Chin Surgery

Facial implants improve and enhance facial contours. Frequently, these implants help provide a more harmonious balance to the face so that a patient can feel better about the way he or she looks. The chin implant strengthens the jaw line or brings the chin into balance with the rest of the face by creating a subtle but definite proportion. The change in size and projection of a small, recessive chin may add tremendously to the appearance of a patient. Surgery can change the chin by removing the notch at the center. In contrast, patients who seek a unique profile or appearance select an implant to produce a cleft chin. Chin implants are made of soft silastic, a safe, rubber-plastic material. The material is safe enough to remain in the body for more than twenty years in the ear, mouth, eyes, heart (valves and blood vessels) and is integral in replacement joints--hips, knees and fingers. Supportive tissue forms around the implant after a few weeks. Once healed, it will feel like the normal chin. To augment a chin, doctors make a small incision on either inside of the mouth where the lower lip meets the teeth, or in the small crease line under the chin. Then the doctor creates a small pocket directly over the bone exactly the size of the implant so that the implant does not shift or move once inserted. Chin implants come in different sizes and shapes. Patients can choose their own implants and doctors advise patients to use antibiotics before and after surgery to decrease the risk of infection.