Will Jaw Angle Implants Improve My Shallow jaw?

Q: I’m a little self-concious about my lower face.  I am now 48 years old and feel lilke the sides of my jaw are lacking. When I was a teenager, I had orthodontics which included removal of four permanent teeth to make room for other teeth. This moved by front teeth and my back teeth forward to close the space. Now that I’m older, I’ve come to believe that I have a shallow jaw because of this earlier orthodontic treatment.  I would like some jaw angles as I think my jawline is too steep. From my chin, my jawline just goes straight back and up towards my ears without any definition to the back part of my jawline.

A: For what it is worth, your prior orthodontic treatment (which was and still is standard in many patients) is not the source of a steep jawline. A steep jawline is when the angulation from the jaw angle down along the inferior border of the mandible to the chin is greater than 15 to 20 degrees, often approximating 35 to 40 degrees. As long as the teeth satisfactorily come together, this is an aesthetic issue that is the result of high or underdeveloped jaw angles.

Jaw angle implants can make a big difference in the aesthetics of the jaw angle and jawline. but it has to be the right type of jaw angle implant. It needs to be the type that will lower the jaw angle and not just simply make it wider.  In general, jaw angle implants can lower the prominence of the jaw angle by 1 to 2cms with standard off-the-shelf implants.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana