Korean Jaw Surgery: Jaw Reduction, Chin or Two-Jaw?

You look in the mirror and the lower half of your face is what you notice first. The jaw looks square from the front, the chin sits back in profile, or your teeth do not meet the way they should. Searching for Korean jaw surgery gives you three or four operations under one name, and it is hard to tell which one describes you.

In our consultation room, the first job is to separate those operations. Jaw reduction, chin genioplasty and two-jaw surgery move different bones for different reasons. They also need different hospital stays and different lengths of time in Seoul.

In this guide we explain:

• what each operation changes, in one comparison table
• when two-jaw surgery is chosen for functional reasons, not only for appearance
• surgery-day specs: operating time, anaesthesia, hospital stay and stitch removal
• how long to stay in Seoul, and what happens after you fly home

01What does Korean jaw surgery include?

"Jaw surgery" is used for several different operations. Some reshape the outline of the bone. Others cut the bone and move the whole jaw into a new position. The table below shows how we divide them.

The key question is whether your concern is the shape of the bone or the position of the jaws. A wide jaw with a normal bite is a contouring question. A jaw that protrudes, with teeth that do not meet, is a positioning question.

02Jaw reduction and chin genioplasty: shaping the V-line

When patients ask about V-line surgery, they usually mean one or both of these operations. They change the outline of the lower face without moving the bite.

Square jaw reduction

Jaw reduction removes the wide side jawbone from the angle under the ear. We plan it on a 3D scan, because a wide lower face can come from bone, the masseter muscle, fat, or all three. Depending on the diagnosis, the operation can include up to four steps:

1. 01Long curved osteotomy removes the wide side jawbone along a long curve, so no secondary angle is left behind.
2. 02Cortical osteotomy reduces the outer layer of the bone to improve the contour seen from the front.
3. 03Masseter muscle reduction adds to the contouring effect.
4. 04Buccal fat removal removes the fat pad inside the cheek where it adds width.

Before any cut, we map the nerve canal that runs through the lower jaw on the 3D CT scan. The bone cuts are planned at a safe distance from it.

Chin genioplasty or a chin implant

The chin is planned separately, because its problems differ. A long or protruding chin is addressed with an osteotomy (an ㅅ-shaped or T-shaped cut). A short or receding chin may be moved forward, grafted with bone, or corrected with an implant.

A sliding genioplasty moves your own chin bone, so it can change height, width and asymmetry as well as projection. An implant mainly adds forward projection. At Banobagi, implants in the lower face are used for the chin only; we do not offer jaw angle implants. Our article on chin implant before and after covers that route in more detail.

When cheekbone reduction is added

If the upper face is also wide, jaw reduction is often combined with cheekbone reduction. That combination slims the whole face in one operation, with one anaesthetic and one recovery period. When the cheekbone is reduced, the separated bone is rotated inward and the tissues are repositioned, to help prevent the cheeks sinking or sagging afterwards.

03When is two-jaw surgery the right choice?

Two-jaw surgery cuts both the upper jaw (maxilla) and the lower jaw (mandible), corrects their positions and fixes them with Osteotrans pins. It is planned in cooperation with oral and maxillofacial surgeons. People searching for two-jaw surgery in Korea often think of it as a cosmetic operation. In many cases the reason is function.

We treat skeletal correction as necessary when the cause is in the bone and conservative treatment cannot fix it. The functional reasons include:

• Severe underbite: the lower jaw protrudes beyond the upper jaw, making it hard to bite into food.
• Severe overbite: the lower jaw is recessed, which can affect speech.
• Persistent open bite: a gap remains between the teeth with the mouth closed, so the front teeth cannot cut food.
• Asymmetric jaw growth: one side grows more than the other, tilting the bite and the face.
• Obstructive sleep apnoea: where a narrow or recessed jaw pushes the tongue back, moving both jaws forward widens the space behind the tongue and soft palate.
• Jaw joint strain: misaligned jaws place uneven load on the jaw joint, which can cause facial pain, headaches or locking.

On the appearance side, two-jaw surgery is considered for facial asymmetry, a jutting chin or lantern jaw, or a gummy smile. It is also considered when you want a smaller face beyond what contouring alone can do. Braces are almost always needed before surgery and continue for several months afterwards. Our earlier article, When is Double Jaw Surgery Medically Necessary?, goes into the functional criteria further.

