Facial Reshaping

Q: Dr. Eppley, I had jaw surgery to correct my overbite and gummy smile which got fixed. I still however feel I have a long face and want to shorten it a bit even more. I feel as if my nose and chin are vertically too long and I would love to shorten and make them smaller. I would also like to add filler to my lips and cheeks to give me more width volume. I feel as if my chin reduction would be hard to do because I don’t need a lot and it would have to be precise to get a good result and not look odd or throw off any facial balance. My nose also is a bit droopy at base and long. I would like to shorten my nose from the bottom without it looking “piggy” and then add some upper lip filler to keep my philtrum still looking short and in balance. Do you think my picture results are realistic and do you think my genioplasty result could turn out the way I want it. You are probably the best at genioplasty as many doctors can’t seem to have nice feminine results when I see their after pics. What procedures would I need to get the “what I want” result in my pictures. What procedures would you recommend to give my face a more compact feminine look.

A: Thank you for your inquiry and sending your imaged pictures. What you are showing is a vertical reduction of the chin extending back into the jawline but not back all the way to the jaw angles. That could be done by two types of jawline reduction techniques, (intraoral vs submental) each with their own distinct advantages or disadvantages. While the submental approach is the ‘easiest’ method to do, needing just a little reduction (to quote you…although that looks at least 5mms reduction to me, maybe even 7mms) would suggest that the intraoral osteotomy method may be acceptable because it is scarless. Certainly the combination of chin reduction, rhinoplasty, and filler injection to the lips and cheeks can also be done at the same time for a comprehensive facial reshaping approach.

Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana