Forward facial growth, as a subject is quite popular for people who are into aesthetically pleasing facial structures or those who suffer from unwarranted troubles that come along with having a disproportionate jawline.
Not only is it an interesting read but an effective solution for anyone struggling with a recessed jaw structure.
Even while talking to someone, their front profile is usually what people come face to face with and hence it is mostly a point of impression in people’s minds.
Here is your all-inclusive guide through this topic.
Table of Contents
What is forward facial growth?
Forward facial growth is a result of the correct tongue posture. While mewing, when you rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth, your tongue applies a constant, gentle force in the upward direction.
Over time, this makes the maxilla (central bone as shown below) move upward and your face grows upward and forward.
This is a rather easy subject to understand, when your face grows in the forward direction, it allows more space for your airway, teeth, and tongue.
Although results vary from person to person, forward facial growth can change the-
- Position of your nasal bridge- making it higher
- Position of your chin- pushing it forward
- Position of under-eye support- bringing it forward
This is not only beneficial for the face structure but also of great aesthetic value.
Usually while interacting, one tends to have the forward perspective and it is hence more appealing visually since it gives positive under-eye support.
The upturned nose and matching lips are complementary features along with a chin that extends to the lips.
How to achieve forward facial growth?
Due to many factors, such as prolonged use of a sippy cup, sucking of thumb in children, or mouth breathing in adults, the jaw can remain underdeveloped causing an underbite or an overbite, as well as crooked or crowded teeth.
However, to achieve forward facial growth, one can resort to surgical and non-surgical solutions that are listed below. Some exercises can easily help one to achieve this, although it is a time-consuming process.
In the rest of the article, you will learn about both these methods in detail.
Effects of Forward Facial Growth in Adults
In many adults, not having forward facial growth can cause many problems apart from the alignment of their facial aesthetics.
For instance, in one of the cases, a patient had an airway of only 18mm which made it compulsory for them to receive a minimum of 10 hours of sleep with extreme snoring to feel completely rested.
After the treatment, their airway has quadrupled in size, and all their sleeping problems have ceased.
Another patient had a pushed back upper jaw, making it difficult for their lower jaw to rest comfortably. The treatment led to muscle relaxation and the overall comfort of the jaw.
In another case, a woman needed treatment after orthodontic work which led to the removal of two teeth from her top jaw.
This pushed her upper jaw behind, leading to a loss of sense of smell, TMJ discomfort, and lisping. After a year, her sense of smell came back along with TMJ discomfort resolved and lisping gone.
These are some problems that a retracted jaw can cause in adults but being more durable to invasion treatment, the solutions are plenty as well.
Forward facial growth exercises
To achieve good forward facial growth, you can practice a few exercises to accelerate the process and make your face more aesthetically pleasing and rid yourself of all the adversity that could cause a problem.
Mewing
The most important exercise to slowly adapt as a lifestyle has to be Mewing. Mewing is all about resting your tongue on the palate of the mouth instead of the base.
While mewing, make sure your molar teeth are lightly resting on top of each other, your lips are sealed, and your entire tongue (even the back) is touching the roof.
Neck curl-up
The exercise is relatively simple. It’s like crunches but for your neck. All you need to do is lay down on your back and push your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
Then you bring your chin to your chest and raise it about 2 inches off the ground without lifting your stomach or poking your chin out.
It is recommended to start by doing 3 sets with 10 repetitions and slowly moving your way up to more.
Collar bone back-up
In a standing, seated, or laying down position, all you need to do is keep your level with the ground, bring your head back to feel the muscles on your throat contract, and relax simultaneously. It is important to ensure that your ears stay over your shoulder and your head stays level.
Tongue twister
This facial exercise is used to reduce the fat below your chin. What you need to do is simply place your tongue on the roof of your mouth right behind your teeth. Make sure that you tension it to seal off the roof and then make a humming or vibrating sound. Through this, you will activate your muscles and get them to work, eventually leading to loss of fat.
Chin-up
The chin-up exercise is done with your mouth closed and by pushing your lower jaw out and moving your lower lip upwards. This will make you feel the stretch in your jaw so you can hold it for 15-20 seconds to work your muscles, giving it a definite structure.
Forward facial growth surgery
Forward facial growth surgery helps when you’re looking to tackle more medically challenging issues that can be caused by a disproportionate jaw.
Some of these problems include breathing difficulties, snoring, sleep apnea, and TMJ dysfunction (temporomandibular joint dysfunction).
In adults, a jaw surgery accompanied by other orthodontic treatments is recommended to fix your jaw structure. Since it helps correct many problems, it is considered a functional medical procedure rather than a cosmetic surgery.
Jaw surgery can easily help you align your face to the ideal position and help anyone struggling with issues such as:
- Difficulty in chewing
- Jaw joint problems (TMJ dysfunction)
- A gummy smile
- Despondency/Depression, memory loss.
- Snoring at night
- Chronic nasal congestion
Consulting a doctor can help you move forward with the procedure and recommend what is most suitable for your unique structure.
Through surgery, you can achieve optimal jaw structure and health that minimizes your everyday troubles.
Forward facial growth and recessed jawline
Although they may seem very similar, having a forward facial growth and a recessed jawline does not mean the same thing.
You can see the key differences in four areas when assessing the face from the profile view. These are:
- Cheek line: Forward facial growth has your cheek line sloping downwards whereas in a recessed jawline your cheek line flat.
- Upper lip (nasolabial angle): A narrow-angle is observed in forwarding facial growth as compared to a wide-angle in a recessed jawline.
- Lower lip (mentolabial angle): Similar to the nasolabial angle, forward facial growth has a narrow-angle and the recessed jawline has a wide-angle.
- Jawline: Your jawline is defined and structured in forwarding facial growth, however in a recessed jawline, the jawline may be short and obscured.
Most people can tell the difference between the two by just looking at one’s jawline.
However, that is just half your face and there are many more indications of what forward facial growth could look like.
Your facial structure must be measured from the point where the face and head meet called nasion. By drawing an imaginary line through the nasion, you can determine the different ways your face structure differs.
FAQs: Forward Facial Growth
Q1. At what age does your jaw stop growing?
For most people, the jaw growth stops by the time their teens are over. However, in some cases, there may be a growth spurt in the late teens or 20s. The jaw remains that way until they turn 40-50, after which it starts shrinking.
Q2. What is facial growth orthodontics?
Facial growth orthodontics is just a way of repositioning your teeth along with structuring your jaw and the issues that come along with it.
Q3. Can you move your maxilla forward?
If you put continuous pressure on your maxilla, it can remodel itself with the help of several face-pulling techniques.
Q4. How can I move my jaw forward without surgery?
Unless your growth plates haven’t closed, there is scope for you to move your jaw forward without surgery with the help of appliances made by orthodontists.
Q5. How can I get my lower jaw to move forward?
If you want to move your lower jaw forward, the only way of doing it is by cutting the bone and moving it to a new position. However, if your growth plates haven’t closed then there are other non-surgical methods that you can look at.
Q6. What causes an underdeveloped jaw?
Mouth breathing, sucking their thumb, or even prolonged use of a sippy cup can result in an underdeveloped jaw which then results in a recessed jawline.