If There Is No Jaw Angle Below the Ears, Is It a “Dog Jaw”? What Is a Dog Jaw?

Hello, this is Director Cho Hyun-woo of Ibit Plastic Surgery.

These days, many patients coming in for square jaw surgery say things like, “I don’t want a dog jaw. Please leave at least a little angle.”

However, it seems that many patients have a slightly incorrect understanding of the meanings of the jaw angle below the ears and a dog jaw.

An over-resected square jaw bone and having little angle below the ears are very different.

So today, I’ll talk about the difference between having a small jaw angle below the ears and a dog jaw, and whether a face with little to no jaw angle below the ears is really not a pretty face.

If There Is No Jaw Angle Below the Ears

Does That Mean It’s Not a Pretty Face?

Just a few years ago, it was trendy to remove the square jaw as much as possible and create a slender line.

The more the square jaw is reduced, the smaller the face looks and the more slender it appears.

First, I’ll show you photos of celebrities with almost no jaw angle below the ears.

The people shown here have almost no jaw angle below the ears. So, does that mean they have a dog jaw?

Many of them have beautiful face shapes, so it would be better to think of the jaw angle below the ears and a dog jaw as slightly different things.

In the past, square jaw surgery focused only on removing the angle of the square jaw.

When I was a resident at a university hospital 20 years ago, there was a time when cutting just the angle of the square jaw well was considered the best.

After cutting the square jaw that way, there were cases where the jaw leading to the chin looked sunken and a second angle formed.

In general, a dog jaw refers to an awkward jaw line, like in the photo above, where the square jaw bone has been over-resected and the jaw angle below the ears looks hollowed out.

Because of the anterior second angle, the area below the ears can look even more hollow and appear like a dog jaw.

What do you think? Having no jaw angle below the ears does not mean it’s a dog jaw or an awkward face shape.

In the past, many people wanted a lot of the angle removed.

I’ll show you photos of patients whose angles were reduced significantly.

If you look at these patients’ photos, they have almost no jaw angle below the ears, but they absolutely cannot be described as having an awkward face.

Patients from China and Japan sometimes describe it very specifically. They ask for the bone to be cut up to the point where a horizontal line drawn from the corner of the mouth meets the side.

Of course, it can be cut as much as desired, but if the surgical result is expected to look dramatically slimmer while still leaving a lot of the jaw angle below the ears, a conflicting issue arises. Therefore, I don’t think you need to be too concerned about the jaw angle below the ears.

A dog jaw seems to refer to the awkwardness caused by excessive resection of the square jaw or by a line that does not flow smoothly toward the chin.

If you look at the overall facial line and adjust the jaw angle below the ears to suit you when undergoing square jaw surgery, you do not need to worry about a dog jaw or awkwardness.

Even a square jaw bone with a severe second angle can be sufficiently corrected if it is cut smoothly and lengthwise toward the chin.

Today, I talked about the meaning of a dog jaw and whether a face with no jaw angle below the ears is not a pretty face.

Rather than focusing on just one point, if you plan your surgery by looking at the overall facial line, you will be able to create a beautiful face shape.

Thank you.