my face destroyed by childhood mouthbreathing

[orthoo]

Im hoping somebody can help me out here and understand me..... Ive been suffering from the effects of my mouthbreathing since 11 and the depression of it. Back then My facial structure was broad and if i do say so myself pretty good looking. Almost a 90 degree jaw believe it or not. Things turned though when my nose became blocked for some unknown reason and started breathing through my mouth and as a result later developed a tongue thrust. my face within a matter of months quickly changed. when i turned 13 My profile looked funny but i could not understand why. At the age 13 my face looked like an 8 year old. my cheeks were quite bloated and I had a very youthful look. Things got worse though, my skin stretched as my maxilla kept growing downwards, so i ended up with flat cheeks, my cute small nose became a huge humped honker, my forehead sloped back, my full cheeks became flat, my jaw became crooked and became weak, my face became long and narrow. no cheekbones what so over, but my teeth are really not bad. slight overjet. I feel like ive been robbed of my appearance. my life aswell. I used to be good at sports and ever since my mouthbreathing fuked me over ive been terrible, my grades messed up as i couldnt sleep properly. As a result I had no appetite at all, and the combo of the two has stunted my growth bad. ive lost hope, my life has utterly been robbed. At 17 my growth has stopped so nothing much can be done. I dont know how to go about fixing the damage. Ive been to the E.N.T and they completely wipe out mouth breathing as if its not a big problem, he says its the pleghm thats causing my sleep ( i had an op to sort this out). I feel as if my jaw is getting in my airway when i sleep causing me to snore hence my bad sleep. He says this is not in my case its the pleghm thats distrupting your sleep.      I suggest about fixing my jaw issues and he says its entirely not relevant. He completely fuks it off like a rabid hound.
Hes so desperate to try and ward me off the NHS pot hole. The dentists dont believe me aswell, they dont no mouth breathing causes any facial deformities its how you were born i guess, thats like saying my face is from a bad genetic make up. bad genes!?.
I dont seriously know where to go with this, the ENT and the dentist dont give thought to my problem, the local GPs are the worst dont bother going to them they dont know anything. So basically im stuck, no one understands and the longer it takes the harder it will get as NHS have strict regulations for jaw surgery and stuff. my bite is like a mask to this aswell as it isnt that bad so they wont really aid in my case for treatment. im turning 18 soon so time is running out or im doomed. What should i do and where should i go to and contact? Should i save up for private surgery? My plan to 'normalize' the corrections:

- le fort impaction ( reduce maxillary length)
- vertical genioplasty
- cheek implants to compensate for the lost structure support
- palatal expander or palatal expansion with surgery

I know it sounds ridiculous but I wont feel content knowing im stuck with this for the rest of my life.

[Optimistic]

No male finishes growing at 17. It has a lot to do with when you reached puberty I find.

In my case I finished high school at around 5'10, then the year after grew to about 6'1, and from that period 'til now I've grown another two inches to 6'3.

We're all gonna make it

[Tiny]

- Men's faces change loads in the late teens and early 20s, so you will have some development left...how much is anyones guess. 

- In the meantime, change your GP and try and get referred to an ENT and for a sleep study, to prove you're not sleeping right.  Any idea what's causing the mouthbreathing?  Small airway? Deviated septum?

- can you get your dentist to refer you to an ortho about your maxilla and your palate?  The ortho might be able to refer you to an NHS surgeon

-If that doesn't work, then maybe you can get BUPA insurance and see if they cover it (I think you would have to wait to try and claim...it's a pre-existing condition so trickier)

-I think jaw surgery in the UK, including orthodontics, will set you back anywhere in the region of 10-20kGBP.  I was quoted 7K for bimax and 5k for orthodontics, and this was from one of the best surgeons.  I paid 160GBP for the consult incluing cephs, so if you can afford it, try and get a surgical consult privately

- If your face is long and narrow, then by vertical genioplasty do you mean increasing chin projection and reducing chin length?

- For cheekbone implants, I don't think that any of the available ready-made ones do a good job of imitating strong, high cheekbones.  You would have to get custom-made ones that extend around the zygomatic arch...I don't know who can do this in the UK, certainly won't be more than a few surgeons.  And its not exactly cheap

- As a sidenote, a lot of people have small noses at 13 and then develop honkers, even without mouthbreathing...     Faces change a lot in the teens...yes it is affected by things like mouthbreathing but there is also a strong genetic component  Most of us here looked normal as kids.  Most or all people who have big noses as adults didn't have them as kids.

