Micrognathia is a term that describes an abnormally small lower jaw.

In true micrognathia, the jaw is small enough to interfere with the infant's feeding. Infants with micrognathia may need special nipples in order to feed properly.

Micrognathia may be the only abnormality in a child. It often corrects itself during growth, especially at puberty when the jaw grows quite a bit. It also can be caused by certain inherited disorders and syndromes.

Micrognathia is one cause of abnormal alignment of the teeth. You can see this in the way the teeth close. Often there will not be enough room for the teeth to grow. Talk to an orthodontist when the child's adult teeth come in. At times, children can outgrow micrognathia, and it makes sense to wait to treat the condition until they are older.

• Pierre Robin syndrome
• Hallerman-Streiff syndrome
• Trisomy 13
• Trisomy 18
• XO syndrome (Turner syndrome)
• Progeria
• Treacher-Collins syndrome
• Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome
• Russell-Silver syndrome
• Seckel syndrome
• Cri du chat syndrome
• Marfan syndrome

Images

The face

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Micrognathia Treatment

Review Date: 05/12/2009
Reviewed By: Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)