Facial Asymmetry
Some degree of facial asymmetry is normal.
No human face is perfectly symmetric. Just like our left and right hands, feet, arms, and legs are slightly different from each other, and not perfect mirror-images, our faces are similarly slightly asymmetric. A well-known exercise is to take the right and left halves of the face and mirror them to create two very different faces. This reveals the minor asymmetry in even the most symmetric of faces.
Original face
Right side mirrored
Left side mirrored
Facial asymmetry is a fascinating topic.
Aside from facial asymmetry resulting from hereditary genetic traits, there is research showing that some degree of facial asymmetry develops from emotional “sidedness.” This means that the different parts of the brain that show emotion manifest themselves differently in certain parts of the face.
Regardless of the reason, faces are naturally asymmetric.
However, sometimes asymmetries can result from half of the face growing differently as a result of pathology. There may be one half of the face that is stunted in its growth, or one half of the face can undergo excessive growth. Occasionally, facial asymmetry can be caused by trauma to the face in childhood, which can lead to stunted growth of one side of the jaw. These abnormal, pathologic growth disorders can lead to facial asymmetries that are more severe than the normal range, and can affect the way the jaws come together in function. This means that the asymmetries can lead to problems with speech and chewing food, and can even cause face and TMJ pain, because of the imbalance in loading.
When jaw and face asymmetry is pathologic, it may cause pain and/or functional problems, or severe cosmetic deformity. This may be a reason to consider surgical correction of the asymmetry.
The only way to correct facial asymmetry that is affecting the jaws and teeth is with corrective jaw surgery, or orthognathic surgery. Severe facial asymmetry that affects the way the teeth come together CANNOT be corrected with modalities that are considered minimally invasive, such as braces or facial injectables. These minimally invasive, non-surgical treatments can camouflage relatively minor asymmetries of the face, and they are the correct treatment in those cases. However, more severe facial asymmetries due to asymmetries in the shape of the underlying bone can only be corrected with jaw surgery. With jaw surgery, your surgeon can re-position and contour the bones to be as symmetric as possible, so that your teeth come together properly and that you can function and speak better. And many people find that their facial pain and headaches are alleviated after undergoing corrective jaw surgery for asymmetry.
We invite you to come in for a consultation if you think you may benefit from this type of surgery. Dr. Rosenfeld will take a 3D CBCT scan so you can see your underlying skeletal asymmetry in three dimensions, which is necessary for appreciating the nature and the extent of the problem. Dr. Rosenfeld will thoroughly explain your diagnosis and your options for treatment, which are unique to you. We would love to see you and empower you to decide what is right for you.