[nrelax11]

You definitely still have some growing. My upper jaw grew downward put of nowhere in my early 20s, so you still have plenty of time.

[Alue]

Just be glad you are young and realizing this.  I had very recessed mandible and maxilla, midface deficiency, forward head posture etc. throughout my teens and 20's.  I've seen people complain similar problems but when they show their pictures they look totally normal to me.   My facial skeletal structure is pretty far off from the normal range and that is apparent just by looking at an x-ray.  I knew something was off but orthodontists just told me there wasn't much that could be done and my family told me that's just the way god made me.  I'm almost 30 and just now realizing the life I could have had, in some ways I feel like I wasted my 20's.  You have time on your side, don't waste it, you can get things fixed and enjoy your 20's.   


On a side note... with regards to men's faces changing in their late teens / early 20's.  Wouldn't early orthodontics / retainer hinder this growth?  At least for the lower part of the face.   The lower part of my face pretty much stayed the same from when I was 15/16 (when i got out of orthodontics).  My nose grew, I got taller, everything else but my jaw (maxilla and mandible) just stayed the same.  I pretty much have a child's jaw on a man's body. 

[ad.shek]

Hey everybody,

I feel like I understand what you guys are going through, because i believe I'm going through the same thing.
Mouth-breathing ever since I can remember because my nose always seemed to be blocked. My childhood photos show me to have such a beautiful face, both my parents are very good looking with strong facial features. Even my elder brother has good facial aesthetics.

I was diagnosed by a dentist who came to school out of routine when I was 15, and said I would need a thorough consultation with a surgeon as Orthognathic surgery seemed inevitable. I had a class III malocclusion with a severe cross-bite.
At 17 I consulted with a few doctors and thought I would have a great amount of facial change, at least that's what I thought I should expect.
The surgery went fantastic, but, unfortunately, I didn't get the results I wanted. Every orthodontist who I consult say the surgery seems to be very fruitful.

It did boost my confidence a little in the recovery phase, because I thought my expectation was going to be fulfilled once the swelling subsided.
To my utter disappointment, now my mandible looks like a f**king ice-cream cone. I have a strong chin, an asymmetrical and weak jawline, narrow forehead, sunken cheekbones, gummy smile, blocked and large nose, large dark circles, sloping forehead, TMJD, ear popping, other head pressure problems, voice changes, deviated septum, bad posture, sciatica pain and I'm generally fatigued easily with periods of absolute exhaustion, more like burnouts.

I have a hard time socializing, concentrating on general work, maintaining motivation, physically exerting myself(I was on the basketball team for god's sake!). I'm generally very irritated, have low self-esteem and low self-confidence.
I don't feel like taking pictures because they always turn out so ugly! I feel like hiding, hiding in the darkness so that no one sees me.
I have to work a lot on making little things happen and constantly need to keep motivating myself relentlessly to maintain a good confidence level. I feel like I have ADHD or something sometimes because of the sheer amount of effort it takes me to do even the simplest things in life.

I'm so unhappy with myself, my condition and my life... I want to disappear.
I feel disgusted looking at my reflection and I'm very frequently analyzing what changes I should or could make to my face.

I came across this article on Myofunctional Therapy a while ago and decided to give it a try because I thought it would change things for the better. It has provided me with a certain amount of relief and my lower jaw, now, doesn't face any tongue thrust.
I have to use a vasodilation spray like Otrivin or Nasivion to keep my nose free from blockage.
Off late my dark circles have pronounced even though I try to get a good sleep of 7-8 hours.

So, I've been doing research and have found that there is no one particular field in medicine that deals with such conditions.
Problems:
Chronic sinusitis(blocked nose), deviated septum
Narrow Face syndrome(sloping forehead, sunken mid-face, gummy smile, poor mandible growth)
Myofunctional issues

Listen to me, go see a craniofacial surgeon. I think a certified craniofacial surgeon would know exactly how to deal with this situation because none of the plastic surgeons, I consulted with, could even figure out what my condition is, much less provide me a solution.
Craniofacial surgeons work with neurologists and I believe they have the ability to turn my life around.
I've arrived at this after over a year worth of research time.

I'm going to consult them as soon as I possibly can.
Hope you find what I've described authentic and consult with one, too.
Best of luck,
AD

[trex0288]

Hey everybody,

I feel like I understand what you guys are going through, because i believe I'm going through the same thing.
Mouth-breathing ever since I can remember because my nose always seemed to be blocked. My childhood photos show me to have such a beautiful face, both my parents are very good looking with strong facial features. Even my elder brother has good facial aesthetics.

