Support underlying facial tissue

[jesterofmalice]

I've been trying to work out what route to take to improve my appearance for ages.

I think my issue is basically a fairly small jaw, combined with a bit of an overbite.
The combination makes my face look a bit undefined to my eye.
My mouth looks small and sad.
When I make my lips me to close my mouth completely, it feels like a struggle.

I've noticed that if I give myself a 'facelift' by pulling the skin around my cheekbones up, I look a lot better from teh front view.
This has now got me thinking about a face lift as a possible 'solution', which seems ridiculous at my age!

I'm certain that the IDEAL option would be to get jaw surgery, although that would involve a potentially huge amount of money (unless I was able get them to do it as part of my sleep apnea diagnosis) as well as years in braces and major surgery.

I have 2 other options swimming around in my head are, invisalign;
1/Invisilign.
Would this actually give me any benefit other than making my teeth straight? Would it help my appearance in other ways at all, and help to correct the features mentioned before.
I've heard mixed views on this.

2/ Dental facelift.
I only discovered this treatment yesterday whilst googling.
It sounds amazing. Almost too good to be true though, with a touch of snake-oil about the sales pitch. Anyone know much about this?

[Tiny]

1) invisalign only works on minor cases.  It's better for misalignment rather than over/underbites I believe.
2) Sam Muslin?  I'm rather skeptical myself.  In a lot of people it is effective because their teeth are worn down, so building up the teeth with veneers gives support to the face.  Most of his patients are not young.  And the sales pitch really puts me off

Sleep apenea...do you have a small airway?  Recessed maxilla and mandible?  You may be able to get it on insurance but yes, braces and major surgery.  No pain, no gain.  Only you can decide if you think your functional, dental and aesthetic issues are bad enough to warrant undergoing the jaw surgery ordeal...

[jesterofmalice]

Hi, CCG.
Thanks for replying.

You're views regarding those other 2 options tend to mirror my own.

Sleep apnea.
I'm still in the early stages of diagnosis, so I'm not sure about anything yet.
I've had a sleep study, and they confirmed that my breathing wasn't as it should be whilst I slept.

Im guessing that it's to do with my recessed jaw / airway.
I have a follow up appointment lined up, where Im assuming that they'll want to have me start using a CPAP machine whilst I sleep, although IF I'm correct about the underlying cause, I'd rather fix that! Not sure how I tell the sleep technician that.

I'm in the UK.
If my jaws are the reason for my condition, there's a chance that I could get all surgery/braces etc for free.
I'd have no chance really of being able to afford to get the surgery done privately.

The final option I keep thinking about is a much more cosmetic / 'band-aid over a gunshot wound', where I'm thinking purely from an asthetic view, invisilign to straighten the teeth, and some sort of facelift/neck lift to 'hide' skeletal issues.
(I look OK when I give myself a facelift by pulling the skin around my ears and cheeckbone up)

[jesterofmalice]

Here's some pics.
What's your initial impression?

also, what about damon clear braces? Just read about them.
Seem to be able to do more than invisilign?
If I was to go the braces route, I want something that will change things around enough
to give my face more 'support'.

[PloskoPlus]

You look fine.  You probably need to get your teeth/bite fixed.  As to facial softness... Dunno, weight loss?  It's not just bone structure. Damon braces are self ligating - they don't have little rubber bands.  They have less surface area, but are thicker and stand out further from the teeth.  The claim is that they work faster, but the jury is still out on that. I have self ligating braces (maybe Damon, I never asked) and they make my bottom lip stand out further. That's all.

[jesterofmalice]

... Dunno, weight loss?

I'm glad you said that. That's how all of this started!!

About 5 years ago, I felt I was a little chubby, especially in the face.
I began working out 5 nights per week, cardio and weights, and also had an extremely strict diet.
Within about 10 months, I got myself an impressive 6-pack, but still felt that my face looked fat.
This lead me to search for years for a way to lose the extra fat on my face. Diet changes. More excercise, topical solutions etc. It seemed odd. How low would my bodyfat percentage have to get for my face to look toned.

I regret that it took me years to realise/find out through research, but the reason is to do with the combination of having small jaws, and a small chin, along with a deep bite. More weight loss is not the answer, unfortunately. It's all to do with the teeth/jaw

I'm just wondering if something other than major jaw surgery, such a clear braces could help.

[PloskoPlus]

I don't think your mouth looks "small and sad" at all.  IMO, that's more of an underbite thing (my case - wide jaw, small mouth, thin lips).  But I do get the whole softness thing.  But I don't think you have any skeletal deficiency.  Look on the bright site, you'll look younger than your peers in 10 years time.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor and I'm talking out of my ass.