What do we measure when your face looks uneven from side to side?

What follows combines several people's visits into one reconstructed account. It is not any one person's story, and anything that could identify someone has been removed.

How do people describe it when they come in?

They say their face looks lopsided in every photo. When we ask more, they always chew on the same side, and the jaw on that side feels stiff.

People don't come in just about appearance. Usually there's pain or discomfort when chewing as well.

⚠️ There's something to sort out first

Bones that grew unevenly on the two sides are different from muscles and joints that have shifted to one side and make the face look that way. The first is not within our scope.

If it's a problem with the bones themselves, that's for orthodontics or an oral and maxillofacial surgeon to judge. We won't suggest it's something we can fix.

Settling which of the two it is first saves you time and money.

What do we measure?

We check how wide your mouth opens, which way the jaw veers when opening, whether the left and right jaw joints sit at different heights, and whether the cheek muscles on each side differ in firmness.

We also check how far the midline of the jaw is off from the midline of the face. Taking photos in the same position lets us compare later.

We don't look only at the face. We also check whether one shoulder is raised or your head is tilted.

How do we treat it?

We loosen the muscles that have been overused on one side, and work on the shifted joint and the balance of the neck. We also help you change your chewing habits.

Habits really matter. If you chew only on one side, only those muscles grow while the other side weakens, so even if we balance things in the treatment room, daily life pulls them back.

What are the limits of this approach?

We don't say the shape of your face will change by a few millimeters. What we aim for is pain relief and chewing function.

One more thing: no one's face is perfectly the same on both sides to begin with. We don't aim for perfect symmetry.

If you have the same symptoms

1. We first sort out whether it's the bones themselves or shifted muscles and joints.
2. If it's the bones themselves, orthodontics or an oral and maxillofacial surgeon should judge first.
3. We look at which way the jaw veers on opening and how firm the cheek muscles are on each side.
4. Unless you change the habit of chewing on one side, daily life pulls things back.
5. No one's face is perfectly the same on both sides.

We look at the neck, jaw and back together. Only by finding where it started can we keep the same spot from stiffening up again and again.

If the same spot keeps stiffening, or the tension starts in your neck and climbs up to your head, come in and get measured. It doesn't take long to find where it started.

How much can change differs from person to person, depending on which of the two is the cause.