Will the Midface Look Longer After Chin Surgery?

Hello, I’m Dr. Jo Hyun-woo of Ipche Hospital for Plastic Surgery.

Recently, many people have been preferring a shorter face.

I have explained in several columns how to correct a long face.

As explained in the column above, when considering facial proportions, many people with a long midface should prioritize double jaw surgery.

However, there are also many people who feel burdened by double jaw surgery and, although they also have a long midface, want to try reducing chin length as an alternative.

Also, because standards of beauty vary greatly from person to person, some people want to shorten the lower chin even if their midface is long. In fact, Japanese patients especially want to reduce the length of the lower chin as much as possible.

When I previously looked at ideal types by country using ChatGPT, Japanese people also preferred a shorter lower chin.

(left) Satomi Ishihara, (right) Nozomi Sasaki

Even among celebrities whom we think have beautiful faces, there are many who actually have a long midface.

It seems hard to say that a long midface automatically means the proportions are off or look awkward.

Today, by analyzing real patient cases, I’ll review the facial proportions before and after surgery and how long faces changed.

The first patient visited because the lower face looked long and the chin appeared to protrude forward. The actual facial proportions were about 1:1.2:1.3, and after surgery, you can see that the frontal proportions changed to 1:1.2:1.2.

The midface was also long, but the lower jaw length was especially long, so we performed square jaw surgery and chin surgery to reduce the jaw length and shaved the protruding part of the chin.

From the side, you can see that the feeling of the chin protruding and looking long has improved a lot.

Even on the CT images, you can see that the bulky lower face has become much smaller. Although the midface is indeed long, it does not stand out much after surgery.

The second patient visited because their face looked long. During the preoperative consultation, I recommended double jaw surgery because the midface looked long, but the patient felt uncomfortable with double jaw surgery, so we proceeded with square jaw surgery and chin surgery.

The preoperative ratio was about 1:1.3:1.2, and after surgery, the chin length was reduced, changing it to 1:1.3:1. In the postoperative photos, the midface may look a little long, but the overall facial length definitely feels shorter.

From the side, the midface does not seem especially long, so this was a case the patient was very satisfied with.

The third patient wanted to shorten the face because it looked long and was slightly rotated to the right. The preoperative photo proportions were about 1:1.2:1.2. After surgery, there is also an improvement in asymmetry.

Since the patient also wanted to correct the feeling of the chin protruding from the side, shaving of the chin tip was performed as well.

Looking at the preoperative CT, there was also a side where the chin tip was rotated to the right, so we corrected that part as well and reduced the overall length, resulting in a 1:1.2:1 proportion after surgery. You can see that the face has become shorter.

The last patient visited because their face looked long. A few months earlier, they had undergone philtrum reduction surgery. Even so, the face still looked long, so we performed square jaw surgery and chin surgery together to further reduce the facial length. After surgery, the proportions became 1:1.3:1.2, and as the facial length decreased, you can see that the lower jawbone became much smaller.

From the side, you can see that the feeling of being underbite-looking has improved a lot.

Even on the CT images, you can see that the volume has been greatly reduced after surgery.

So far, we have looked at the facial proportions after lower jaw surgery and examined what results actually appear through patient cases. In general, people with a long midface also tend to have a long philtrum area, but many of them also have a long nose. A long nose is actually difficult to solve even with double jaw surgery. However, in such cases, even if the lower jaw is shortened, it seems that the midface does not end up looking even longer.

Of course, if the lower jaw is made shorter, the midface can appear relatively longer in proportion. But this simple proportion alone cannot be an absolute standard for judging facial beauty. Therefore, it is important to carefully analyze your own face and receive proper consultation on whether double jaw surgery is necessary or whether lower jaw surgery alone can achieve sufficient improvement. I hope today’s column was helpful.

Thank you.