Does teeth extraction result in a slimmer face and jawline?

Doctor's Answers 1

I get this question asked a lot in my practice, and there is no clear answer for every patient. It really depends on a case by case basis.

How slim or fat your face looks really depends on a few common factors:

1. size and dimensions of your upper and lower jawbones

2. Amount of skin, muscle and fatty tissue covering your upper and lower jaws.

3. Alignment of your teeth in your jaws and whether or not your teeth are protruding and/or crowded.

4. Whether or not you suffer from clenching and grinding which may lead to having over-developed jaw muscles resulting in a square jaw look.

Having orthodontic treatment after extracting teeth may improve your facial and lip profiles but it might be difficult for any dentist to guarantee that your face would look slimmer!

In my practice, to achieve the results for a slimmer face that my patients often want, I use a combination of orthodontics as well as facelift treatments/ botox treatments/ skin tightening treatments that are done by my partner who is a doctor with a special interest in facial aesthetics. A combined effort with the dentist and doctor gives you a higher chance to achieve the slimmer face that you have always dreamed of!

I hope this information helps and I wish you all the best in finding a dental surgeon and a doctor that you can trust and have a rapport with.

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How can I reverse orthodontic treatment after tooth extraction to improve my facial profile?

The extraction of premolar teeth very rarely causes a collapse in face profile, unless it has been carried out without proper diagnosis and treatment planning. You are right that extraction orthodontics are still commonly practised as in Asian faces – most jaws are small, hence teeth are protruding and more crowded. Without extractions, straightening of teeth may sometimes compromise the dental health of the teeth. The reverse orthodontics that you describe is to re-open up the spaces to ‘push’ the teeth back out.

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