where is my face

I've tried to ignore this for a couple of years now. But I've always known.

My teeth were never much crooked. They were fine. No one cares about perfect teeth.

But when i was nearly 14, I chose to have braces. It was pack mentality, everyone else was doing it. So it began..

I'm not sure about the different techniques of orthodontics.. But there is a very common method, perhaps the most common that was used on me.. I went from having a wide normal smile to having my facial growth restricted and stunted.

It works like this: Face becomes narrower & smaller. Chin becomes shorter. Face is longer overall. <- happens to every single person.
What's the point in perfect teeth if my smile is narrow?

This happens to many who get braces. Most people will not figure out why they look the way they do. But there are very obvious characteristics of people effected. I could spot some people who have had braces just by the way their face looks.

Orthodontics should be clearly explained as growth altering and only for use in extreme cases (extreme bite issues etc). But no, if the orthodontics do not exploit children that don't need braces then that is 9/10 of their profit gone.

What's the point in any of this? It doesn't matter if someone is to say I look fine. Great, imagine how good i could have looked if this hadn't happened. This is life changing. Because the negative effects of braces are significant enough to mean the different between being attractive and not to specific females.

I wish 2 things:

I wish my parents were wise enough to protect me.
I wish someone had told me not to trust anyone, the pack is wrong about most things, natural is better and anyone will ######6 ruin you for money.


I loathe and hate what I am. This isn't what I should have been. I feel like I now need surgery. But, it's not easy to change the WHOLE structure of the face.

I can't express how angry and how much despair this creates within. There are no words. HOW CAN I LIVE NOW? THIS IS MY LIFE

I wrote a letter to them. Often I write letters as a way to put my thoughts down, rather than ever sending them. Though I would like to contact my orthodontist, this may not be the way.

Hi, I had orthodontic work done over a time period of one year. I believe starting in 2009, the year I turned 16. This is something I couldn't bring up at the time, nor did i know to what extent I was really effected.

It is obvious now. Before the braces I had a nice smile and the face I was always suppose to have. The braces crushed my face, restricting the growth. They made my face grow narrower and longer, they made my chin shorter/recede and they also weakened my teeth (although that is something you did warn of). They significantly altered how I was suppose to look. It doesn't matter if someone says I look fine, the fact is i would look more attractive if I hadn't been crushed – and no one then nor now cares about slightly crooked teeth.

I thought I was getting straighter teeth (something so shallow and un-natural, I shouldn't have been interested in). Yet I ended up with stunted facial growth. But you must know, you do take before and after pictures. I'm sure you're not pure evil, so how is it that you mentally justify what you do to people?

I simply wish someone had told me that the braces would do no good. It was your liability - morally. Why didn't you tell me? As I said, you know growth is altered, you take the pictures.
It seems braces are only logical when one has significant issues. But those are so few, so how could you profit solely from them?

I'm not one to remain ignorant nor one to pretend everything is alright. Most people would have no idea what has been done, they don't know that they could have been more attractive. My sister for example, her teeth being more severly 'out of place' than mine (braces perhaps more justified). I know what she looked like, and I can see the generic facial side effects from her treatment. She doesn't have any idea though, and I will not tell her, as to not make her suffer.

I wonder how many men or women have missed out on opportunities in life because of this. The face is so Important in everday life. I now consider corrective surgery, but nothing minor could fix this, and I'm not sure if anything really can be done.

I can't believe my father paid you to do something with no actual benefit, something that is so damaging.

Perhaps you should add the risk of depression/suicide to the consent form. That is, the form I'm sure cleared you of all legal liability.

Now, let's hope you don't dismiss me as insane. I am interested to read your response.

I know EXACTLY how you feel. I have suffered the same abuse from orthodontists. I used to be pretty. I am now gaunt with a flat ling weak chin looking face. It's not my face! I felt like no one else was awake up to this. This bad growth also ruined my neck resulting in constant headaches. Talk to me!!

Hello,
Very sorry...and I do understand. I had braces at 15 and it ruined my looks.
Now I am 50 and the aging process is showing on my face making it
look even worse! I,like you, wanted to look like the pack, and because
of a minor overbite I wanted perfect teeth. My dad said not to do it,
but he wasn't strong enough to say no to me and paid for those horrible braces and head gear in the end!What a mistake, I too was fine, lovely, the way I was. For years I have suffered with the
distortion of my face shape. No one can seem to understand because I supposedly look normal.
I was consoled to read your post that someone has felt this way too, but I am sorry for your suffering.
I don't know if surgery can fix it either. It may make it worse? Like you said it is hard to repair the damage. But I do think about some way to fix it. My thought for us
is to accept what has happened, grieve and make peace with our face. At least for now, we have to move forward the best we can. I also tell others not to do it, to prevent them from suffering and their children..
My heart goes out to you. Value the beauty and sensitivity within you, you are still beautiful and precious.
Love,
Mischie Grace

Wow, you have all really expressed the psychological sentiment of living with the facial deformation caused by traditional orthodontic treatment. Until recently, I thought I was the only one carrying these very specific pieces of knowledge around in my head, unable to talk to anyone about my despair, or try to find a solution.

