THINNING of face during braces

[Boilers]

Add me to the list of those that have been happy with the results after extractions. I have a long face anyway, but I've been told it looks more athletic.

[Nasser]

[quote="Boilers"]Add me to the list of those that have been happy with the results after extractions. I have a long face anyway, but I've been told it looks more athletic.[/quote]

Well for me after I had extraction my face became rounder. I used to have an oval face but now it's round and little bit chubby although I am very thin !

[wigglewiggle]

My two cents from a pretty extensive amateur research, also a sum-up
-thinning of face is not a direct result from extraction. Proof: a number of users on this forum have experienced thinning without extraction
-however, with or without extraction your bite is altered and that may affect how your chewing muscles work, be the situation temporary or permanent
-loss of tooth causes bone absorption in alveolar's width and height.
-thinning of face should be distinguished from sunken face. The latter refers to a collapsed face, i.e. your face maintains its volume however its dragging downwards. Lips lose support as well as other parts. For thinning your face is still relatively tight but its thinned.
-protruded cheekbones come from the contrast of your previously nice and full cheeks (muscles, fat, etc.) and full temples. While cheekbones do grow minimally as we age (yes, as a matter of fact our facial bones continue to grow and change after 18 but this happens so slow and the change is negligible unless you hold up your pictures from 20s and 50s and compare.), such dramatic change is mostly from loss of volume in other facial areas.
-The unlucky ones speak loud while the happy ones live their own life, but from this 9-page thread it's not uneasy to tell thinning of face isn't THAT uncommon.

[Rubyg]

Oh sweet Jesus petrified now...my teeth are fine and look pretty straight but I just have a really narrow jaw and a horrible narrow smile, my tongue feels too big for my mouth and also have very asymmetrical lips like a really pronounced snarl on the right side...I'm getting an ALF in next month to widen arches n braces after but so worried reading all the posts as I already have a long thin face n last thing I want is to exacerbate that!! Can any of the original posters please respond if you've had braces removed and let us know if your still unhappy with face length and width?? Did your sunken cheeks fill out again after braces removed? I hate my face at the moment and actually couldn't bear it if it got worse..seems like people with naturally thin faces saw faces getting thinner...any responses really appreciated!

[LittleSern]

I have to say that my face has also thinned since I had my braces put on March 20th. I found this thread via a search for the same problem - I'm glad it's not just me. I did not have any extractions done, but I do have turbos in my back molars. I tend to agree with the people who are saying its probably due to a combo of the turbos and the bite not being the same as before and the effect that has on the muscles. I also have class ii elastics on at all times - my face muscles are probably working in different ways than they ever have before.

I know it's not just me because my sister notices a change but she thinks I look a lot better now. I just feel like I look old and worse.

I took hope in that one post where the girl felt better after she got her braces off. I really want to feel like myself again!! I'm also going to bring this up at my next ortho appt.

[palmtrees]

My masseter muscles on my jaws have shrunk significantly because I haven't been able to use them since I had bite blocks put in on my back molars. It has made my cheekbones stand out more which is nice, but I will need to get the muscles on my jaws back because I don't like this thinner look on the lower half of my face.

Surely they are like any other muscles on the body in that they have 'muscle memory' and they will grow back to their previous size if they are used again?

[acmoc]

I had 4 extractions and yes my face got thinner but in a better way. I had bad flared teeth.
I am happy, people say I look nicer. I've heard that it wrinkles your face and I started to get paranoid. But none of that has happened with me.

[acmoc]

As for the longer face argument.
Is this because overbites/all kinds of bites are fixed and so the jaw sits lower?
I am purposely not wearing my class 2 elastics and am going to ask my ortho if my overbite can be left untouched.

[jeanphilt]

Add me to the list of unhappy client ...
I have got my braces since about 6 months now and its getting really obvious.
They removed 4 teeths in my case.
I already had a small face but now the sunken cheeks are really annoying me.
If they had warned me of the risk, I would have kept my missaligned teeths.

[acmoc]

So I wanted to update this thread, my braces came off 1 year ago and my face looks horrible. The bottom part of my face is so sunken and my cheek bones protrude and I have a ton of excess skin. I currently have braces on and am reopening the spaces.

[IssaAnon]

[quote="acmoc"]So I wanted to update this thread, my braces came off 1 year ago and my face looks horrible. The bottom part of my face is so sunken and my cheek bones protrude and I have a ton of excess skin. I currently have braces on and am reopening the spaces.[/quote]

Oh no this is scary. Did you have excessive crowding? My ortho says i have moderate crowding and i also have my teeth protruding outwards. Im getting my braces monday and he says I should get my 4 premolars removed.

[acmoc]

So I wanted to update this thread, my braces came off 1 year ago and my face looks horrible. The bottom part of my face is so sunken and my cheek bones protrude and I have a ton of excess skin. I currently have braces on and am reopening the spaces.

Oh no this is scary. Did you have excessive crowding? My ortho says i have moderate crowding and i also have my teeth protruding outwards. Im getting my braces monday and he says I should get my 4 premolars removed.

Slight crowding and flared teeth. 1st premolars were removed and the fronts look to have come back 7 mm according to my new ortho. ON top of that the arc got so small so my face looks narrow too.
Get the seconds removed and carefully watch your profile, so you can ask the rear molars to be moved forward. My new ortho will be moving everything forward.

I would never recommend extractions to anyone. Get an expander, extractions only as a last resort.

[Ploppy]

Any process found to address these problems?

[Ploppy]

Can you post and update on how things went?

[13july]

[quote="sillano"]The reason that you have a skinny face from your braces, at least if you had teeth extracted, is because of bone reabsorbtion. Orthodontists really need to step up and explain this to people before extracting healthy teeth, it is such a 1980's way of treating, they have so many new ways of doing things, this is a barbaric practice, that does damages the face. Who cares if you have nice teeth, if you look older and have a sunken in face? I am going through this right now, but I am trying to reverse it. I had lingual braces put on 4 years ago when I was 27, three extracted premolars one below and two on top, my face looks skinny, my cheeks have sunken in, and I've lost my pouty lips. I had a class 2 overjet and moderate crowding. Surgery was recommended, I didn't want to do the surgery for many reasons, cost, facial change, and recovery. I wish I would have just straightened my teeth with invisalign and left my bite alone especially using extractions. The ortho didn't really explain to me in detail the facial changes that would occur from doing treatment this way.

My orthodontist has reopened the extractions so I can place dental implants, he hasn't got the teeth back in the original position though...yet, I have room on top for implants, not enough below. He has given me an 8 mm overjet and my upper teeth are flaring out now, I never had either of these traits before.
He wants to remove the braces now and retain my teeth. If he refuses to finish the work, I will have to pay another ortho to complete the opening and correct positioning of space. I am so angry and regretful of this orthodontic nightmare. But even with the space opened for the implants my cheeks are still sunken and my mouth is still not as pouty as it was before..I am hoping that the bone grafting for the dental implants will build up my face to what it was. The cost is ghastly to, 12 k on the braces so far, 10k for the implants, the implants are at a discount through the university,possibly even more money on braces too....I wish I did my homework before and not after, would have saved my face, a lot of money, time and pain.[/quote]
Been a long time since this post I know.. But i hope you did better after this.. Iam going to get braces for vme because like you, i refused surgery.. My deepest concern with even braces is that i dont want to look older than my age with sunken in cheeks after braces