Changes in face during braces treatment

[amanygh]

Sorry if this post is all over the place i just needed to get some feelings out

Rant post:
The past week has been tough seeing old family members and having a lot of people tell me i look different was draining. At one point I couldn't put my finger on the changes, and now i see everything so clearly. My biggest annoyance has been the loss of cheek support, I had much nicer cheekbones, and having a wider face worked better for my features and especially my nose. You can see the changes the most from a side front angle. That use to be most attractive angle and go to for taking pictures, now i just look sick. Instead of having cheek volume at the top of my cheeks, my face looks fatter at the bottom half due to loss of face structure . For the bottom half of my face my nose looks wider i feel because my cheeks are smaller. I never liked my nose but i was okay with the front view of it looked normal, now it looks much wider and feels like the focus of my face. My lips looks slightly smaller they were always my favorite feature and helped balance out my nose. My mouth area still is very protruded because of the braces, probably when i get them off my lips will look even smaller, and nose even bigger. Finally my jaw looks very different, much smaller. My jaw changing was one of the first things i noticed. it looks pointier and less prominent if that makes any sense. Also my chin has receeded my face feels shorter but not in an attractive way. My face use to be more square shaped and now it has became more ovalish, the bottom half of my face looks bubbly while the top has sunk in. I just want my old face back. All i wanted was straighter teeth, I didn't not sign up for the rest of this. I wish i knew more about these things prior to getting braces. I would have looked into getting a treatment that would not alter my face. I could deal with a less than perfect smile, having my face change so much was not worth it. I feel the issue i have about my nose and mouth are reversible by bringing my jaw out, I am most scared about how i can get my cheeks to go back to how they were. I hope all this can get fixed, I was such an insecure person to begin with, its true you really don't know what you have till its gone, because the face I hated is all I want back.

[tomahawk1717]

Do you have any pictures of your teeth and face before you got treatment? I fear that I might be in same position as you. My gaps still arent closed all the way yet, and I want to do something about it if I'm going to end up with a different face.

[amanygh]

Do you have any pictures of your teeth and face before you got treatment? I fear that I might be in same position as you. My gaps still arent closed all the way yet, and I want to do something about it if I'm going to end up with a different face.

Sorry I don't have any to post however I think there are ways to fill the spaces since they're not closed up yet, I'm not sure what these appliances are called it would be better to ask your ortho . I didn't know much when i was going through it or else I would've looked more into the options. But try to discuss with your ortho that your afraid of the facial changes when the gaps close and don't let him dismiss your fears

[kribbo]

Sorry if this post is all over the place i just needed to get some feelings out

Rant post:
The past week has been tough seeing old family members and having a lot of people tell me i look different was draining. At one point I couldn't put my finger on the changes, and now i see everything so clearly. My biggest annoyance has been the loss of cheek support, I had much nicer cheekbones, and having a wider face worked better for my features and especially my nose. You can see the changes the most from a side front angle. That use to be most attractive angle and go to for taking pictures, now i just look sick. Instead of having cheek volume at the top of my cheeks, my face looks fatter at the bottom half due to loss of face structure . For the bottom half of my face my nose looks wider i feel because my cheeks are smaller. I never liked my nose but i was okay with the front view of it looked normal, now it looks much wider and feels like the focus of my face. My lips looks slightly smaller they were always my favorite feature and helped balance out my nose. My mouth area still is very protruded because of the braces, probably when i get them off my lips will look even smaller, and nose even bigger. Finally my jaw looks very different, much smaller. My jaw changing was one of the first things i noticed. it looks pointier and less prominent if that makes any sense. Also my chin has receeded my face feels shorter but not in an attractive way. My face use to be more square shaped and now it has became more ovalish, the bottom half of my face looks bubbly while the top has sunk in. I just want my old face back. All i wanted was straighter teeth, I didn't not sign up for the rest of this. I wish i knew more about these things prior to getting braces. I would have looked into getting a treatment that would not alter my face. I could deal with a less than perfect smile, having my face change so much was not worth it. I feel the issue i have about my nose and mouth are reversible by bringing my jaw out, I am most scared about how i can get my cheeks to go back to how they were. I hope all this can get fixed, I was such an insecure person to begin with, its true you really don't know what you have till its gone, because the face I hated is all I want back.

Hi amanygh, I could've written this post myself. It's exactly how I feel. I had "Six Month Smile" braces from a dentist (not an ortho) and it ended up being 16 months. It completely ruined my face. Like you, I was a bit insecure about how I looked before but now I would do anything to get my old face back. It's pretty much all I think about and they've been off since June 2015!

I've been seeing a therapist who just keeps telling me it doesn't matter that my face has changed. I think it's difficult for people to empathise with. Sure, everyone ages and faces change. But to know you've spent so much time, money and effort on something that's made you significantly less attractive within a few months is really distressing. I think it would mess with anyone's mental health.

I hope you (and Braceregret) start to feel better about things soon and/or find a solution. The panicky feeling does fade over time but for me I'm not sure the sadness or regret ever will. Good luck to all with this problem - you're not alone!

