To Fix My Facial Asymmetry Can The Longer Side Of My Jaw Be Shaved Down?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’m interested in having my chin/jaw asymmetry fixed. I was wondering how much would it cost to shave down one side of the chin or jaw. I have an x ray of my jaw and I could send a picture of my face currently. But let me know please!

A:Thank for sending your pictures and x-rays. When it comes to jaw asymmetry corrections in which the chin is in the midline it is always a debate between reducing the longer side or augmenting the shorter side. While this is always primarily driven by the patient’s aesthetic desires such a decision is also influenced by the type of surgery needed to make the those changes. Augmenting the longer side is always ‘easier’ because a preoperative implant design controls matching the symmetry to the opposite longer side. It is also done by a combined submental skin incision in front with an intraoral incision to position the implant in the back. Conversely reducing the longer side is technically more challenging because the chin-jaw bone cut initially made from the front submental incision can not extend all the way to the back of the jaw angle due instrumentation and access limitations. The completion of the bone cut through the jaw angle can also not be done intraorally as the power equipment used can not make such a small amount of inferior border bone removal. It requires the second incision to be a small one at the back end of the jaw angle externally to be completed. In other words you need a dual incisional linear access for the bone removal. (see attached image)

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon