How to reduce a wide jaw?
A wide jaw describes a lower face that appears square or broad at the angle of the jaw, just below the ears. For some people it has always been part of their facial features. For others it develops in adulthood, often without any change in weight, which is usually the point at which they start looking for an explanation.
There are two underlying causes, and the difference between them decides what can be done. One is the lower jaw itself. The other is the chewing muscle that sits over it. Only one of the two can be changed without surgery.
What Causes a Wide Jaw?
The mandible. The mandible, or lower jaw, can simply be broad at the angle. This is a facial feature determined by genetics and usually visible from childhood. In rare cases, bone growth can change in adulthood through conditions such as acromegaly.
The masseter muscle. The masseter is the largest of the jaw muscles, the thick chewing muscle at the angle of the jaw. Like any muscle, it grows when it is worked hard, and clenching or teeth grinding works it for hours at a time, often overnight. The result is masseter hypertrophy: a thicker muscle and a square jaw that was not there before.
Many people have a combination, most often a naturally broad jawbone with an overdeveloped masseter on top of it. That matters, because the muscle component can be treated even when the bone cannot.
How to Tell Which One You Have
A simple check at home gives you a strong indication. Place your fingers on the angle of the jaw, just in front of and below the ear, then clench your teeth firmly.
- A firm bulge pushes out under your fingers. There is significant muscle bulk, and treatment is likely to help.
- The shape barely changes. The width is more likely structural, and muscle treatment will do little.
Other signs that muscle is involved include waking with a tight jaw or headaches at the temples, a dentist mentioning tooth wear, and a change that happened gradually in adulthood rather than being lifelong. A facial assessment in clinic confirms which is driving yours.
How to Reduce a Wide Jaw
Where an overdeveloped masseter is the cause, masseter Botox in London is the established option for anyone considering non-invasive treatment rather than surgery. Small doses of botulinum toxin reduce how forcefully the masseter muscles can contract. Normal chewing continues, but with the muscle working less hard it gradually reduces in bulk, and the jawline softens over several weeks. This is often described as Botox jawline contouring, though the effect comes from reduction rather than from adding shape.
The change is not immediate. Most patients see a visible difference between six and twelve weeks, with results lasting around three to six months, and the intervals often lengthen with repeat treatment.
Where the jaw is wide because of bone rather than muscle, this will not work, and we will tell you so. Facial structure cannot be altered by relaxing a muscle. What can help instead is balance rather than reduction: jawline contouring with dermal fillers restores facial contour elsewhere in the lower face, so the facial proportions read differently even though the bone is unchanged.
Where both are involved, a combined plan addresses the muscle and the proportions together to restore facial balance.
Is Chewing Good for Your Jawline?
This comes up often, usually in the form of advice to chew gum for a sharper jaw. It is worth correcting.
The masseter responds to use like any other muscle. Chewing gum, tough foods, clenching and bruxism all increase its size, which widens the lower face rather than sharpening it. If your goal is a narrower, more tapered jaw, deliberately working the masseter will move you in the opposite direction.
What to Expect From Treatment
- The appointment takes around 15 to 30 minutes. Masseter injections are given on each side using a fine needle, and most patients describe the sensation as a brief pinch.
- Downtime is minimal. Some tenderness or mild redness at the injection sites is normal and settles within a day or two.
- Results develop gradually. Relief from clenching often comes first, within a week or two, with the visible change in jaw width following over the weeks after.
- Aftercare is simple: stay upright for four hours, avoid strenuous exercise for 24 hours, and avoid massaging the treated area.
Your Wide Jaw Practitioners
Treatment at PHI Clinic is carried out by our team of doctors and aesthetic nurses, all of whom train regularly through our in-house educational facility, PHI College. Our nurses are mentored by Medical Director Dr Tapan Patel, who lectures on national and international stages and brings current technique back into the clinic.
Placement matters a great deal on this treatment. Injected too high or too far forward, toxin can affect neighbouring muscles and change the smile, which is why it should be carried out by practitioners who treat the masseter regularly as part of wider facial rejuvenation work.
Book a Consultation at PHI Clinic
Working out whether your jaw width comes from muscle or bone is difficult from the mirror, and it decides whether treatment will help at all.
Book your consultation and our team will examine the muscle, explain which cause is driving your face shape, and tell you honestly what can and cannot be changed. You can also reach us on 0207 034 5999.
Safe and effective treatment
Your safety is our top priority and making our patients feel welcomed and reassured when entering PHI Clinic. To ensure maximum standard of patient care, all of our treatments are only ever carried out by our experienced and highly qualified team, who receive regular in-house and external training from industry experts.
At PHI Clinic we do not offer same day treatment as initial consultation to ensure patients have time to reflect on their bespoke treatment plan before choosing to proceed.
Wide Jaw Frequently Asked Questions
Your treatment will be carried out by one of our doctors or aesthetic nurses. All of our injectors train regularly through PHI College, our in-house training facility, and our nurses are mentored directly by Dr Tapan Patel.
Yes. Registered nurses can administer botulinum toxin where it has been prescribed following a face-to-face consultation with a prescriber. Our nurses are experienced injectors working to the same protocols as our doctors.
It depends on the cause. Toxin reduces an overdeveloped muscle and makes a wide jaw narrower. Filler adds volume and definition where the jawline has lost structure. Some patients benefit from a combination, and the assessment establishes which applies to you.
Jawline fillers are used where the contour of the jawline has been lost through bone resorption, weight change or ageing, or where more definition is wanted along the jaw border. They add structure rather than reducing width.
Typically three to six months. Many patients find the gaps lengthen with repeat treatment, because the muscle has less bulk each time.
Normal chewing continues. Some patients notice mild fatigue when eating something tough in the first couple of weeks as the muscle adjusts. Effects on the smile are uncommon and relate to placement, which is why the treatment should be done by an experienced injector.
Not directly. Reducing muscle activity does not change bone. Where the width is structural, the realistic options are balancing the proportions of the lower face with filler, or surgical referral.
Most patients find it very manageable. A fine needle is used and the sensation is brief. Ice packs are available to soothe the area.
Location
PHI Clinic
102 Harley Street,
London,
W1G 7JB,
United Kingdom
Tel: 02070345999
Opening Hours
Monday & Tuesday - 9:30am to 6:00pm
Wednesday & Thursday - 9:30am to 8:00pm
Friday - 9:30am to 5:00pm
Saturday - 11:30am to 12:30pm
Sunday - Closed
Opening times can change, if your appointment is outside of these times please contact the clinic for confirmation.