[djspeece]

Sorry if this post is all over the place i just needed to get some feelings out


I've been seeing a therapist who just keeps telling me it doesn't matter that my face has changed. I think it's difficult for people to empathise with. Sure, everyone ages and faces change. But to know you've spent so much time, money and effort on something that's made you significantly less attractive within a few months is really distressing. I think it would mess with anyone's mental health.

I hope you (and Braceregret) start to feel better about things soon and/or find a solution. The panicky feeling does fade over time but for me I'm not sure the sadness or regret ever will. Good luck to all with this problem - you're not alone!

kribbo,
I hope you can find a therapist with a more empathetic attitude -- appearance does matter! Best of luck to you.

[amanygh]

Sorry if this post is all over the place i just needed to get some feelings out

Rant post:
The past week has been tough seeing old family members and having a lot of people tell me i look different was draining. At one point I couldn't put my finger on the changes, and now i see everything so clearly. My biggest annoyance has been the loss of cheek support, I had much nicer cheekbones, and having a wider face worked better for my features and especially my nose. You can see the changes the most from a side front angle. That use to be most attractive angle and go to for taking pictures, now i just look sick. Instead of having cheek volume at the top of my cheeks, my face looks fatter at the bottom half due to loss of face structure . For the bottom half of my face my nose looks wider i feel because my cheeks are smaller. I never liked my nose but i was okay with the front view of it looked normal, now it looks much wider and feels like the focus of my face. My lips looks slightly smaller they were always my favorite feature and helped balance out my nose. My mouth area still is very protruded because of the braces, probably when i get them off my lips will look even smaller, and nose even bigger. Finally my jaw looks very different, much smaller. My jaw changing was one of the first things i noticed. it looks pointier and less prominent if that makes any sense. Also my chin has receeded my face feels shorter but not in an attractive way. My face use to be more square shaped and now it has became more ovalish, the bottom half of my face looks bubbly while the top has sunk in. I just want my old face back. All i wanted was straighter teeth, I didn't not sign up for the rest of this. I wish i knew more about these things prior to getting braces. I would have looked into getting a treatment that would not alter my face. I could deal with a less than perfect smile, having my face change so much was not worth it. I feel the issue i have about my nose and mouth are reversible by bringing my jaw out, I am most scared about how i can get my cheeks to go back to how they were. I hope all this can get fixed, I was such an insecure person to begin with, its true you really don't know what you have till its gone, because the face I hated is all I want back.

Hi amanygh, I could've written this post myself. It's exactly how I feel. I had "Six Month Smile" braces from a dentist (not an ortho) and it ended up being 16 months. It completely ruined my face. Like you, I was a bit insecure about how I looked before but now I would do anything to get my old face back. It's pretty much all I think about and they've been off since June 2015!

I've been seeing a therapist who just keeps telling me it doesn't matter that my face has changed. I think it's difficult for people to empathise with. Sure, everyone ages and faces change. But to know you've spent so much time, money and effort on something that's made you significantly less attractive within a few months is really distressing. I think it would mess with anyone's mental health.

I hope you (and Braceregret) start to feel better about things soon and/or find a solution. The panicky feeling does fade over time but for me I'm not sure the sadness or regret ever will. Good luck to all with this problem - you're not alone!

Sorry my rather late response I haven't logged on in here in awhile. I hope you get to eventually fell better soon too if not find a solution , it sucks having people scold you about the self-confidence talk when you just want your old face back. You are right it can really mess with your mental health, it caused my anxiety to get out of control so im determined to reverse it. Have you looked into any solutions?

[Rebeccasmells]

Sorry if this post is all over the place i just needed to get some feelings out


I've been seeing a therapist who just keeps telling me it doesn't matter that my face has changed. I think it's difficult for people to empathise with. Sure, everyone ages and faces change. But to know you've spent so much time, money and effort on something that's made you significantly less attractive within a few months is really distressing. I think it would mess with anyone's mental health.

I hope you (and Braceregret) start to feel better about things soon and/or find a solution. The panicky feeling does fade over time but for me I'm not sure the sadness or regret ever will. Good luck to all with this problem - you're not alone!

kribbo,
I hope you can find a therapist with a more empathetic attitude -- appearance does matter! Best of luck to you.

Yes and it's also not for the therapist to tell you what does or doesn't matter... if something is having an effect on your life s/he should be coaching you on how to deal with it.

[djspeece]

Your therapist sounds like my ex-wife.

[kribbo]

Thanks for the replies and support, all.

Amanygh - I've been thinking about getting an opinion from an orthodontist (I've only ever heard dentists' opinions) to see if there's anything that can be done, but I'm terrified of making it worse. Also, I hated every second of braces so I wouldn't want to get them again, especially if there was no guarantee of my face improving. I could maybe handle Invisalign but because my mood is pretty low at the moment the thought of more treatment isn't a comforting one.

