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There's a massive influx of summer-cels rn and I'm tired of the looksmaxing section being clogged up by the same question. I'll keep this simple so everyone can understand.
The midface refers to the region highlighted in yellow in the diagram below:
Many of you think your midface is too long, and often think you can shorten it through surgery. While this is technically true, it's probably not what you think.
When people say someone has a long midface, they're almost ALWAYS referring to the length of their nose.
Now for the bad news.
The length of the nose CANNOT be changed.
Yeah, RIP but it's the truth. There are a couple of things you can potentially do though, they're at the bottom of this post. For now, I'll focus on the part of your midface that you CAN change, and the two most common procedures I see being discussed.
When people talk about shortening of the midface, they usually either bring up impaction or CCW rotation. These two procedures can shorten the maxilla and hence reduce the length of the midface, but will NOT shorten your nose.
Impaction
Of benefit to individuals with a gummy smile, take a look at the patient below.
Notice how in the before, her mouth was open at rest. If she were to smile, there would be a lot of gum showing. This indicates that her maxilla was too long. Hence, the length of her midface can be reduced by vertically shortening the maxilla. It's an improvement for sure, but the length of her nose remains unchanged.
CCW rotation
Mainly useful for people with overbites. Take a look at the diagram below:
The blue line is the horizontal, the red line shows the angle of the occlusal plane. You don't need to know what this is, but just know that the angle it makes with the horizontal (the white arrow) should be above but close to 0 degrees (as seen in the "normal" case).
In the case of an overbite, the angle is too high and thus the jaws are rotated counter-clockwise (CCW), resulting in a decrease in the length of the maxilla, much like an impaction.
So, in summary:
1) Impaction and CCW can only reduce the length of your midface if the root cause is an excess of vertical maxillary length.
2) You cannot change the length of your nose
What CAN be done?
This is the bit most of you care about.
If you desperately need to change the PERCEIVED length of your nose (and thus midface) AND you don't have any underlying skeletal defects, your options are:
1) Philtrum reduction: If your philtrum is too long, a lip lift can reduce it's length and balance out your midface.
2) Rhinoplasty: If you have a droopy nasal tip, you can get a rhinoplasty to bring it up, effectively making your nose look shorter.
3) Widening the rest of the face. Midface length is relative, if your the rest of your face is wider, your midface will look more balanced in comparison.
Do your research before deciding to have one of these procedures done. They won't produce favourable results if they're not appropriate for YOUR FACE.
The midface refers to the region highlighted in yellow in the diagram below:
Many of you think your midface is too long, and often think you can shorten it through surgery. While this is technically true, it's probably not what you think.
When people say someone has a long midface, they're almost ALWAYS referring to the length of their nose.
Now for the bad news.
The length of the nose CANNOT be changed.
Yeah, RIP but it's the truth. There are a couple of things you can potentially do though, they're at the bottom of this post. For now, I'll focus on the part of your midface that you CAN change, and the two most common procedures I see being discussed.
When people talk about shortening of the midface, they usually either bring up impaction or CCW rotation. These two procedures can shorten the maxilla and hence reduce the length of the midface, but will NOT shorten your nose.
Impaction
Of benefit to individuals with a gummy smile, take a look at the patient below.
Notice how in the before, her mouth was open at rest. If she were to smile, there would be a lot of gum showing. This indicates that her maxilla was too long. Hence, the length of her midface can be reduced by vertically shortening the maxilla. It's an improvement for sure, but the length of her nose remains unchanged.
CCW rotation
Mainly useful for people with overbites. Take a look at the diagram below:
The blue line is the horizontal, the red line shows the angle of the occlusal plane. You don't need to know what this is, but just know that the angle it makes with the horizontal (the white arrow) should be above but close to 0 degrees (as seen in the "normal" case).
In the case of an overbite, the angle is too high and thus the jaws are rotated counter-clockwise (CCW), resulting in a decrease in the length of the maxilla, much like an impaction.
So, in summary:
1) Impaction and CCW can only reduce the length of your midface if the root cause is an excess of vertical maxillary length.
2) You cannot change the length of your nose
What CAN be done?
This is the bit most of you care about.
If you desperately need to change the PERCEIVED length of your nose (and thus midface) AND you don't have any underlying skeletal defects, your options are:
1) Philtrum reduction: If your philtrum is too long, a lip lift can reduce it's length and balance out your midface.
2) Rhinoplasty: If you have a droopy nasal tip, you can get a rhinoplasty to bring it up, effectively making your nose look shorter.
3) Widening the rest of the face. Midface length is relative, if your the rest of your face is wider, your midface will look more balanced in comparison.
Do your research before deciding to have one of these procedures done. They won't produce favourable results if they're not appropriate for YOUR FACE.