I too had restrictive orthodontics, aged 15-18. (In my case, I had impacted canines which needed to be moved down. This was done, but unfortunately my treatment also included a whole lot of destructive and unnecessary face-changing work. I also had a slight overbite, so after having 4 perfectly healthy wisdom teeth extraced, had braces fitted and was made to wear headgear and bands to pull everything back into my face). Looking at pre-braces pictures, it is clear I look worse than I would have with no braces. Here's how:

My mouth is slightly smaller than it would have been, my lips flatter and less protruded (giving a less dynamic striking 3d look that I had naturally and both my non-braces siblings and both parents have). My teeth sit back further in my face. My face grew down more and out less than it would have, which in itself is less attractive, but also has the unnatural time effect of shortening the neck. My top teeth were also tilted back slightly as were my bottom teeth were turned into an unnaturally straight wall at the front. My jaw also has a slightly rounder, less square look than would otherwise be the case, as my whole moth sits back and down more than it would have, reducing the tightness of the skin around my mouth and also the depth of my chin (I.e. distance from bottom of chin to mouth).

In my particular case, I am slightly more lucky than some in that there is quite a strong underlying maxilla/ tooth structure thanks to my parents, so the amount I was effected is not as bad as some I have seen. That said, it doesn't make it any easier to come to terms with the fact that I have been deformed unnecessarily and look worse than I would with no treatment (or expansion treatment, rather than extraction/retraction treatment).

One of the hardest things to deal with is the fact that other people don't know. It sounds vein if you try to explain it, when you have straight teeth. basically, you just look plainer, and its not easy to describe how all the things I have mentioned add up to quite a noticably less attractive face. If you are in touch with your body and you have had traditional orthodontic treatment, it must be as clear as day that you have been made subtly uglier. Yet, it seems some people who have had braces have not realised why they look less dynamic than the slightlyq crooked overbite before pics.

unfortunatley for us who do know, it's not as i mediately obvious as a missing limb, so it's not something that can be understood by others, without a detailed conversation. Until you really look at what it does to your face, you may not realise. Sadly, this is a burden I can see that many others live with and suffer silently as well.

Is there anything that can be done? honestly, I don't know. One thing I have tried that seems to be help slightly restore the natural position of my face (to my observations at least) is pulling my maxilla out with my thumbs A simply daily ritual of about 5 minutes per day, 20 seconds at atime. There is no scientific verification that this practice works, though some people have taken it further and claim this sort of thing definitely does work (search 'breakthematrix' and 'face pulling' and you'll find plenty of discussion on this new area of self correction for bad orthodontics). I am not saying this is the way, or that it definitely works. Indeed, there may be negative effects unknown yet, as this is new information and I have only been doing it for a couple of months. I simply feel compelled to mention it here as it seems to have made a small positive difference for me.

I wold love to talk to someone about this. You guys are brave, and unfortunately, like me, you were caught by someone who didn't care or didn't know the damage that this treatment does. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time when we got those braces.

Keir

I too have had my face destroyed by extractions and retractive braces. Being in my mid-twenties I'm pretty sure it's been the cause, for the last 3-4 long years, of my major headaches, fatigue and developing sleep apnea... not to mention giving me a long face with receded chin/jaw.

Like Observer_/Keir said : one of the hardest things is people don't recognise there's a problem and it's real hard to explain to them. Finding help is even harder.

Yeah, we were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time... but if we can all get in the right place at the right time to talk about this then maybe we can get enough ideas bouncing around to make some real change. This months/years between posts has got to change!

If anyone out there has had success or ideas in how to reverse this it'd be good to hear from you. If you just want to talk about it that would be great too.

I think it can be changed - and without crawling back to same establishments that gave us this problem and said 'it's fine'. Where there's a will there's a way.

I feel the same way

My teeth were spaced and slightly misaligned but looked pretty good. My only problem was that the arc of my bottom teeth in between my canine teeth kind of did an exponential curve so a few of my teeth pushed against my upper teeth. I thought getting braces would make my bite more comfortable but its worse (My jaw doesn't know where to go)and it ruined my face. My orthopedist says it couldn't have done that and that's its just my face. I am getting them removed soon my next appointment (they said after I brought it up). I am not sure what to do. Would just not wearing the retainer after they are removed make my face teeth and jaw go back to before? I can't afford to do anymore money wise and time wise (I am 18 and a Junior Science Major at University).

More Details:
I had my four wisdom teeth removed for the braces. After almost a year of treatment I had to have a crown for one of my teeth as braces had horribly chipped and cracked it. The crown has always felt to big and I plan to have it fixed once the braces are removed. Would having it fixed and not wearing retainers make my face go back to normal? My face used to be more square and my cheeks more marked even when I wasn't smiling. Now my face looks flat, undefined and sunk. It also looks a lot bigger on one side. My lips are crooked, one of my eyes started to look smaller and my face feels it is being pulled in all the wrong directions causing migraines especially on the one side that looks bigger. Also as I am falling asleep I am startled awake because I stop breathing. I also weigh the same I did before I got braces but the skin underneath my neck looks saggy. I assume this is because the braces ruined the shape of my face and it now looks sunken. My bite is very uncomfortable and not defined. It feels small and pushed in and uneven. I look at pictures and it looks like my before and after pictures are backwards. I wish I didn't get braces. I only got them because they it was a little uncomfortable and my mother said it might help as my teeth looked like "corn" because they were spaced but it was the worst decision ever and she doesn't want to hear about it anymore.

