I am not sure this comparison is accurate. I have seen allot of Japaneses people with short faces. Also caucasian is such a broad geographic label with so much variety when it comes to face height and width. Even in Europe there is a big difference between south and north.

Well, while that maybe true my question is whether long faces provide some sort of evolutionary benefit because it seems some populations are full of people with them. Also whether it is possible to actually go from being long faced to short faced.

I agree with you by the way. Long faced Europeans exist but they seem less common to me.

What makes me mad is that orthodontics made me long faced. Elastics combined with extractions gave me the negative incisor inclination thus weakening my chin and jaw prominence. 

@eddiemoney

"So my question is this. Is there a benefit to being long faced?"

It's not a good question. There are benefits to having healthy skeletal structure. There are downsides to not having healthy skeletal structure. Phenotypal/racial variation in aesthetics does not translate to variation in anatomical function. Every type of human uses the same mechanics to support their spine and skull.  Thus every type of human is capable of reaching similar markers of proportional beauty. Optimal structural vigor = mathematic beauty. Equilateral triangle is a good example of this, as it is a perfectly proportional shape and widely applied to bridges, buildings and other massive structures that require rigid support. Fibbonacci's Golden Ratio achieves more than cool looking cabbages. It is a universal mathematical truth that defines the way all animals perceive beauty. 

 Long face as a term is too vague to be insightful.

I realistically don't know *what* is vague provided my explanation and picture attached but whatever I suppose. 

Japanese have a softer diet. I guess the benefit of a long face is you didn't exert the energy required to build a well developed skull. Which is not to be under estimated, this mewing for me is a huge effort, breastfeeding too, obviously it would be easier to give up.

I believe these factors are not being adequately considered in this theory (toughness of diet/chewing, breastfeeding).

I'm going from long to shorter faced with mewing, chewing, face pulling, posture correction and exercises. But I'm older so it's taking longer, but yes remodelling is evident and my face is wider and shorter.

Can persistent face pulling create a more dolichocephal face over time? Or is that more about the maxilla's shape/size than its positioning?

Assuming the person has a more brachycephal-ish face, which is more long/similar to the narrow or "melted" look some people seem to have badly.

So I am just going to theorize here and say yes its possible to make a long face shorter, provided you have potential to change oral muscle posture and function. I imagine if you start posturing your tongue on the roof of your mouth and press moderately your body will respond by applying osteoclast to the lower side of the hard palate to remove a layer of bone and make more room for the tongue. Then it would apply osteoblast to the top of the hard palate to insure the thickness of the palate is maintained effectively making your face shorter. This process, however, is very slow and takes many years, even possibliy decades. That's why its always better to get it right in the growth phase, when everything is supercharged.  

Posted by: EddieMoney

I realistically don't know *what* is vague provided my explanation and picture attached but whatever I suppose. 

Your terminology. You have not defined neither "long face" nor "benefits", and you seem to fail to make a clear distinction between CFD and genetics. It's hard to give any kind of useful answer in that kind of framework. Face can become shorter in absolute value, and face can appear shorter as result of widening. Which one are you referring to?

Posted by: Progress

Posted by: EddieMoney

I realistically don't know *what* is vague provided my explanation and picture attached but whatever I suppose. 

Your terminology. You have not defined neither "long face" nor "benefits", and you seem to fail to make a clear distinction between CFD and genetics. It's hard to give any kind of useful answer in that kind of framework. Face can become shorter in absolute value, and face can appear shorter as result of widening. Which one are you referring to?

Okay so.

Long face = downward grown (thus greater vertical length)

Short face = horizontally grown (therefore shorter vertical length)

I am asking if tongue posture can effectively make the face shorten by pushing the mandible up.

@Greensmoothies

Yes diet would be a factor. I know the Northern European diet seems a bit harder than the Southern one. Southern Europeans seem more longer faced . I witnessed this in Spain when I was there. Their faces look more stretched down and their diet is soft. 

Also I think my midface has shortened due to mewing so I am hoping I get the profile of the shorter faced person eventually.

@Keengo

Okay now I see where the confusion arises. I should have specified to ignore the "brachycephalic" and "dolichocephalic" labels since they mean nothing to this discussion. Europeans may be longer headed than Asians due to climactic adaptation (Western Europe is more temperate than colder East Asia) but this discussion is about facial length. Europeans have a smaller face length overall. Or at least they do in stereotype. I think this may the "anteface" you are referring to. Basically a protrusive profile versus a flat profile of a downward grown face let alone a negatively inclined profile of a very weak face . I get it now. Yes in this pic the Caucasian seems more forward grown by a significant amount of millimeters. The Caucasian has a shorter face (from top to bottom) so even if the skull is narrow, everything is compressed as opposed to tired looking and relaxed. So this means the face could be narrow, but the top to bottom distance is still shorter. This makes the mouth protrude, the dentition more pronounced with a positive inclination of the whole mouth, not just incisors. Now I see what you mean by anteface. Essentially the front of the jaw comes out more then  sides. Yes I see this protrusion and I agree it looks aesthetic. Some Asians refer to this as a "3D face". A face that comes OUT and not as much sideways essentially . Yes I can see how this can be taken as dolichocephalic now