Am I A Good Candidate For Jaw Reduction?

Q: Dr. Eppley, My goal is to slim my jawline to have a more v-line and less wide jaw.  I have had masseter botox for the past 6 years. The jowls are secondary to that due to significant masseter hypertrophy. I also have a small amount of chin filler and malocclusion from an overbite.

A:Thank you for sending your pictures. I am a bit concerned about how effective jaw reduction would be for you given your very soft thick tissues and the size of your masseter muscles. The question is not whether you can have jaw reduction but would it achieve the lower facial shape that you desire. There is also the issue that when you do jaw reduction surgery it is very common to develop soft tissue laxity in patients with thicker tissues. This is why you see young people get lower facelifts after jaw reduction surgery because of this not infrequent postoperative sequelae. You have already seeing what happens with some masseter muscle reduction by the development of jowls just from that soft tissue change.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Plastic Surgeon