Can Orthodontics Change Your Face Shape?

Some people have asked if orthodontics can change the shape of your face. The answer is yes! Braces can bring symmetry to your face and fix alignment issues that look awkward, restoring a natural look to your mouth and jawline. There are three alignment issues that will have the most dramatic effect on a person’s appearance when corrected.

Underbite
With an underbite, a person’s chin juts out and the jaw looks too big for the face. The bottom lip often overpowers the top lip. After braces and potentially surgery, a person who had an underbite will notice that their jaw no longer sticks out and their features look softer and more natural.
Open Bite
With an open bite, teeth tend to look a little bit like horse teeth, coming out at an angle, and oftentimes people cannot close their mouths naturally. The mouth looks like it is always stretching over teeth that are too big. Braces can help pull these teeth into a more vertical alignment so that they are no longer bucked. This allows the patient to be able to close their mouth naturally and not have to stretch their lips around angled teeth.
Overbite
With an overbite people appear to have no chin and an undefined jawline. Sometimes the top lip looks like it protrudes from the face when looking at someone’s profile. Braces bring the bite into alignment and help establish a better jawline for patients. In some cases, orthodontic surgery will need to be done in addition to braces to alter the alignment of the jaw for any of these alignment issues. In these cases, the upper or lower jaw did not develop properly and a doctor will need to go in and perform surgery to bring the underdeveloped jaw forward.
For perfect alignment, come to Akridge Orthodontics and Dr. Matt will make sure to give you your best smile!