I've also consider facial fillers to get rid of the gauntness of my cheeks and deep lines around my mouth but, again, if anything went wrong I'd be mortified. So I feel a bit stuck really. Taking the plunge to change something about my appearance and having it ruin my face has damaged my ability to take risks, especially about cosmetic things.

What about you, what kind of treatment are you thinking of to try to reverse the damage? Have you had any opinions or advice?

I'm not sure what to do about the therapist. She's a psychologist and apparently very experienced but quite often she'll say things like "well I'm not very happy about my wrinkles either but it's just a part of life". And I think "yes, but you're in your mid fifties (I'm early thirties) and your face didn't age rapidly in 6 months and you look the way you were going to naturally without paying someone to ruin your face and teeth". It's not quite the same as I completely blame myself for ruining my face and I feel hideous 24/7. I think if the changes were slower and more natural I wouldn't be so upset. I've tried to explain it to her but she doesn't seem to fully understand.

Sorry for the rant anyway, I think this thread is better therapy for me than the psychologist!

Hope others in this situation are doing okay, keep us posted if you find anything that helps!

[Rebeccasmells]

With regards to the therapist say "yeah but you aren't me, so what you think about your own face is irrelevant and I don't find it helpful". Mention your throughts about you making the mistake and end with "So can we talk about strategies where I can come to terms with my face or work at improving the situation".

FYI I've had lip fillers and they've been fine... because they reverse and get reabsorbed by the body. So you have options... just don't do that route yet.

[amanygh]

Thanks for the replies and support, all.

Amanygh - I've been thinking about getting an opinion from an orthodontist (I've only ever heard dentists' opinions) to see if there's anything that can be done, but I'm terrified of making it worse. Also, I hated every second of braces so I wouldn't want to get them again, especially if there was no guarantee of my face improving. I could maybe handle Invisalign but because my mood is pretty low at the moment the thought of more treatment isn't a comforting one.

I've also consider facial fillers to get rid of the gauntness of my cheeks and deep lines around my mouth but, again, if anything went wrong I'd be mortified. So I feel a bit stuck really. Taking the plunge to change something about my appearance and having it ruin my face has damaged my ability to take risks, especially about cosmetic things.

What about you, what kind of treatment are you thinking of to try to reverse the damage? Have you had any opinions or advice?

I'm not sure what to do about the therapist. She's a psychologist and apparently very experienced but quite often she'll say things like "well I'm not very happy about my wrinkles either but it's just a part of life". And I think "yes, but you're in your mid fifties (I'm early thirties) and your face didn't age rapidly in 6 months and you look the way you were going to naturally without paying someone to ruin your face and teeth". It's not quite the same as I completely blame myself for ruining my face and I feel hideous 24/7. I think if the changes were slower and more natural I wouldn't be so upset. I've tried to explain it to her but she doesn't seem to fully understand.

Sorry for the rant anyway, I think this thread is better therapy for me than the psychologist!

Hope others in this situation are doing okay, keep us posted if you find anything that helps!

I understand that I was terrified too, ive only seen one orthodonist so far and he suggested i should just get use to my new smile and not do anything. It sucks because it made me feel sort of hopeless even though I knew i was going to get that response. Facial fillers are scary I feel like they can serve well to fill in some lines or defects but I couldn't go for them to build the cheek fullness I aready had. If you really want to try it go for something like radiesse or juverdem they would give a more natural looks. I understand that even reversing the damage to my face scares me. I understand the idea of more treatment is exhausting the way i have to think a bout it tho is i prefer this over this constant unhappiness towards my appearance. I know this girl one youtube called carrie b did it with invaslign. But you said you didn't remove any teeth right? So im not sure what your course of action would be if you still have your before and after xrays and pictures from your orthodontic treatment you can see what changed.

The treatment im trying to go for is reverse bicupid extractions, hopefully reopening the spaces and putting tooth implants back in. Its going to be difficult to find a willing orthodonist but im desperate.
Thats frustrating when i told my original orthodonist about my face changes the assistant gave me all this love talk which is sweet but it made me frustated that people kept implying the problem was my insecurities. The feeling of regret is the worst! When you know this could have been prevented it makes you go mad.

I agree i have the same perspective of it being something natural vs not. I would have eventually accepted the way I look if i knew this was all natural and not caused by something like orthodontic wear. Going throught this experience definetly made me appreciate what I had If i find some way to reverse I feel i will finally be content with myself or as content as I can be.

Definetly explain it to her the way you explained it here it, even tho we all have our flaws its much easier to accept the ones we didn't bring on our selves

[amanygh]

With regards to the therapist say "yeah but you aren't me, so what you think about your own face is irrelevant and I don't find it helpful". Mention your throughts about you making the mistake and end with "So can we talk about strategies where I can come to terms with my face or work at improving the situation".

FYI I've had lip fillers and they've been fine... because they reverse and get reabsorbed by the body. So you have options... just don't do that route yet.

For me personally there has been too much of a change to go the filler route. The biggest change has been my cheek area and the shape of them I think ill only be able to achieve what I use to look like if i reversed it