Would a small chin implant improve my lower face?

Question

I have a very round face when smiling and buccal fat removal did nothing to help it. I notice when my mouth is closed I have some pre jowls and little shadows on my chin. Is my chin slightly recessed and would a small implant help me?

Michael P. Morrissette, DDS, FACS · Answer

Your chin is slightly recessed and you might benefit from a small chin implant. The chin implant will improve the horizontal projection of your chin but will also make your appearance longer in the frontal view. This will make your face appear less round.

David M. Kowalczyk, MD, MBA, FACS · Answer

Hi Matilda! The profile view is very helpful. Based on your photo, you seem to be a bit underprojected. A small implant could help to balance out your nice features. The procedure is typically done via an incision under the chin, but sometimes can be done intraorally. Silicone and MedPor are popular materials. The amount of projection you get isn't always 1:1, meaning 1 mm increase in the size of the implant doesn't equate to 1 mm of skin projection. Depending on the strength of the skin, you may need a slightly larger implant to accomplish your goals. For a female, the chin should be slightly behind a line drawn tangentially from the lips. Hope this helps!

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Facial aesthetics especially on young people who are healthy is purely based on bone structure.
The ability to recognize people as unique individuals is based on each persons facial skeletal structure.
Soft tissue courage tends to be very consistent and not very much from person to person though obviously soft tissues can vary slightly.
Facial aging has more to do with changes in soft tissue than bone structure but for someone’s primary appearance especially at a young age facial aesthetic assessments has to start at the skeletal level.
Individuals with a small mandible compared to their rest of the face or maxilla are often seeking options for treatment of premature jowls, double chin and other ideologies the tend to come with this facial skeletal imbalance.
Often both the mentalis (The front part of the mandible or chin) and the body of the mandible are lacking in size but for some people mental part or chin is projecting and the body is insufficient.
This can often be assessed by looking at the relationship of the lower lip to the chin itself.
If the chin projects individuals will develop a sulcus or crease under their lower lip and this is referred to as the labiomental angle.
When the label mental angle is obtuse augmentation in a forward direction of the chin is often appropriate. If the angle however is more acute then adding augmentation in a forward direction to the chin will eventually lead to a which is chin deformity.
In your case the chin does not have a lot of projection and advancing the chimney with either a sliding genioplasty or implant augmentation is most likely an excellent option.
The difference between a sliding genioplasty and implant augmentation is kind of an extensive topic and both procedures have very valid advantages and disadvantages.
It seems to me that oral surgeons are more pro sliding genioplasty while plastic surgeons tend to be more comfortable with implant placements.
Both procedures are good when done for the right individuals in the hands of an experienced competent surgeon.
I suggest consulting with both specialties and being highly selective before choosing anyone provider or choosing any specific one procedure.
Consult with both local oral surgeons and plastic surgeons.
During consultations scheduled those as in person consultations whenever possible. During the visit ask each provider to show their entire collection of before and after pictures. ask the providers to pull out as many pictures as possible with other patients who have facial characteristics that are as similar to your own as possible.
Being shown a handful of preselected pictures which most likely represents the best results of the providers career is totally insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like in the hands of each provider.
Ask providers to show examples of excellent outcomes, average outcomes and less than outcomes.
Asked to provide her with the revision rate is an asked to show examples of patients who didn’t like their outcome and asked for revisions.Some providers may be apprehensive of opening their portfolio completely but I suggest being an advocate for yourself and asking to see as many pictures as they will allow you to as part of the vetting process of finding the most talented and experience provider.
You can simply tell the providers that the number and quality of pictures shown is a big determinant and how you choose the provider and that you were consulting with a lot of different surgeons.
An experienced provider who does the procedure on a regular basis should have no problem showing you at least 50 sets of before and after pictures.
Do you want to really hone in on results of patients who had very similar facial profiles to your own.
Bring your own pictures with you for comparison.
Finally I recommend reading all reviews and various physician review websites avoiding providers with any significant number of justified negative reviews.
The absence of justified negative reviews is more important and more telling than having an abundance of positive reviews.
Continue having consultations until you feel very comfortable you find the most talented and experience provider in your community to meet your needs.
Ask about incidences of complications including numbness, permanent numbness and like I mentioned earlier revision rates.
All surgeons should have a certain revision rate and those who claim to never do revisions are probably not leaving patients with results as good as they could be.
Surgeons who have very high revision rates probably need to improve their skill or are lacking in experience.
Revision rates vary substantially from procedure to procedure and some operations are more revision friendly than others.
I think in the hands of a talented provider who offers the correct procedure your facial profile could be improved very nicely.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD

Would a small chin implant improve my lower face?

Answers (3)

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