About the Symptoms and Causes of Facial Asymmetry

▲ Ways to improve facial asymmetry! If you want to straighten your face without surgery, please watch this :)

An inconvenience in daily life

What is facial asymmetry?

It is rare for both sides of the face to be in perfect symmetry. Facial asymmetry symptoms, which everyone has to some degree, refer to a condition in which the left and right sides of the face are not balanced. It can occur when the bones or muscles of the face become unbalanced during growth due to various causes such as habitual behavior or genetics. Congenital causes refer to cases in which a problem exists from birth due to genetic influence, while acquired causes can include habits such as resting one side of the jaw on your hand or crossing your legs, as well as ongoing stress and behaviors that place strain on the temporomandibular joint.

If the symptoms of facial asymmetry are not severe and you do not feel self-conscious about your appearance, there is no need for special correction. However, if the symptoms are severe or have bothered you every time you look in the mirror, it is advisable to improve facial asymmetry for functional and aesthetic improvement.

Self-diagnosis method based on

facial asymmetry symptoms?

In such cases, facial asymmetry can be checked through self-diagnosis methods. If your mouth and nose curve to one side when you smile, if the center line of your face does not align, or if the left and right shapes of the eyes, nose, mouth, or eyebrows differ, or if the corners of your mouth are uneven on both sides, you may suspect this condition. In addition, if you have malocclusion or temporomandibular joint disorders, the symptoms are also more likely to be present.

The age groups experiencing stress and pain due to facial asymmetry are getting younger, and cases are increasing, especially among children due to genetic influence from parents. Therefore, regardless of gender or age, if you meet the self-diagnosis criteria, you should visit a dental clinic as soon as possible for an evaluation.

If left untreated for a long time,

Facial asymmetry can also cause various disorders

Even if facial asymmetry symptoms are severe, if they are taken lightly and left untreated, the chances of leading to other problems increase. It is not just a cosmetic complex; the functional aspects of the teeth and jaw also fail to remain normal.

Because the bite is misaligned, asymmetry makes it difficult to chew properly during meals. Food should be broken down into small pieces and moved on to the digestive system, but if chewing force is uneven, it can place additional strain on the body, including digestive problems and temporomandibular joint disorders. Also, when speaking, the tongue touches the front teeth to produce clear pronunciation. If this too is outside the normal range, it can lead to pronunciation difficulties in conversations with others and even skeletal changes, making medical help absolutely necessary.

Can facial asymmetry be

improved without surgery?

When seeking help from a medical institution, you are broadly faced with two options: surgery and non-surgical correction. Surgery, which is performed through an external surgical approach, can be considered a last resort for cases of very severe skeletal misalignment. It involves osteotomy of both the upper and lower jaws that do not fit together, then repositioning and fixing the jawbones. This is a burden not only financially but also psychologically and physically. Recovery time is needed later due to swelling and bruising, and it is difficult to rule out the possibility of additional problems that may arise.

However, if the skeletal misalignment is not extremely severe and facial asymmetry is caused by malocclusion or temporomandibular joint issues, symptoms can be improved and corrected through non-surgical treatment. That said, whether surgery or non-surgical treatment is appropriate should not be decided by the patient alone, but should be determined in depth after systematic examination and identification of the cause. It is important to be evaluated to determine whether your case is suitable for non-surgical correction.

If you undergo non-surgical facial asymmetry correction, the average treatment period is about two years, though this varies depending on the individual. There is no separate incision, and during the correction period the treatment gradually and fundamentally improves not only malocclusion, which prevents proper alignment, but also the balance of the misaligned jaw, allowing stability to be maintained. For this reason, it places little physical burden on the body and has a very low chance of recurrence.

The key to facial asymmetry correction is

combining jaw correction + orthodontic treatment

However, not everyone who undergoes facial asymmetry correction will be satisfied with the results. The key point is how the process is carried out. Simply fixing malocclusion or only moving the temporomandibular joint will not lead to improvement. To achieve proper non-surgical correction results, jaw correction and orthodontic treatment must be performed together.

Orthodontic treatment plays the role of correcting malocclusion into normal occlusion and straight teeth alignment, while jaw correction gradually moves the misaligned jaw into the proper position and addresses the underlying cause as well. To do this, the first step is the “maxillary expansion” phase, which uses special orthodontic devices to move the lower jaw, which has become misaligned because the upper jaw is too narrow, into the normal position. In addition, “orthodontic treatment,” which is customized according to each patient’s facial skeleton, tooth shape, pattern of malocclusion, and the course of treatment changes, must be performed together.

At this stage of orthodontic treatment, it may be helpful to look for a clinic that improves outcomes not with a standardized wire appliance produced by a machine, but with a handmade orthodontic device custom-made by the dedicated doctor for each individual patient. During treatment, even a small 1 mm difference can cause significant discomfort. If a custom-made wire appliance tailored to each patient’s condition is used, such discomfort can be prevented and treatment can proceed more comfortably.

When choosing a clinic for facial asymmetry correction,

be sure to check this!

Of course, each person has different criteria and priorities, but if you have decided to undergo facial asymmetry correction, please be sure to consider the following when choosing a clinic.

First of all, as mentioned earlier, pay attention to the detailed treatment plan. It is hard to expect satisfaction from a one-size-fits-all approach. In addition to handmade wires, you should look for a clinic that does not simply treat you based on the chart on the day of your visit, but prepares and plans your treatment in advance, considering your case from as early as a week before your appointment.

Of course, it is advisable to receive treatment at a clinic where the doctors’ skill and experience come first, along with a systematic in-house system. It is also preferable to consider whether the jaw correction and orthodontic doctors have long-standing cooperative treatment know-how and teamwork, and whether there are enough cases of non-surgical correction treatment through such collaboration.

Another major concern is deciding whether to pursue treatment based primarily on the price or cost of facial asymmetry correction, or choosing a cheaper clinic. Facial asymmetry correction is a highly difficult process that requires moving the position of the jaw in the facial area while also addressing malocclusion in the oral structure. Therefore, please be careful not to end up with unsatisfactory results or waste time and money by choosing solely based on financial considerations.

Facial asymmetry correction,

what is another key point?

Because facial asymmetry correction only becomes clear after a detailed examination and analysis as to which treatment method should be used and how improvement should be made, the priority is to receive a customized diagnosis from experienced medical staff through consultation regarding the severity of your symptoms and the appropriate improvement process.

You should also carefully check whether the clinic can monitor any possible future changes after improvement and remain responsible until the end.

If you are planning facial asymmetry correction,

start by consulting experienced medical staff

Therefore, if you are planning facial asymmetry correction, I hope you will remember that consulting experienced medical staff is the beginning of improvement. Please check whether the clinic has doctors who have conducted long-term research in the field and have many cases of treating patients firsthand, so that you can achieve a better functional and aesthetic outcome.

So far, we have explained the definition of facial asymmetry, treatment methods, and the important points you should not miss overall.

If you have any further questions, please click the video and banner below to get more help. Thank you.

▲ Why is jaw correction important in facial asymmetry treatment? Go to the video

The YouTube channel contains various dental information and information about non-surgical orthodontic treatment, so please refer to it.