Singer is ‘cured’ of her ‘resting b*tch face’ thanks to dramatic surgery
FOR years, Paige Dobson faced cruel taunts from bullies for having a “resting b*tch face”. The singer, 18, always “looked miserable” as she was born with an extreme overbite due to her jaw being positioned so far forward. And it meant Paige, from Netheravon, Wiltshire, refused to ever smile for pictures – as she felt […]
FOR years, Paige Dobson faced cruel taunts from bullies for having a “resting b*tch face”.
The singer, 18, always “looked miserable” as she was born with an extreme overbite due to her jaw being positioned so far forward.
And it meant Paige, from Netheravon, Wiltshire, refused to ever smile for pictures – as she felt so self-conscious.
At rock bottom, the student knew she needed to do something about her overbite and underwent major surgery to realign her jaw.
Paige now looks like a completely different person and finally feels more confident singing on stage and posing for social media snaps.
She said: “It’s hard to go through that op both physically and mentally, there were up and down days – but it was 100 per cent worth it, it’s the best thing I’ve ever agreed to do.
“Now my resting b*tch face has gone for good.”
Self-conscious singer and dancing coach Paige had longed for the surgery since her orthodontist mentioned it during a routine brace appointment in February 2017.
Paige’s top jaw sat so far forward that her upper and bottom teeth never met meaning when she moved her mouth to smile the skin on her chin would “crease, pull and dimple” and leave her sporting a “gummy” grin.
And Paige would try to smooth the creases out by keeping her expression neutral – leaving her appearing to permanently sport a “resting b*tch face”.
“Before my surgery I was so self-conscious and always avoided smiling”, she said.
“I hated having pictures taken and always covered half my face with my hand.
“Whenever I closed my mouth it would crease up and if I laughed too much I’d be really gummy, it held me back from enjoying myself and being able to smile nicely in photos.
“The orthodontist said braces wouldn’t do anything because my overbite was so bad.
I was so self-conscious and always avoided smiling
Paige Dobson
“When we looked back on pictures my mum always used to say ‘Paige why have you got a resting b*tch face?’
“She was obviously kidding, but it was from where my mouth was pulling so I constantly looked miserable. I felt it because I looked it – but now all I do is beam in photos.”
In addition to hating having pictures of herself taken, Paige also had to deal with bullies who mocked her appearance with cruel impersonations.
Paige said: “When I was 14 I got bullied to absolute hell.
“There was a group of people who would always make comments, laugh and impersonate how I would look if I was laughing, it was really cruel.
“The main girl in this group got her boyfriend to follow me home from school and shout abuse at me for six months – it was so bad we had to get the police involved.”
After two-and-a-half years in braces, Paige underwent surgery, known as bimaxillary osteotomy, at Salisbury District Hospital in Odstock, Wiltshire, on January 15 2019.
During the gruelling five-and-a-half-hour operation, surgeons broke Paige’s top and bottom jawbones and fixed her jaw in a new position with plates and screws.
Once they’d re-positioned her jaw, doctors realised her nose was off centre so they had to break her septum to be able to realign her nose with her jaw – effectively giving Paige a “bonus” nose job.
The transformation was so radical that when Paige’s mum, 46-year-old hairdresser Tracey Dobson, walked into the room post-surgery she didn’t recognise her daughter’s side profile.
Paige said: “I didn’t come round from the anaesthetic until 6pm that night.
“When my parents came in the room my mum said as she walked towards me she took a step back and went to walk away because she didn’t recognise me as my side profile was already different.
“The operation hasn’t just changed my jaw it’s changed my nose too – everything is completely different.”
The surgery has undoubtedly transformed Paige’s outlook on life, but the singer claims it hasn’t been a straightforward road to recovery.
The teen was forced to deal with regular bleeding from her nose and mouth and was left in extreme pain post-operation.
Paige’s mouth was also wired together for a fortnight due to extreme swelling and meant the already petite teen was unable to eat anything for three-and-a-half weeks.
I remember laughing as I had this puffer fish face
Paige Dobson
This caused her weight to plummet and left her relying on mum Tracey syringing water into her mouth.
Paige said: “I had to deal with a lot of bleeding and my lips were left red and raw from where they’d been pulled about when they operated on my jaw.
“I couldn’t open my mouth at all for a fortnight and didn’t look in the mirror for a week because I knew I’d be horrified – as I could feel the swelling was past my ears.
“When I finally looked at myself I remember laughing as I had this puffer fish face.
“The pain was awful, I had a mask that ran cool water through a tube on my face but every time I would take it off I was crying in pain.”
What exactly is an overbite?
An overbite is when your upper jaw overlaps your lower jaw.
It is common for some people to have a slight overbite of just one or two millimeters, but others have more serious bite issues.
A malocclusion or deep overbite is when the overlap between the upper and lower teeth is more pronounced.
Often with malocclusion, the person has a recessive chin which affects the shape of his or her face.
These people tend to have shorter, rounder faces that make them look older.
Genetics can play a big part in whether you have an overbite or not, but certain chronic bad habits can also contribute to the problem – for example, thumb sucking.
If your child always has their thumb in their mouth, the thrusting motion of the tongue might be pushing the upper teeth and bone into a more forward position while the thumb itself pushes the lower teeth back.
Your speech can also be affected by an overbite.
When you have an overbite, you tend to speak more with your tongue which can affect the clarity of your words and might even give you a lisp when you speak.
Source: Orthodentics Limited
Paige took six weeks off college where she was studying Performing Arts A levels to recover, and at the six-month mark had her braces removed.
A year on from the op, Paige says she “doesn’t recognise” the person she sees in the mirror and feels like life has just begun.
Paige said: “When I look back on pictures before my operation it’s like I’m looking at a completely different person, it’s weird.
“It’s not just the outside of what you see but it’s the inside as well – it’s definitely made me a much stronger person.
“I had my braces taken off six months after the operation, I was so excited but nervous at the same time.
“I knew when I had the braces taken off it would be the final thing to see how much I’d changed.
“I remember FaceTiming my mum afterwards and she cried and said I looked amazing, I haven’t stopped smiling since.
“It’s the first year of me being the new me. I probably look really vain on my social media but I couldn’t care less.
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“It’s given me a real confidence boost especially with my singing, it’s changed my self-confidence completely and I now happily strut around the stage. It’s made me love myself more.”
The performer wants to share her extraordinary transformation to inspire others suffering from an extreme overbite or underbite to take the plunge and have surgery.
Paige said: “To anyone in a similar situation thinking of having the op – just do it.”