What the term actually describes
Chin projection is how far forward the chin's soft-tissue point (the pogonion) sits, usually read against a side-profile reference line running from the nasal tip to that same chin point — the same line the Ricketts E-line page covers in depth. That page focuses on where the lips fall relative to the line; this one is about the line's other endpoint, the chin itself.
Not the same trait as mandible position — forums say so themselves
One recurring thread title is blunt about it: the forum "can't even make up its mind about chin projection." A separate thread exists specifically to explain that a projected chin and a projected mandible aren't the same claim:
- A recessed mandible can still carry a chin that projects past it.
- A well-positioned mandible can still carry a weak, underprojected chin.
- One forum test: if the fold between the lower lip and chin (the labiomental sulcus) reads sunken while the chin projects past it, that points to the mandible being recessed even though the chin itself isn't.
That's a different kind of ambiguity from chin width's landmark-reference-span dispute — here the disagreement isn't which span to measure, it's which skeletal structure a "good chin" is actually crediting.
Why a front-facing camera can't read it
Projection is a depth-axis relationship, the same axis a straight-on camera view compresses the most. A full-frontal shot flattens the chin's forward offset into the face's outline, where it isn't visible. Reading it needs a genuine side profile, the same requirement as the E-line it's judged against.
Where this fits next to what Mogalytics actually reads
Mogalytics does not compute or display a chin projection number. Its six-measurement composite reads live from a front-facing camera feed, and the closest measurement in the same lower-face family is:
- Jaw ratio — jaw height relative to face height, a frontal proportion rather than a profile depth reading.
Mogalytics makes no claim of parity between jaw ratio and chin projection, or with any clinical or forum assessment of either.
Related reads
Chin projection sits next to several other lower-face terms this site covers. If you're auditing the rest:
- Ricketts E-line — the same nose-to-chin reference line, focused on lip position rather than the chin endpoint itself.
- Chin width — a frontal width measurement, not a profile depth.
- Chin-to-philtrum ratio — a vertical proportion within the chin segment, also read frontally.
- Gonial angle — another side-profile-only jaw measurement Mogalytics doesn't compute directly.
- Cervicomental angle — the chin-to-neck angle, a different structure again, and why a chin tilt can fake a tighter reading of it.
- SNA/SNB angle — the skeletal version of this same projection question, but one that requires an actual X-ray rather than a photo.