Receding Chin

Also referred to as retrogenia, a receded chin is a smaller, often shorter chin that is retreated backward. When you look at it and compare it to the normal chin, you find that it’s less prominent. It makes the facial contours of a person to look quite unnatural. A person who has a receding chin will have their mouth appearing as though it is protruded, particularly the upper lip. This makes an individual to look inelegance and dull. In extreme cases, having a short chin may make it difficult for a person to close their mouth.

People with the chin problem may experience psychological issues because they are concerned about their look. The receding chin may also create dental problems because it influences the arrangement and position of the teeth. People who have a receded chin will want to fix it or work on the jaw to make it stronger and allow the chin to be prominent.

Receding chain – Causes

The jaw is quite a complex structure consisting of the soft tissue and the bone. Traditionally, the jaw is called the mandible, but that’s not all. Actually, mandible is the lower jaw. The mandible helps determine the actual position of a person’s chin but the surrounding tissue may also affect the appearance of the chin. There is a set relationship occurring between the lower and the upper jaws based upon the normal anatomy of the human skeleton. If the chin is excessively set back or retreated in relation to the upper jaw, then the situation is called a receding chin or retrogenia.

The genes may play a part in retrogenia but sometimes, it may occur without the involvement of the genes. In a majority of the cases, receded chin is a basically a cosmetic issue and it may not affect your function of eating or speech. Receding chin can occur in people who have congenital disorders such as Treacher Collins syndrome and Pierre Robin sequence.  In this case, having a small jaw makes breathing to be difficult, especially in small infants. However, the condition improves over time as the jaw and the baby grow.

In other cases, receding chin is seen as part of the aging process in women and men. Naturally, as people grow older, they may begin losing some of the bone and soft tissue, particularly around the jaw. This leads to retrogenia. Other people are born with the receded chin or they may develop it because of an overbite. Wearing braces may help to bring back the chin to its usual position.

Congenital defects: Having a receded chin may be a problem you were born with. The lower jaw as well as the chin are affected in their growth before a baby is born. A common cause of receding chin that is associated with congenital defects is micrognathia. In this case, a person tends to have a smaller lower jaw as compared to their upper jaw. If the lower jaw, also called the mandible is shorter, it will make the person’s chin to be smaller and recessed.

The fetus bone growth may be affected by trauma leading to a recessed lower jaw or mandibular hypoplasia. It is also possible that a person with recessed lower jaw will also have an underdeveloped jaw and a bite that is off.

Active case: Though rare, people may also show symptoms of a receding chin at adolescent. A number of conditions and diseases are associated with this phenomenon. For example, the chronic temporomandibular joint disorders may contribute to regression of a person’s lower jaw. Arthritis that affects the temporomandibular joint or lower jaw may also cause the condition. Hemimandibulectomy, which is a cancer treatment involving the removal of part of the mandible may as well result in a receding chin.

Symptoms and Signs of a Receding Chin

So, how can you tell that you have a receding chin? People with a receded chin will have certain features and characteristics which include:

• Protruded upper lip
• Shaded as well as deep wrinkles occurring around the mouth
• Short, narrow, yet smaller chin
• No clear neck or chin contour
• Temporomandibular sounds as well as aches

 

Treatment of a Receding Chin

Generally speaking, treatment of this condition will largely depend on the underlying cause. If a disease is involved, then a person should go for diagnosis. Treating the underlying issue is usually an option if a person suffers a receding chin later in life, particularly during the time of adolescent.

Surgery: Usually, this is the most applied method of correcting the problem, particularly if it is a congenital issue that does not have any treatment.  An orthognathic surgeon can help determine the right kind of surgical procedure that you need depending on your individual case. Among the surgical procedures that may be performed include:

• Maxillomandibular advancement – In this procedure, an oral device or say braces are surgically mounted on a person’s mandible to help distract and stimulate the growth of bone.
• Bilateral sagittal split osteotomy- With this procedure, it involves splitting and then repositioning the person’s lower jaw before moving it forward so that it makes the chin to appear normal. This procedure is recommended in people who have a recessed lower jaw. The procedure is also referred to as sliding genioplasty. During the surgery, a titanium plate may be used in correcting the problem.
• Mentoplasty- This procedure involves removing fat and implanting silicone. It helps correct deformities or defects and altering a person’s mandibular contour. Mentoplasty works best for people who their problem is having a smaller chin, but a normal-sized lower jaw.

  

Do Exercises Help?

People may think that there are exercises that can make their chin to become longer. Sadly, because the issues affect the mandibles, there may be no exercise that could help unless a person has a double chin. Exercises do not help for receding chin, because the positioning is determined  by hones, and not muscles.

 

What About Hairstyles and Make up?

Playing around with your makeup and hairstyles may also help you deal with the psychological effects of the problem. You can work on your hairstyle and make up to reduce the small appearance and create a facial balance. The tricks will try to get the center of attraction from the chin to the hairstyle or the makeup. This approach also aims at hiding the receding chin, and it is an option for people who do not want to have the surgical corrections.