Jaw Surgery

Overview

Every year, hundreds of patients with jaw disorders, pain and deformities patients come to Mayo Clinic for life-changing jaw surgery. Experienced, expert oral and maxillofacial surgeons treat patients from across the country and around the world. Surgeons at Mayo Clinic were among the first in the United States to perform maxillary osteotomy, jaw surgery which corrects a receding upper jaw.

Small upper jaw

Small lower jaw

Small chin

Orthognathic surgery, a combination of jaw surgery and orthodontics, helps patients by:

• Making biting and chewing possible or easier. Correcting jaws that don't align properly is the most common reason for this surgery.
• Correcting facial imbalance, thus improving the appearance of patients who have deficient chins, protruding underbites and overbites, or cleft palate
• Improving "gummy" smiles, where lips pull upward, showing large areas of the gums, and "toothless" smiles, where the lips cover all the teeth
• Reducing the risk of temporomandibular joint disease (TMJ) and other jaw diseases.
• Repairing facial injuries from trauma
• Improving sleep. When other treatments haven't helped, jaw surgery can provide relief for patients with sleep apnea.

About Jaw Surgery

Jaw surgery (orthognathic surgery) is an option for moderate-to-severe jaw problems that cannot be resolved with orthodontics alone. Jaw surgery realigns the jaws and teeth so they work properly and corrects cosmetic concerns.

Depending on the patient's needs, surgery is performed on the upper jaw (maxillary osteotomy), lower jaw (mandibular osteotomy), or both. See types of jaw surgery. Surgery is completed entirely inside the mouth, leaving no scars on the chin, jaw or around the mouth. Learn more about the jaw surgery procedure.