I have suffered these same emotions for over a decade. I became obsessed with why my face had changed and finally realized it was the extractions and braces. No one would hear me out. My parents yelled at me when I tried to express my pain and anxiety over what now felt like a cage that had been created in my head.
I have had to make the journey alone all this time. I feel for everyone who is newly facing these feelings.
And I have explored a lot of possibilities. Nothing has been the answer, yet a lot has changed over a long period of time. Including feeling fairly good about how I look now. I also feel a lot better physically, as I too experienced headaches and a contracted cranium. I also experienced difficulty breathing from a septum that had become crooked from the braces. My nose was crooked as well. My nose is not perfect, yet I no longer feel like this is the first thing people notice when they meet me.

I see that these posts are bit of awhile ago. If anyone is interested in the methods I have tried, they include free methods that can be done at home and a number of more expensive cranial methods by other practitioners, I will be glad to share what I have experienced..... which things worked for me and which seemed like a loss of money and time. Nothing I have done is surgery or includes refitting braces. I desperately have wanted to avoid both.
15 years later and I am actually happy. I have a handsome boyfriend. People consider me pretty. I can breathe well. And I have accepted the things that cannot be changed without riskier methods.
All the best to anyone who has become aware of their situation. I hope your journey can find you at peace and eventually with joy.

Same thing happened to me. I got braces and extractions when I was 13 years old and removed them at 17. I'm now 18 and the changes are obvious. I always thought my face didn't look quite right but never said anything because I thought that was how I was supposed to look and there was nothing I could do about it. I even showed someone a before and after braces pic of my face and he thought I looked older in the before picture than in the after. I looked older when I was 14 than I do now. I did some research and realized that the braces and extractions were to blame. My face changed from a roundish square shape to a long narrow oval. My wide jaw is gone, cheekbones gone, chin retruded; even my eyes look different. When I smile my gums show and my teeth look WAY too far back. But at least they're straight, right? That's what the orthodontists say. I now have forward head posture since my airway is so narrow due to my jaw being shoved back. I have difficulty eating, breathing and swallowing which makes everyday activities hard. I'm a really thin guy but my face looks fat because of the lack of bone. It's really terrible to think that the small window for growing my jaw to it's best position has passed, but I'm going to try my best to reverse what has happened. I'm gonna start a blog tracking my progress if anyone wants to follow along. I have done research for a long time and will do anything it takes to reverse what was done to me.

Same thing happened to me. I had braces and one extraction at age 12. I am now 50. I have a cranial contorsion--one eye is bigger than the other, one nostril is smaller than the other, left side of inside of mouth is badly caved in, smile is narrow and canted. Did these people not take physics?! If you remove one upper tooth and place traintrack-style powerchain braces on at age 12, the powerchains are going to create an unequal pull to the face, resulting in what I now have. Not to mention I have very severe sleep apnea. There is an ongoing class-action lawsuit out of Canada against orthodontic colleges to stop teaching retraction/extraction orthodontics. If you go to cpaptalk dot com and type "lawsuit" in the search box, you will find it. Did you know that growth of the maxilla is largely responsible for the growth of the airway? When you restrict the maxilla from growing with powerchain braces, you are going to stunt the growth of the airway. Also, the jaws grow till about 22, so why they extract teeth and place retractive braces on a growing person is beyond me. The man who is bringing the suit had extractions, braces, and headgear and is now living with an airway that is one-fourth the size of what it should be. I am currently using the Crozat lightwire mouthpiece to expand my mouth. My tongue is completely scalloped along the edges because my mouth was made too small to house it, all caused by the extraction and braces. So on top of having a very small airway caused by the braces, my tongue falls back into my throat at night because it has nowhere to go, which also causes further blockage of my airway. How anyone is suppose to survive this I'll never know. Thankfully, the Crozat has already started expanding my mouth, and my tongue has more room now and it is a little easier to use the cpap. The orthodontics industry is a very evil business. In Canada you have 30 years to sue from the time of treatment. In the U.S. you have two. There is a girl named Carrie on Youtube that has posted over 100 videos on how braces and extractions ruined her airway and face. They have been very helpful in coping what has been done to me. The orthodontics industry is an unregulated business, which is a terrible face. That's how they get away with these crimes.

I am going to the ENT to find how far back my face was pushed and what percentage of my airway I have been left with. The man who is bringing the lawsuit told me that an ENT will be able to tell me these two things. Every good dentist I've seen has told me my face was pushed back much more than 10mm! I thought it had only been pushed back 6mm.