Treatment to Create a REAL Jawline (and *upturned* mouth)

[CryingKitty]

What sort of surgery could give a woman both an "upturned" (or straight-line) mouth...in the neutral position (as opposed to the down-turned sort, but only has moderate nasolabial folds....AND...a properly defined jawline?

I am in my mid 40's, a little overweight and I have ALWAYS had a down-turned mouth, and NO jawline. It is not something appearing with age.

I was 16, 90lbs and still looked like it was a straight line from the bottom tip of my chin to the base of my neck .... NO JAW!

And - please don't laugh, but my tongue is too long. At night, it naturally sits outside my teeth, so I sometimes bite it; I can touch my nose with my tongue, or - touch almost the end of my chin ... AND... when I DO stick my tongue right out...surprise ....there is a "lift" from under my jaw, and I seem to get at least a partial jawline.

(I know - this sounds rediculous - but it is true).
It is like I have a SLIGHTLY too-small-chin, coupled with a WAY too long tongue (so the under-chin muscle is really tongue muscle and helps STOP a jawline...and the little extra weight doesn't help).

Added to a down-turned mouth - I am very sad.
Ideas?
And do jaw/neck exercises help, hinder or just waste time?
Thanks,
Katie  (45, looks 55, feels 65)

[CryingKitty]

Hi and thank you very much for your reply.

It was very in depth, and does address the majority of my issues and likely causes. I now have a name for what is quite probably my "condition".

It was quite scary reading about the treatment. Sadly - I may not have the money, or the "stomach" - for such a serious surgery.
I am in my mid 40's - and back when I was a kid, due to my small palate, I had 4 permenant teeth removed just to make enough space in my jaw, for braces.

Then despite 2 years (and a good outcome) - my Wisdom Teeth began erupting (as they do - showing up to mess up the nice results - LOL!)
However - I had EIGHT, instead of the normal 4 - and the extra ones were basically under the first and impacted partially into my jaw.

This must be some VERY odd genetic mutation, as my sister had ONE extra Wisdom tooth, but four of my children had some extras - including my daughter who had 7 total, and my firstborn, who had eight as well, but during the surgery to remove them, they found a NINTH Wisdom tooth, AND - he has since gone on to somehow - REGROW - that ninth tooth!!! (It and roots were TOTALLY removed .... it had begun to infiltrate his sinus cavity! It has been so bizarre (and recent) his (now a specialist oral surgeon) is going to be writing a Journal paper on it all.He - and his OTHER sister, had "Palate Expanders" before any major dental work, due to the small mouth issue. (BUT - all my kids DO have nice mouths and jawlines - the daughter with the palate-expander and subsequent braces is a part-time model.)

My point is - it is in MY family to have little oral cavities...I got stuck with the little chin & jaw.

However, life has been kinda cruel - in my early 40's, I developed "Benign Intracranial Hypertension" i.e. too much Spinal Fluid around my brain. NOT the hydrocephalis some babies are born with.

BUT - the treatment has been the same - a whole drilled in my skull, a drain inserted into a ventricle, and a drainage catheter that DID drain to my abdominal cavity, but within a week it had migrated, so I had to have MORE serious surgery to resite the catheter and it is now in my Right pleural lung cavity.

What all this means to me is... I could "stomach" a "face-lift" type surgery - with a chin-implant, maybe, etc etc.....but the idea of detatching my mandible, moving everything forward, and the consequent dental work I know would be needed (I do not have the best teeth now - cavity wise. Many crowns etc, mostly due to massive calcium loss from (1) too many babies too young, and (2) stomach surgery after a GI bleed and now awful calcium absorption and major supplementation needed, And - this has affected my bone density in general as well.

So....while I am sure your proposed solution is the best long term, to really address and actually FIX the real problem....I don't kow if it would be feasible with the other brain surgery - so much care would be needed to keep everything in alignment and not to disrupt the catheter that runs behind my ear and down my neck etc......I just don't know.

HOWEVER .... I do want to thank you so much for your reply. It was concise (not like me - ha ha!)....but so full of important information. I will definately research / look into it.

Thank you again - and I recommend you highly in answering such questions as mine.

Kindest regards,
Katie

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Such a condition in which there is smaller jaw is due to micrognathia. The mode of treatment is correctional surgery which is often by genioplasty. In this the whole mandible including the teeth are moved forward as planned and the bone is fixed with the fixation device. The patient is hospitalized for a day and the  intermaxillary fixation using the rubber band is preformed during 1~4 weeks depending on the surgery method used.

You need to consult a good plastic surgeon for the surgery.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.