The chin

The chin is the centre of the mandible, the bone that forms the jaw, and is located below the lower lip. The chin is composed of a bone, numerous muscles and skin. The shape and contour determine the harmony and the personality of your face. On account of its position, it is a strategic area of the face. So it is easy to understand the importance of the esthetic appearance of the chin, and that its shape can have emotional and psychological consequences on the person.

A « masculine » chin is characterized by a squarer chin, a well-defined jaw, that may even jutt out. The « feminine » version is softer and rounder.

The harmony or not of your chin is rather personal and relates to accepting your own body.

However, visible chin deformities can be quite difficult to live with for patients, men or women, as they distort the face. In particular:

• A receding chin or retrogenia: the lower jaw is further back than the upper jaw. A receding chin is more visible from side-on, sloping backwards and not very prominent.
• Progenia or a very prominent, protruding chin, making it look rather big.
• Laterogenia, or when the deformity of the chin is asymmetric.

Skin aging does not spare the chin, and more generally the neck and jaw. Combined with fat loss and sagging of the retaining ligaments of the face, the chin contour can become less well-defined with the appearance of jowls.

Due genetics or weight gain, the chin can also disappear or lack definition due to stubborn fat deposits, or a « double chin »