Has anyone's face shape gone back to normal after braces removed?

[xiumai]

Hey everyone! I know I’m late to this thread, but I’ll post here for anyone who will be curious about this phenomenon in the future when they search for this topic like me.

I don’t know if any of my genetics or age are relevant to this story, so here it is:
Current Age: 21 years old (Female)
Race: Asian
Nationality: American

I got braces in my 2nd year of college in the US when I was 18. There was a huge reduction in my masseter muscle when I turned 19, and I was a jaw clencher at night, so my braces would break off at the molars. (I ended up swallowing my brackets… since I did dream about eating at buffets in my sleep.) My dentist started freaking out a bit at the changes and stopped putting braces on my molars and did not finish using rubber bands. Anyways, I guess he refused to really complete my bottom jaw, and so my bottom row still has a few gaps.

Like many others in this thread, a lot of people were concerned for my health as my face became gaunt and seemed to have aged. It even became painful to chew, since my masseter had shrunk. I was normally mistaken for 14 years old, but people could recognize I was 19. (Alas, I could no longer trick the cashiers at buffets to charge me for the children’s price.) My lower jaw was pushed out, and I went from having an EXTREMELY round face before braces to a V-shaped face after the procedure. I didn’t like how gaunt my face was, but did think that the braces extended my jawline nicely to flatter my face better.

Now it’s been a year after my braces were removed, and my masseter has returned a bit more. I think when I broke off the braces on my molars & my dentist gave up on reinstalling the brackets, I am able to exercise and chew thoroughly with my molars. My face has returned to its more rounded state, but still retains it’s V-shape on my jawline. I’ve lost 15lbs since then as well, and my face continues to get rounder. I wear invisalign retainers on my upper jaw, and the dentist has glued on a metal wire frame behind the front teeth on my bottom jaw, while leaving the molars on the bottom free to roam around and clench to it’s original shape. I still wish the gaps in my bottom row were closed, but I’m not sure if I would go back to becoming gaunt again.

Over all, from the time I broke off my brackets to exercise my masseter, it has been a bit over 2 years, so that’s how long it took me to regain my facial volume and not have a wrinkled sunken space. I am now 21, and often times people mistake me as 16 or ask when I will be graduating high school. So for those of you wondering if your face shape can return to have more volume, it can, I’m just not necessarily sure how mine did!

[Ewvaired]

It’s been a while since I posted a reply on here.
I did go see Mike mew. Around April time. He did see some of my concerns and said I had a mild craniofacial downswing. He did offer treatment, however what he was offering was a bit expensive for what it was. Essentially it was just a retainer but it also had some “locks” (I think is what they were called) to help keep your mouth closed to help with proper tongue posture, but I don’t have a problem with keeping my mouth closed and I was a bit too shy and he talked a lot so I forgot to mention it at the time. Then after the stage he wanted to expand my arch. However all together this would have been 6k. And although the first stage was only 2k that’s still a lot for essentially a retainer.
I am a lot more knowledgeable about the whole subject nowadays, and I think MSE is probably the best bet for creating facial improvements after braces messed it up :/
It’s been about a year of ditching my retainer now and honestly it’s been hard to keep up with the “mewing”. And my teeth have been going back and forth a bit. Eyes still dry and look worse than ever. Been to see an ophthalmologist about my eyes and they only said they’re dry and can’t find the cause. Because the cause is my stretched pulled down face from braces but I’m not about to explain that to them haha. I’d sound crazy. I really don’t know what I’m gonna do from here. Part of me wants to just see how much my teeth relapse and go from there. If I’m going to end up getting MSE then it doesn’t really matter if they relapse and atleast id be able to see if my face starts the “relapse” aswell back into my old one lol. I know that’s probably not going to happen. The damage has been done guys. Especially when you have them as young teens as it then messes and changes the direction of your facial growth - downwards and back. I really think orthotropics is the way for younger people though. But no one is knowledgeable about it all at them ages and neither are their parents. So really we should atleast have orthodontists more concerned with facial aesthetics too but a lot of them are not. Mine really wasn’t! He was so rushed and pretty rude aswell. The sunken-ness of my face is still here too. Eye indents really bother me still. But it’s more my eyes that are of concern.
That’s all from me. Good luck guys with whatever you might end up doing to fix it and I’m sorry for what’s happened to us all. It sucks. I know.

