I had braces, now I have protruding upper teeth and I hate my face. Will Invisalign help me?

Question

I got my braces off about a year ago. My teeth were pretty crooked, and I had one of my "4 front teeth" on the bottom extracted, and a side tooth was "moved in" to fix close the gap. During the course of treatment, I noticed my top lip/mouth began to resemble a "monkey mouth" but I thought it was because of the braces. I even wore a retainer for a year after my braces, thinking the protrusion would go away after I stopped having the retainer in.

Sarah Thompson, DMD · Answer

It would be better to have a picture, but based on the history you described, it sounds like your teeth are straight now, but your lip protrudes more than before you started braces.  It's likely that your teeth were crowded prior to braces and as your dentist spread them out more to make them align better, it expanded the size of your bite.  If this is the case, you have a couple of options.Option #1:  Get metal braces back on for another year or so.Option #2: Have some of your teeth reduced on the sides of them.  (It's called IPR and stands for inter-proximal reduction).  Once, very little spaces are created between certain teeth, then your dentist can use Invisalign to reduce those spaces and ultimately reduce the size of your bite. Of course you should get a cosmetic dentist that really knows how to do this and make sure that you research your doctor by looking through their before and after photos to make sure that they are capable of the results that you desire.  I do this type of thing in my office all the time, but it is not considered routine practice to mostGood luck to you and I hope this helps. "Follow" me on Real Self to ask more questions of me.Sarah Thompson, DMD O'Fallon, IL and St. Louis, MO

Jean D. Morency, DMD · Answer

It is hard to make a judgment without a picture.  My first impression is to tell you to go back to your orthodontist to get an opinion.  If you don't like his answer, go and get a second opinion.

I had braces, now I have protruding upper teeth and I hate my face. Will Invisalign help me?

Answers (2)

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