Do braces reshape your face?

Braces in London Waterloo

Braces are a great way of straightening or shifting your teeth, to improve how they look and how they work. Fixed braces can also benefit you with the long-term health of your teeth and gums as well as making eating easier, by spreading the biting pressure across all your teeth. Our orthodontic team here at Whites Dental in London would be delighted to be a part of your dental transformation. Our practice is based across the street from Southwark tube and a 10 minutes’ walk from London Bridge.

Going for braces or Invisalign to adjust the alignment of your teeth means that the soft tissues laying over them — like your cheeks and lips — will conform to the new alignment of your bite. That’s why a person’s face occasionally looks “sunken in” when they lose teeth. With braces, the change to your face shape will be gradual. It’s less noticeable in adults, whose skeletal features are already completely developed. During your orthodontic consultation, your orthodontist, can pinpoint which areas, if any, might change once your teeth are properly aligned. That way if you’re wondering “do braces change your face shape,” they can give you an appropriate answer depending on your individual shape.

Do braces change the shape of your nose or make it look bigger?
Some people want to know precise details like, “do braces change the shape of your nose?” No. They do not. Even though braces can alter the width of your upper jaw, they don’t extend into the structures that affect the shape and size of your nose. However, if braces modify your upper teeth and jaws enough that the shape of your profile in that area changes, it could potentially make it seem as though your nose looks slightly different, especially from the side profile. For example, if your lips are brought out more or brought back in, it will adjust your overall facial profile directly next to your nose. As a side-effect, it can generate the illusion of your nose changing shape.

Your lips are a protective fence over your smile. For example, if you get hit in the mouth, they protect you against fractured teeth. Getting Invisalign or traditional braces will only change the “base” that your lips rest against.

On a side note, if you’re wearing traditional braces using a bracket and wire system, you may temporarily notice that your lips look bigger. This is because of the extra width created by the brackets and wires between your teeth and lips. It’s not that your lips are bigger, but rather they cannot sit as far back against your teeth until the braces finally come off.

Can braces only change your jawline if you’re an adult? 
Not much. The only way you can significantly change your jawline as an adult is through surgical measures. Such medical procedures are usually quite complex and completed in close collaboration between an orthodontist and an oral surgeon.

Can Invisalign change your face shape, nose, lips or jawline?
Invisalign can change the position of your lips too in some instances. But the difference with Invisalign is that there isn’t as much as a “buffer” between your teeth and your lips. Therefore, you wouldn’t see much change in your lip size or profile throughout the process. Yet, Invisalign still has the abilities of bringing your upper teeth into the proper alignment, which can secondarily impact your lips’ appearance and side profile.

Most of our patients prefer Invisalign over traditional braces, since the clear aligners seem to make the least bit of impact on your appearance and day-to-day activities.

Ready to get braces or Invisalign? What to do next…
Understanding the subtle relationship between your facial features, your jaw, and tooth position is what makes orthodontic treatment such a complex service. Our specialised orthodontist at Whites Dental will take your physical characteristics — like your front and side profiles — into account while planning your treatment.

For more information on orthodontic braces, visit our orthodontics homepage – https://www.whitesdental.co.uk/orthodontist-teeth-straightening-london-waterloo/

At Whites Dental, we work with some of the best orthodontists in London who provide Orthodontic treatment including fixed braces, Invisalign, Damon braces, Fastbraces, Six Month Smiles, Lingual braces and traditional braces to our patients in London Waterloo, Southwark, Elephant and Castle and London Bridge. This page provides information on whether braces reshape your face.