A jaw implant is a sculpted piece of rigid material thatâs surgically inserted under the skin to augment the contour of the jawline. It can both widen and lengthen the appearance of the jawbone, to create more balanced facial features with stronger jawline definition.
Like jaw surgery (aka orthognathic surgery), this procedure provides permanent results. But it doesnât involve cutting the jaw bone and produces no visible scarring, since incisions are made inside the mouth.Â
Some people with average-sized lower jaws simply want a wider lower face, but âtypically, people interested in jaw implants have an underdevelopment of the lower jaw that leads to a lack of definition and a perceived cosmetic âweakness,ââ says Dr. Gerald Wittenberg, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Vancouver, British Columbia. Though this underdevelopment is most commonly noticed in profile, it can also be apparent from the front, in the width and often the height of the chin and the angle of the jaw.
A lack of jawbone support for the overlying tissues can also create other cosmetic concerns. For example, a poorly defined jawline often makes the neck look shorter or contributes to the appearance of fullness under the chin (aka a double chin), as well as jowls, says Dr. Wittenberg. These issues are often associated with aging, but âtheyâll appear much sooner when thereâs weak bone support.âÂ
This type of plastic surgery is more common among men, and itâs frequently used as a gender-affirming procedure to masculinize the lower jaw. But women are increasingly requesting jaw implant surgery. This trend is partly driven by female celebrities with âsnatchedâ jawlines, such as Ariana Grande, Kylie Jenner, and Angelina Jolie. âThey have well-defined contours with a width at the angles near the ear, tapering to a more narrow V-shaped contour at the chin,â Dr. Wittenberg notes.Â
This increased attention to the jawbone seems deserved: âJawlines in our society are judged to be a very positive feature and, indeed, frame the face, much like a picture frame that allows one to âfocus inside the frame,ââ says Dr. Wittenberg. âAfter jaw implant surgery, patients often comment that although they have less of a double chin or chubby-cheek look, friends will look at their eyes and notice how bright they lookâeven though nothing changed in that area.â
