How big are the screws used in a sliding genioplasty?

Plates and screws used for fixation of sliding genioplasty are small and flat. There are designed in such a way that material can not be palpated through the skin or mucosa. For that reason hardware used for fixation does not need to be removed.

There is no need to remove the hardware (plates and screws) after facial reconstruction (genioplasty). The plates are only 1.5 mm thick and the screws are 5 to 7 mm. None of which should be palpable. 

A sliding genioplasty is usually fixated with the use of an X shaped titanium miniplate and 4 titanium screws with an average lenght of 8mm each.  These materials are intended not to be removed. They should only be removed in very special and unusuall situations such as rejection to the material or an infection.