Arnett- Gunson- THE BEST! I Love These Guys!

Dude. Stop with the aggressive comments please. You don’t know what you’re talking about. My mentalis muscle complication is not something any surgeon can predict and was down to other factors. They went above and beyond to fix this for me until I was happy. Do your research. Other people with mentalis issues are usually ignored by their surgeon because it’s not due to a mistake on the surgeon’s part.

Going to defend Kitty here, I have similar mentalis muscle issues to Kitty. Extreme tightness in lower lip and chin that is exacerbated when speaking. Very irritating and affects my quality of life. My surgeon abandoned me, insinuated I was lying and then lied in my records stating I had no functional issues. And in my case, the complication was due to negligence since the genioplasty I had was not needed and actually made me look worse (I would have looked and felt 100% better without genioplasty).

You cannot expect surgeons to be Gods, but the fact that Gunson sticks by his patients is definitely admirable and definitely an anomaly.

Kitty, can you give an update if the mentalis muscle issue has been resolved and what steps have been taken to offer some relief. Thanks :)

Hi @saramarielopez - thanks for clarifying and telling your story. I'm so sorry this happened to you!! As we both unfortunately know, genioplasty comes with the unavoidable risk of mentalis muscle issues (and of course nerve damage- ugh) and when we go in for surgery we just pray it won't happen to us, because there are no guarantees that we can avoid those complications, no matter how diligent and skilled your surgeon is. It differs from person to person with very limited ability to predict who will suffer them and who will not. But what happened to you is the WORST! The fact that you didn't need the genioplasty is awful. Then the attitude of your surgeon afterwards is just appalling. This is why the aftercare is SO VITAL and why I am so grateful to Arnett & Gunson (aside from incredible skill, they are truly kind, good, ethical people)! It's such a stressful experience having this surgery and choosing to take the risks involved, that having a supportive, attentive, nonjudgmental surgeon is EVERYTHING. I feel so bad for how your surgeon treated you. But I will tell you what Gunson did to try and help me and see if you can hopefully find someone you trust to take care of this issue for you. 1) Get the metal plate removed from the chin, it can occasionally restrict the muscle movement in some people. 2) Dr G tried 're-training' my mentalis using botox to freeze it and teach it to do something different. That got rid of the straining dimples in my chin permanently as my muscle 're-set' itself after a few months. 3) He re-susupended my mentalis in a follow-up surgery using a permanent suture and tiny plate and this completely fixed the problem, but sadly my mentalis movement was so strong the suture broke after about a year. 4) Finally I had a second genioplasty to shorten my chin. This helped a LOT. 5) You might consider a tiny bit of injectable filler in your lips as when your lip seal is better, your chin muscle will settle and relax (I didn't really look different in a 'lips done' way, just more relaxed). This did wonders for me, although I realize it's not a permanent solution and not everyone wants that! I also do daily lip and chin stretching exercises. Don't despair please because there are ways to address the problem. I'm just so sorry your surgeon wasn't sympathetic to your complication nor to the fact you should not have even had this done in the first place! (I definitely needed my genioplasty in the first place at least.) The other thing is that genioplasty is considered cosmetic and so insurance won't pay for it. Dr G again went above and beyond to find a surgical location for me that would be cheaper and to keep my out-of-pocket costs as low as possible. If you can find a sympathetic and reliable maxillofacial surgeon, I'm sure they will be able to help you. If not possible, in the meantime you might consider just doing the stretching exercises (firmly pull your lower lip directly outward and then up several times a day) and maybe trying the botox and lip treatment. Have hope! Good luck!!

what were your symptoms that prompted the additional surgeries? I am 11 months post op and my chin is contracted at all times and I constantly feel a pull. Had the plates and screws removed and it did to help:(.

did not help

Hi @nochokin I had tightness in my chin but mainly I didn’t like my lower tooth show. I think my muscle was short to begin with because my jaw grew funny (I had an accident and broke it as a child which was why I ended up needing surgery).

thanks for your thoughtful reply kitty. You have given me hope that my issue might be addressed and that not all hope is lost. At your current state, do you feel 100% back to normal? no residual tightness/discomfort in chin and lips?

Hi Sara, so I would say I'm at about 80%. Some days are stiff still. If I'm tired it's worse I find. Stretching usually fixes it when I feel like that though. Don't despair though - for sure there is hope you can feel a lot better. My lips are 100% normal, the only stiffness is occasionally in my chin around the scar tissue. Hope that helps.

Thank you so much :) I have been offered botox from a neurologist so I will see if that helps. Also, I think the lip filler idea makes intuitive sense since I feel like I have to move my chin pad up to enunciate some words and it gets "stuck". So if my lips are bigger my chin can hopefully be more relaxed. I might even pay Gunson a visit in a few years if I can save up enough.

Please stop bothering me