Your teeth and jaw are hugely important to your appearance. Think of the many TV personalities and sports stars whose appearances have benefitted from corrective jaw bone surgery.

Though your eyes, nose, forehead, eyebrows and lips may be perfect, a simple protrusion or retrusion of your teeth or asymmetrical jaw line can make a huge difference to how you look, says Dr. Lee Jin-gew, oral and maxillofacial surgery specialist at M Dental Clinic.

“From an aesthetic point of view to health reasons, orthognathic correction is very important. It is also crucial to meet the right professional dentist to carry out the surgery,” Lee said. 

The most frequent treatment is on protrusive jaw, which many Koreans are reported to have.

“People tend to make extra effort to keep their mouth closed compared to those with retruded or other facial figures,” Lee said.

In the case of a lantern chin, where the lower jaw is slightly protruded, the problem goes beyond beauty: sufferers tend to have problems chewing and biting, causing digestive issues. Sometimes, they have problems with pronunciation.

Facial asymmetry is also a tricky issue.

“Honestly, it doesn’t look nice. Also, the imbalanced jaw cannot function the best,” Lee said. 

Many people turn to plastic surgeons to have their facial features corrected but Lee says that talking to your dentist is wise.

“People think dentists are for teeth problems but in fact the range of dental treatment is vaster than you think. The oral and maxillofacial surgery department ranges from protruded lips to all other areas concerning the teeth and jaw line,” Lee said.

The dentist stressed that dentists are more suitable for dealing with jaw issues.

“It’s now about sawing your jaw. It is about removing the right amount of jaw bone and replacing the other places. It is very sophisticated,” he said.

“Dentists need to look into one’s jaw and faces in various aspects. Using cephalometric radiography and dental model, one should be able to diagnose the exact problem and even predict the outcome exactly. Dentists are also the capable of adapting their knowledge in teeth, gum, misalignments and other areas to the surgery, which could secure safety and sophistication in the whole process as well as the outcome,” Lee said.

“The technique as well as its tools and devices have evolved over the past 50 years of oral and maxillofacial surgery,” Lee said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)