Bill HangDental Practitioner, Lecturer at OrthO2Health

The Case for The Facial Contour Angle - William M. Hang DDS MSD

19 May 2013 · 2 min

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In this lecture William M. Hang explains the facial contour angle—a measurement taken from the soft tissue point at the chin down to the subnasale landmark. He cites a normative mean of about 11° with a standard deviation of ±4°, encompassing roughly two‑thirds of the population. Hang argues that most Class II patients exhibit a significantly reduced angle, indicating a retrusive lower jaw, and that conventional orthodontic headgear can exacerbate this by pulling the face downward and backward. He then shifts to a cultural discussion, referencing a 1974 Time magazine cover that linked a forward‑projected mandible (a smaller angle) with leadership, suggesting that strong chins are subconsciously associated with strength, authority, and success in fields like the military and football coaching. Finally, Hang critiques modern orthodontics for potentially creating “weak chins,” thereby influencing social perceptions of character and leadership.

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This is something that was used at Indiana University, and we used it at Minnesota. It was in the literature. Very interesting and very, very important measurement. Draw a line from the soft tissue here straight down to this point called subnasale, and from here to here like that. 11 degrees, and there's a 4-degree standard deviation, so plus or minus 4 degrees. That's a very wide range. you'll find 2/3 of the population within that area. Now that's the key to the whole thing. Most Class IIs have a significant recessive lower jaw as measured by this angle. So if you use a headgear, you're making it worse because the whole face goes down and back. Now this is out of a magazine, Time magazine cover in 1974. I was teaching at the University of Minnesota When I saw this. Leadership in America, and you put the facial contour angle on that, and the mandible is forward by 4 degrees. So, a normal face would have it at— back at 11 degrees, and if you're a leader, you have this massively forward lower jaw, or so the artist would have you believe. My point is then, we are dramatically affected in the way we look at people. If someone has no chin at all, they have no strength or character. Show me a military general with a weak chin. Show me an NFL or college football coach with a weak chin. They don't exist. They don't get in those positions with a weak chin. It's huge. And yet, orthodontics is in the business of making weak chins.