How common is it to go from a very narrow jaw to a fully defined and nicely shaped one?

Mandibular implants can give the jaw a more masculine and defined appearance, but you should go in knowing that its a marathon, not a sprint.  The implants are placed under the muscular attachments at the angle of the mandible and this causes a moderate amount of swelling that takes several months to fully resolve.  You can count on being chipmunk cheeked for several weeks.  Once they are healed, they do no cause pain, but you can obviously expect some in the immediate post-operative period.  Some times they also require fixation with a screw to keep them from sliding depending on your anatomy.  See a respected facial plastic or general plastic surgeon in your area who has experience with mandibular augmentation to help guide you through the process.

The success of a jawline change is completely dependent on selecting the right chin and jaw angle implant styles and sizes. With good implant selection, they can feel seamless to that of the underlying and surrounding bone. But regardless of the implant particulars, the muscle and soft tissues stretch over the implants and have no long-term issues unless one decides to completely remove them which will led to some soft tissue excess and sag.

Balancing the lower face and giving angularity to men is a goal of mandibular angle augmentation.  I use Radiesse, a filler which lasts approximately 1 year.  There may be a day or so of swelling, but the recovery is very quick versus mandibular implants which are much longer.  In addition, a chin implant would give you more definition and angularity.

Angle implants to the lower jaw will widen the lower face.  You may also require a chin augmentation to balance things out depending on your anatomy.  The angle implants are placed through an oral incision and you will be swollen for a few weeks.   Function of the jaws are not affected once healing is complete.  These are more commonly done in male patients vs females due to the masculinizing effect of the implants.  Good luck.  Donald R. Nunn MD, DDS  Atlanta Plastic Surgeon.

The placement of implant materials along the jawline and also genioplasties can properly change the shape of the jawline and also the face. Defining the jawline is a very common procedure since facial growth patterns vary amongst us.The implants do not 'stretch' the tissues which have a very good capacity to change; and also the magnitude of the augmentation does not need to be large in order to change the contours. The implants are typically not 'felt' since they taper in multiple dimensions. However, they would feel 'normal; to you in any event.