I was diagnosed by a dentist who came to school out of routine when I was 15, and said I would need a thorough consultation with a surgeon as Orthognathic surgery seemed inevitable. I had a class III malocclusion with a severe cross-bite.
At 17 I consulted with a few doctors and thought I would have a great amount of facial change, at least that's what I thought I should expect.
The surgery went fantastic, but, unfortunately, I didn't get the results I wanted. Every orthodontist who I consult say the surgery seems to be very fruitful.

It did boost my confidence a little in the recovery phase, because I thought my expectation was going to be fulfilled once the swelling subsided.
To my utter disappointment, now my mandible looks like a f**king ice-cream cone. I have a strong chin, an asymmetrical and weak jawline, narrow forehead, sunken cheekbones, gummy smile, blocked and large nose, large dark circles, sloping forehead, TMJD, ear popping, other head pressure problems, voice changes, deviated septum, bad posture, sciatica pain and I'm generally fatigued easily with periods of absolute exhaustion, more like burnouts.

I have a hard time socializing, concentrating on general work, maintaining motivation, physically exerting myself(I was on the basketball team for god's sake!). I'm generally very irritated, have low self-esteem and low self-confidence.
I don't feel like taking pictures because they always turn out so ugly! I feel like hiding, hiding in the darkness so that no one sees me.
I have to work a lot on making little things happen and constantly need to keep motivating myself relentlessly to maintain a good confidence level. I feel like I have ADHD or something sometimes because of the sheer amount of effort it takes me to do even the simplest things in life.

I'm so unhappy with myself, my condition and my life... I want to disappear.
I feel disgusted looking at my reflection and I'm very frequently analyzing what changes I should or could make to my face.

I came across this article on Myofunctional Therapy a while ago and decided to give it a try because I thought it would change things for the better. It has provided me with a certain amount of relief and my lower jaw, now, doesn't face any tongue thrust.
I have to use a vasodilation spray like Otrivin or Nasivion to keep my nose free from blockage.
Off late my dark circles have pronounced even though I try to get a good sleep of 7-8 hours.

So, I've been doing research and have found that there is no one particular field in medicine that deals with such conditions.
Problems:
Chronic sinusitis(blocked nose), deviated septum
Narrow Face syndrome(sloping forehead, sunken mid-face, gummy smile, poor mandible growth)
Myofunctional issues

Listen to me, go see a craniofacial surgeon. I think a certified craniofacial surgeon would know exactly how to deal with this situation because none of the plastic surgeons, I consulted with, could even figure out what my condition is, much less provide me a solution.
Craniofacial surgeons work with neurologists and I believe they have the ability to turn my life around.
I've arrived at this after over a year worth of research time.

I'm going to consult them as soon as I possibly can.
Hope you find what I've described authentic and consult with one, too.
Best of luck,
AD

So what kind of surgery did you get? Im assuming you really did not like the outcome?

[molestrip]

At your age, the main thing is to do RPE is you have a crossbite. Non-surgical expansion is infinitely better than the surgical alternative later on. Keep an eye on it because, as others said, it continues to change as you age and if it does, redo RPE. That not only widens the palate but also the nasal cavity and even the cheekbones. If you have maxillary deficiency, then you can also look into reverse-pull headgear. However, these things may screw up your bite forcing you to get surgery later, including having to undo things and there's not a lot practitioners with experience doing work like this.

As for vertical growth, it can change substantially. There's evidence that a vertical growth pattern can be undone in a subsequent growth spurt. Not all men get late stage growth spurts. I was one of those but even though I did it's not as significant as earlier growth spurts. I suspect that vertical growth patterns are largely set by your age. That is, you can see them radiographically but the effects may not show for some time. This will require double jaw surgery to correct if it's bad enough but at least you are prepared and won't suffer the ill long term effects of it. Always keep an eye out for sleep apnea.

[diculo]

Have you seen a maxillofacial surgeon yet? What surgeries did he recommend?

[slidinggenio]

You are still really young dude don't stress about it too much. I'm on the same boat with mouth breathing due to allergies f**ked my jaw. I'm planning on improving it soon either though sg or bbso +sg at age 23. Also cheekbones are overated, most people have pathetic cheekbones and they really don't break or make your face like a recessed or downward grown jaw can.