With Asian jawbone reduction, or mandibular angleplasty, the enlarged outer portion of the mandible is cut off or filed down using a rotating metal burr introduced through either a skin incision or a hidden incision inside of the mouth.

The inner portion of the masseter muscle may also be removed without reducing function in patients with muscle overdevelopment (hypertrophy).

The goal is to create a more oval jaw line with a less flattened angle.

The mandible bone may be surgically reduced by employing several methods:

With "mandible angle resection," the triangular end of the bone closest the ear is completely removed (red dots). This is particularly helpful in those patients where the jaw seems too prominent when viewed from the side.

When the jaw appears too square from the front, a procedure known as "sagittal splitting osteotomy" allows the the outermost portion of bone to be split away and removed from the rest of the mandible, thus thinning the bone closer to the teeth and reducing its effect on facial flatness (yellow area).

The main risks are injury to the nerve that supplies sensation to the lower lips and teeth and over-resection that excessively narrow the jaw angle.

Most such surgery is performed in the Orient where the procedures are in higher demand.