There are cases where we say no. When your bite is fine and it is the outline that bothers you, we do not recommend two-jaw surgery, because that operation is planned around function: the bite, an open bite, asymmetric growth. A question about contour has a smaller answer, which is jaw reduction or genioplasty.

04Surgery day and recovery: the specs

Every operation below is performed under general anaesthesia by the clinic's own full-time anaesthesiology team. Chin implants are the exception and use sedation. Stitches are inside the mouth for these procedures and come out after about 14 days.

"Daily activities" means walking about and light routine, not chewing normally or exercise. A typical double jaw surgery recovery, and recovery from contouring, moves through these stages:

1. 01Days 1-3: a compression band supports the face. Swelling peaks within 48-72 hours and some numbness is normal. You sleep upright and eat soft or liquid food.
2. 02Around day 14: stitches inside the mouth come out and we check healing. Light exercise resumes around 3-4 weeks.
3. 03Months 3-6: residual swelling resolves and the bone consolidates around the fixation.

After jaw reduction, swelling and limited mouth opening are most noticeable in the first 2 to 4 weeks. Lower lip and chin numbness can take 3 to 6 months or longer to resolve. After two-jaw surgery, most visible swelling improves in 3 to 6 weeks, but the nose, lips and jawline keep changing for 6 to 12 months. Healing speed differs from person to person, and results vary.

05How long should you stay in Seoul?

Plan to stay in Seoul for at least 10-14 days after cheekbone, jaw or chin surgery. For two-jaw surgery, the stay is at least 3 weeks. That covers the hospital stay, stitch removal around day 14 and follow-up checks before you fly. Do not book a return flight until your surgeon has confirmed the plan.

Before you arrive, stop aspirin, ibuprofen, fish oil, vitamin E and herbal supplements, as they increase bleeding risk. Stop weight-loss medications at least 2 weeks before surgery. Stop blood thinners at least 1 week before, after asking your prescribing doctor. Avoid alcohol for at least 2 weeks, and fast for 6 to 8 hours before the operation.

A 1:1 coordinator handles language, accommodation and transport while you are in Seoul. After you fly, the same coordinator passes your photos and questions to the surgeon. The last row of the table is not a routine check: anything on it needs a doctor where you are, today.

06Revision and risks: what we check

Complications such as bleeding, infection or inflammation may occur after facial bone surgery, and individual satisfaction differs. We would rather you hear that at consultation than after surgery. The risks we discuss most often are:

• numbness in the lower lip, chin or cheek, usually temporary but occasionally lasting
• asymmetry, or a step in the bone where a cut stops
• soft-tissue sagging when bone that supported the skin is removed
• over-reduction, which is harder to correct than under-reduction

Because over-reduction is hard to reverse, we take a conservative approach in the first operation. If a previous surgery has left a secondary angle, asymmetry or sagging, face contouring revision examines what the first operation did and corrects the jaw, cheekbone or chin accordingly. Revision takes about 1 hour per facial part, under general anaesthesia, with same-day discharge or 1 night in hospital.

Revision works through scar tissue and near nerves that may have shifted. Swelling and limited mouth opening usually last longer than after the first operation, and some cases are staged over more than one surgery.

07Summary

• Korean jaw surgery covers different operations: jaw reduction and genioplasty change shape, while two-jaw surgery changes jaw position.
• Two-jaw surgery is often chosen for function: bite problems, open bite, asymmetric growth, sleep apnoea or jaw joint strain.
• Jaw reduction takes about 1 hour with 1 night in hospital; two-jaw surgery takes about 5 hours with 3 nights.
• Plan at least 10-14 days in Seoul for jaw, chin or cheekbone surgery, and at least 3 weeks for two-jaw surgery.
• Revision is planned only once healing has settled, at least 6 to 12 months after the first operation.

If you want the wider picture first, our facial contouring pages set out each operation on its own. How to read before and after photos explains what a gallery can and cannot show you. The quickest way to find out which operation fits is to send us three photos on WhatsApp: front, side and 45-degree. Every face and bite is different, so your plan, recovery and result will vary from the general picture above.

Results and recovery differ from person to person. This article is general information, not a diagnosis — your surgeon confirms what suits you at consultation.