A teenage singer says her 'resting bitch face' left her looking miserable for years, until she underwent a gruelling operation on her face which has left her with a beaming smile.
Paige Dobson, 18, spent five-and-a-half hours on the operating table having both her upper and lower jaws broken, reset and secured in place with metal plates and screws. Surgeons also broke Paige's septum and realigned it to it matched her new jawline.
The teen says before the operation her upper jaw sat so far forward, her upper and bottom teeth didn't meet and when she smiled the skin on her chin would 'crease, pull and dimple', leaving her with a 'gummy' smile.
In an attempt to avoid showing the creases and dimples, Paige would try not to smile, which left her looking 'constantly miserable'.
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Paige Netheravon, Wiltshire, Wiltshire,said: "Before my surgery I was so self-conscious and always avoided smiling. 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.
"When we looked back on pictures my mum always used to say, 'Paige why have you got a resting bitch 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."
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Paige was also taunted by cruel bullies at school, which knocked her confidence.
"When I was 14 I got bullied to absolute hell," Paige said.
"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.
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"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."
Paige spent two-and-a-half years wearing braces before going into Salisbury District Hospital in Odstock, Wiltshire, last January to have a bimaxillary osteotomy.
The operation changed Paige's face so much that when her mum Tracey Dobson walked into her room post-surgery, she didn't recognise her side profile.
Paige added: "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.
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"The operation hasn't just changed my jaw; it's changed my nose too. Everything is completely different."
Although she's not delighted with her surgery, the road to recovery wasn't easy as she was left with extreme pain and had to have her jaw wired shut for two weeks.
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."
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Paige had to take six weeks off college while she recovered, but now - one year on - she says she feels as though her life has only 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.
"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."
Paige hopes her story inspires others in a similar position to go for it and have the surgery.
"To anyone in a similar situation thinking of having the op - just do it," she said.
"It's hard to go through that op both physically and mentally, there were up and down days. [But] it was 100 percent worth it, it's the best thing I've ever agreed to do.
"Now my resting bitch face has gone for good."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and MediaTopics: uk news