Image: Flying chin with skeletal structures in a normal bite.
What is a receding chin?
A receding, stocky chin appears shifted backwards in profile. This is usually a congenital normal variant.
However, the receding chin can also develop after fractures of the lower jaw or in old age due to bone thickening. A receding chin is referred to in medicine as microgenia and is found in extreme form in some syndromes (e.g. Robin syndrome, Seckel syndrome, dysostosis mandibulofacialis = Franceschetti syndrome). This is also referred to as bird face because of the typical profile. However, this is not just a receding chin, but an underdevelopment of the entire lower jaw.
In general, a distinction must be made as to whether it is only a receding chin or whether there is a malformation of the entire jaw / lower jaw (skeletal dysgnathia). In the latter case, a malocclusion often causes discomfort or may do so in the future.
How is receding chin surgery performed?
The diagram above shows a slightly and strongly receding chin.
A double chin is typically visible in the case of a heavily undercut chin, which is caused by the relative excess skin and fat. After correcting the chin, this excess is usually no longer present because the skin is tightened to a certain extent. If excess fat still remains, it can be removed with the help of mini liposuction. This can be done at the same time as the chin augmentation.
A so-called profile correction, also known as profiloplasty, can also be considered if other structures disturb the balance of the profile. In addition to the aforementioned corrections, an aesthetic nose operation, lip correction or eyebrow bulge reduction can be performed simultaneously. In the rarest of cases, a long distance between the nose and lip is corrected using a bullhorn excision, also known as an indirect lip lift.
To find out how a receding chin without a malocclusion can be corrected (with and without surgery), see Chin augmentation.
However, if a malocclusion is present, the corrective surgery is far more complex. The position of the teeth and the bony structures must then also be corrected. Such procedures are carried out in Germany by oral and maxillofacial surgeons. If it is mainly the position of the teeth that needs to be corrected, then this belongs to the specialist field of orthodontists, who can normalize the position of the teeth with braces.
Why would you want to correct the chin?
The main reason for treatment for a receding chin is the undefined disproportionate impression it leaves when looking at a face. You can see this difference in the graphic above.
In addition, a receding chin can make a dominant nose appear even larger. A negative influence on the neck area is also possible if the excess skin is large.
Men who have a receding chin and are considering corrective surgery often give the reason that their face does not look prominent enough.
