About the Symptoms and Causes of Facial Asymmetry

▲ A way to improve facial asymmetry! If you want to correct your face without surgery, please watch this :)

The facial asymmetry that causes inconvenience in daily life

What is facial asymmetry?

It is rare for both sides of the face to form a clearly symmetrical shape. The symptoms of facial asymmetry, which everyone has to some degree, refer to a state in which the left and right sides of the face are not balanced. It can occur when the bones or muscles of the face grow unevenly due to various causes such as habitual behaviors or genetics. Congenital causes refer to cases where genetic influences from birth create problems, while acquired causes include habits such as resting your chin on one hand, crossing your legs, persistent stress, and behaviors that place strain on the temporomandibular joint.

If the symptoms of facial asymmetry are not severe and you do not have a complex 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 reasons.

A 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 shapes of the eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrows differ left to right, or if the corners of your mouth are uneven, you may want to suspect this condition. Also, if you have malocclusion or temporomandibular joint disorders, the symptoms are more likely to be present.

The age group that experiences stress and pain due to facial asymmetry is getting younger, and cases that occur at a young age, especially due to genetic influence from parents, are increasing. Therefore, regardless of gender or age, if you match any of the self-diagnosis items, you should visit a dental clinic as soon as possible and receive an examination.

If left untreated for a long time,

facial asymmetry can cause various complications

Even if the symptoms of facial asymmetry are severe, if they are treated lightly and left untreated, the chances of leading to various problems increase as the treatment window is missed. It is not just an aesthetic complex; the functional elements of the teeth and jaw also fail to function normally.

Because asymmetry causes the bite of the teeth to be misaligned, it becomes difficult to chew properly during meals. Food should be finely broken down before moving into the digestive system, but because the chewing force is uneven, it can lead to digestive problems and even place a burden on the temporomandibular joint.

Also, when speaking, the tongue touches the front teeth to produce accurate pronunciation. If this is also outside the normal range, it can lead to pronunciation problems that make conversation with others difficult, and even to skeletal changes. This is a condition that definitely requires help from a medical institution.

Can facial asymmetry be improved

without surgery?

When seeking help from a medical institution, there are broadly two options: surgery and non-surgical correction. Surgery, which is performed through an external surgical approach, can be considered a last resort used in cases of very severe skeletal misalignment. It involves cutting both the misaligned upper and lower jaws together, repositioning the jawbones, and then fixing them in place. This is burdensome not only financially but also psychologically and physically. Afterwards, a recovery period is needed for swelling and bruising, and it is difficult to rule out the possibility of additional issues that may arise.

However, if the skeletal misalignment is not extremely severe and the cause of facial asymmetry is malocclusion and the temporomandibular joint, the symptoms can be improved and corrected through non-surgical correction. That said, whether surgery or non-surgical treatment is appropriate should not be determined by the individual alone; it should be decided in depth after systematic treatment and identification of the cause. Therefore, it is important to have a professional determine whether your case is suitable for non-surgical correction.

If you undergo non-surgical facial asymmetry correction, the treatment period varies depending on the individual’s condition, but on average it is expected to take about two years. No incision is made, and during the correction period, the misaligned bite as well as the deviated jaw are gradually stabilized and fundamentally improved. For this reason, it is a method with no physical burden and 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 fully satisfied with the results. How the process is carried out is the real key point. Simply resolving malocclusion or only moving the temporomandibular joint position will not be enough to improve it. 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 a normal bite and aligning the teeth neatly, while jaw correction has the effect of gradually moving the misaligned jaw into the correct position, addressing the root cause at the same time. For this, the first step is called "maxillary expansion," in which a special orthodontic device is used to move the misaligned lower jaw into a normal position when it cannot properly settle due to a narrow upper jaw. Then, orthodontic treatment customized to each patient’s facial skeleton, tooth shape, malocclusion pattern, and the treatment progression process must be carried out together.

At this stage of orthodontic treatment, it may be a good idea to look for a clinic that improves treatment effectiveness through handmade orthodontic appliances custom-made by the doctor in charge for each individual patient, rather than standardized wire appliances produced by a machine. During orthodontic treatment, patients can feel great discomfort even from a 1 mm difference. If custom-made wire appliances are used to reflect each person’s condition, this can help prevent such issues and make the process more comfortable.

When choosing a clinic for facial asymmetry correction,

be sure to check these points!

Of course, criteria and priorities differ from person to person, but if you have decided to undergo facial asymmetry correction, please make sure to consider the following points when choosing a clinic.

First of all, there is the matter of detailed treatment planning, which was emphasized earlier. Satisfaction is hard to expect from a one-size-fits-all approach. In addition to handmade wires, you should look for a place that does not simply treat patients based only on the chart on the day of their visit, but one that has been thinking about the patient’s treatment from a week in advance and preparing and planning accordingly.

Of course, it is advisable to undergo treatment at a clinic where the medical team’s skill and experience come first, along with a systematic in-house system. It is also advisable to consider whether there is enough long-term collaborative know-how and teamwork between the jaw correction and orthodontic treatment teams, and whether there are sufficient cases of non-surgical correction treatment achieved through this cooperation.

Another major concern is deciding whether to proceed with treatment based only on the price or cost of facial asymmetry correction, or choosing a place simply because it is cheaper. Facial asymmetry correction is a highly difficult process that involves moving the position of the jaw in the facial area and also addressing malocclusion in the oral structure. Therefore, please check carefully so that you do not end up with unsatisfactory results or waste only time and money by choosing based solely on cost.

Facial asymmetry correction,

what is another key point?

Because facial asymmetry correction becomes clear only after precise examination and analysis as to which treatment method should be used and how it should be improved, it is important first to receive a customized diagnosis of the severity of your symptoms and the appropriate improvement process through consultation with experienced medical staff.

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

If you are planning facial asymmetry correction,

start with a consultation from experienced medical staff

Therefore, if you are planning facial asymmetry correction, I hope you will not forget that consulting with experienced medical staff is the beginning of improvement. Please check whether the clinic has medical staff who have long-term research experience in a single field, have seen many patients, and have direct treatment cases, so that you can change in a better functional and aesthetic direction.

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

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

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

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