Orthognathic surgery vs Facial contouring surgery for a smaller face, which would be the best one for me?

Ji Young Kim, aged 23, has made a huge decision. She grew up being bullied and called “Big rock face” for her large face since she was little. She visited a plastic surgery hospital to change her protruding cheekbone and asymmetrical face into a smaller and slimmer one. However, after her consultation she couldn’t decide which one to choose, orthognathic surgery or facial contouring surgery.

Similar to her case, a lot of people choose orthognathic surgery or facial contouring surgery, expecting a grand and noticeable change of their facial size. It is for sure that those surgeries are the most well-known ones for reducing the size of your face, either by excision of facial bone or replacing the bone. These two surgeries, however, are two different ones. Therefore, if you are considering to get a facial bone surgery, it is important that you make a precise analysis of the shape of your face and choose the correct one that fits best.

Dr. Sang Hoon Park, the head doctor of ID Hospital, said “depending on the purpose and result, there is a huge difference between orthognathic surgery and facial contouring surgery even though they both are facial bone surgery.”

First, orthognathic surgery is done when the jaws are misplaced or their functions are not carried out well due to protruded jaw or facial asymmetry. It is correcting the placement of jaws by cutting the upper and lower jaws. Once you get an orthognathic surgery, you can improve your mastication function including chewing food and speaking, and since the location and shape of the jaws are changed to normal, you can see a dramatic facial change.

Facial contouring surgery, on the other hand, is for changing the shape of your facial bone to make your facial shape prettier, and it includes square jaw surgery, cheekbone reduction surgery, and chin surgery. In case of strong and rough facial appearance due to too much growth of facial bone, the surgery reduces the size of the bone and changes the facial shape into a smoother one, so it is focused more on making aesthetical improvement.

Whether you should get orthognathic surgery or facial contouring surgery is decided based on mastication of your teeth, shape of the jaw bone, and the condition of the central line of your face. If you have malocclusion, jaw bones are not in the right place, or the central line of your face is tilted, you should get orthognathic surgery that corrects the placement of upper and lower jaw as well as their shape. However, if the central line of your face is straight, and you’re simply worried about the shape and appearance of your lower jaw bone, getting orthognathic surgery can solve the problem of your facial shape.

Dr. Sang Hoon Park, a specialist in plastic surgery said “it is recommended that you have an in-depth consultation with a doctor specialized in plastic surgery for deciding on orthognathic surgery or facial contouring surgery in order to get maximized effect of facial bone surgery. If you choose a hospital-level medical institution where you can have precise prediction of facial change after the surgery through close diagnostic system and joint treatment of plastic surgery center, dental center, and orthodontic center, you will be able to have safe and high satisfactory result of surgery.