a nice white smile--be it lumineers or veneers-- but due to the cost involved I want to make sure I am doing the right thing! What do I need to do first in order to fix my bite so that I can actually smile without looking so goofy. Any help that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated because honestly I don't even want to be around people because I am so self conscious about how my mouth/face looks, not to mention that I would rather die than have a photo taken! My daughter gets very upset with me because she doesn't have hardly any photos of me from the past 5 years or so and I REFUSE to have my picture taken at all since all of this has happened! I look terrible and am so miserable and mad at myself for making a poor decision! Thanks in advance to anyone who has any words of advice.
I wanted to post a photo to show exactly what I am talking about, but for some reason I can't post photos. If anyone can share that with me as well, that would be great.

[MBriar]

You have to have 7 total posts on the forum before you have the ability to post photos.
Without a photo I'm not really sure what you are talking about with your smile. I'm assuming the braces would have corrected not only the crooked teeth but also an incorrect bite?? So I guess I'm not really sure what you mean about the bite affecting your smile.
You may try getting consults (around where I live you can usually get free consults) with a couple of different orthodontists and/or dentists to see what they would suggest as far as fixing what you don't like. If you get more than one opinion you can then make an informed decision from there.
Welcome to the forum and best of luck to you!

[chainreaction]

please post a photo so we can have an idea of what exactly you mean ...

[CLB26]

I'm so sorry to hear this . I had braces before too and they totally wrecked my ability to smile and speak normally. Mine was a different sort of issue, but I had trouble smiling too so I totally know how you feel. I'm back in braces now trying to get it sorted out.

Is it that you are having difficulty physically smiling? Meaning, is it hard physically for you to form your lips into a smile? Or is that okay, but it 'just' looks bad? I'm just wondering if your bite is wrong now, making your jaws and muscles out of alignment. That can distort your smile. Are you having pain? Your ortho might have left you with some TMJ issues .

Keep posting so you can get up to that 7 post mark so you can post some pictures for us. In the meantime, hang in there, we are here to support you. I definitely agree that you should go get some other opinions (multiple ones so that you aren't putting all of your eggs in one basket). And don't beat yourself up over this ... that is something that I am still trying to get over too, the self-blame, but you put your trust in a care provider who you believed was qualified to provide you proper treatment. And rightfully so, since the ortho had the credentials, likely the experience, and probably sold you a pretty convincing treatment plan. Anybody in your position would have done the same. This is NOT your fault as you had no way of knowing that this would be the outcome.

[CLB26]

I just re-read your post again and I wanted to add that you need to be very, very careful with lumineers and veneers. Lumineers are advertised sometimes as not being permanent, as in, you can remove them if you don't like them. This is not true, as your teeth underneath are shaved down. Same thing with veneers. What happens with these restorations is that you are taking away the healthy enamel of your natural teeth and capping them essentially. My friend had lumineers done and they are super thick and, a year later, he is still trying to get used to them. Restorations don't feel like natural teeth at all. Trust me, I have crowns and they do not feel natural. (And they were done by the best prosthodontist in my province.) You get used to these things, but they are never like your own teeth and they will never be your own teeth again.

Sooo my point is, is that function and the feeling of your teeth/mouth is much more important than what your teeth look like cosmetically. I think the dental profession is very sad because there are so many providers out there who are just out to make a buck and so they make all these grand promises of beautiful teeth, but can't deliver. There is nothing better than your own, healthy, natural teeth, even if the color is a bit off. Trust me!!! Once you get your smiling issue straightened out (and I'm sure you will), I think you need to just work on accepting your teeth the way they are and appreciating that you have your own teeth and that they are healthy. I'm sure nobody thinks they look as bad as you think they do. Your husband married you so he obviously thinks you are beautiful the way you are!

Sorry for the ramble ... I just really don't want you to make an irreversible mistake with lumineers/veneers. At least your smiling issues can be fixed, but once you get those lumineers/veneers on there you have them for life!!!!

[ashesgap]

So you just had braces on your bottoms? That's sounds like where the issue might have come from. Because you only moved one set of teeth, while not moving the other ones to fit. I think a good start is getting consults from new orthos, and not doing any kind of veneers till your bite is fixed.

[ArchWired28]

As others have said, be VERY careful with veneers and lumineers. I know people who have no problems with them for years, but others regret this decision with all their heart. And remember, once done - there's no coming back, you have to keep redoing them over and over if they break or if you don't like them, or else - get crowns.
Ever seen that picture, when the dentist looks on the patient's teeth through the mirror and sees money? Unfortunately, money is a huge driving force in cosmetic dentistry nowadays. So unless you have thousands of dollars hanging around that you could easily spend, I advice against shaving healthy teeth.

If somethins is wrong with your bite, that is another story. That should be fixed, or your health may be compromised. Try to address that first, preferably before you jump into a costly, life-long affair with cosmetic dentistry. Maybe post a pic of your teeth, so that we could see what's going on? Sometimes, our cosmetic/physical flaws are overinflated in our eyes, while others may not notice this at all... So maybe your teeth does not look that bad at all?

[ArchWired28]

So you just had braces on your bottoms? That's sounds like where the issue might have come from. Because you only moved one set of teeth, while not moving the other ones to fit. I think a good start is getting consults from new orthos, and not doing any kind of veneers till your bite is fixed.

Exactly my point.