[Yoruso]

I have been searching for months to see if I was the only one and it turns out I’m not. I am 22 now and got my braces put on June 2021. I had a crossbite and had kind of an underbite as none of my top front teeth went over my lower teeth. Before braces my cheekbones were barely visible and it seemed no matter how skinny I got my cheeks were always chubby and there was no definition to my face. Through the first months of the treatment, i noticed my cheeks becoming more and more sunken which was a good thing at first because I’ve never seen my face like that. Then my perception of the changes became very negative and like a lot of you guys were saying, it made me look very gaunt, malnourished and tired, no matter how much I ate or slept. Also, with my cheekbones and jaw being more prominent during the procedure, my face in general looked a lot bigger and wider, i’m guessing because there was no facial fat to offset. I am now 13 months into my treatment and I am seeing some positive changes, but I still feel like I look really old and lifeless. My right cheekbone is visibly lower than my left so that has been making me very self conscious. My theory behind why my face is this way during braces treatment is because the braces are pushing my upper lip up, making my cheeks look very flat. Ive also notcied that when I did gain weight in my face, it made my face look wider instead of fuller. What I mean by this is i had more fat by the bottom of my face where my lips are, but the area below my eyes was still sunken in. I am hoping that when I get my braces off, the asymmetries in my cheekbones and eyes will become less noticeable. I will do my best to update with my results once my braces come off.

Also, i forgot who it was that mentioned the dry eyes, but I deal with that everyday too. Again, I am thinking it’s because of how exposed the braces are making my eyes.

[Danielle]

After reading this thread, I got really lucky. The only change to my face (beyond straightened teeth) was my lips looking a tiny bit fuller.

[Athel]

I took off my braces last 3 weeks ago. Instead of going back to my normal face shape, lots of stress just by looking at my own face. I don't even remember who am i anymore. I am overbite ( class 3) as my orthodontist mentioned. yes, of course, I do have straight teeth now but they look like getting straightened by force. Not natural at all. My smile looks fake and not bright as it used to be. Flat lips, hollow cheeks, long face, strong jawline, everything that I have never seen in my whole life before were on my face right now. I started my journey at age 28 and now I'm 30. so I am also thinking like is it all because of my age? That may also be a reason but can't deny the side effect of having braces. But I have no other choice. Smiling as much as I can while keeping all mirrors away. That's all I can do for now.

[Athel]

I took off my braces last 3 weeks ago. Instead of going back to my normal face shape, lots of stress just by looking at my own face. I don't even remember who am i anymore. I am overbite ( class 3) as my orthodontist mentioned. yes, of course, I do have straight teeth now but they look like getting straightened by force. Not natural at all. My smile looks fake and not bright as it used to be. Flat lips, hollow cheeks, long face, strong jawline, everything that I have never seen in my whole life before were on my face right now. I started my journey at age 28 and now I'm 30. so I am also thinking like is it all because of my age? That may also be a reason but can't deny the side effect of having braces. But I have no other choice. Smiling as much as I can while keeping all mirrors away. That's all I can do for now.

[djspeece]

Some of may be due to aging, but you are very young for that to come into play in the degree you describe. Many of us had some facial changes because we weren't really using our "chewing muscles" (e.g., masseter) which can result in sunken temples, and so forth; and also, our nutrition may suffer a bit during treatment and we lose weight slowly over time. I hope things work out for you.

[xiumai]

Hi guys, it’s me again!

Age: 23
Race: Asian
Gender: F

So… I’m back with an update. I got my two bottom wisdoms extracted due to chronic infection/impaction, and lo and behold… my face became gaunt again!

The changes were much more drastic that even the braces for me. My eyes have dark circles no matter how much I sleep, appear to sink in more, and my face lost some of its roundness/heart shape prior to the procedure. It also further exaggerated any facial symmetry I had.

It became gaunt in a way that if I gain weight, only my bottom half will enlarge, making my face appear more square. For some reason, there are just holes under my cheekbones that have no projection, not enough muscle or anything to hold there. The amount of change in my face over the years since braces is pretty crazy.

I’m looking to reverse this, or somehow be able to have projection in that area without relying on fillers or cosmetic surgery. I’ve been doing facial yoga & trying to build muscle there, but no changes 2 months post wisdom extractions, really.

I’ll keep trying, and I’m going to update if any changes occur!

[lefortfort]

Got mine off 2 years ago. It hasn't gone "back to normal" which I'm happy about. My face shape improved.

[hello123]

Just wanted to give an update. It has been over two years now since I last posted, but there's no sign of my face shape going back to normal. In addition, some teeth are loose, and they will for sure fall out prematurely or give me problems as I age. I will have to accept it and live with it. For those who are hesitating, if it's more for aesthetic reasons, don't do it. It's costly and risky.

[kribbo]

Just wanted to give an update. It has been over two years now since I last posted, but there's no sign of my face shape going back to normal. In addition, some teeth are loose, and they will for sure fall out prematurely or give me problems as I age. I will have to accept it and live with it. For those who are hesitating, if it's more for aesthetic reasons, don't do it. It's costly and risky.

I second this. Exactly the same here.

It's been 10 years since I got them and I still regret them every single day. My face remained gaunt and saggy, eyes are still sunken and my teeth are too far forward in my mouth and look far too big and flared. I looked pretty good before braces but have found it hard to look in the mirror since, I feel like it made me lose my identity. I didn't need them and had no idea they would ruin my appearance.