Can A Sliding Genioplasty Shorten A Chin?

Q: Dr. Eppley,  I am interested in chin reshaping. I think my mid face and chin are long (I assume it’s easiest to fix just the chin). I’d like to reduce vertical height by at least a third and increase chin projection. I may also consider some work on my nose. (narrow bridge, hump removal, refine tip).

A: Thank you for sending your pictures. It is far easier to vertically shorten facial height by working on the chin. Midface vertical length can only be reduced by a maxillary impaction surgery which can only be done if one has true vertical maxillary excess. (too much tooth and gum show at rest)

Your chin appears long because of it is horizontally short and rotated backward. A sliding genioplasty can be done to bring it forward and to vertically shorten it at the same. To see  how this would look, computer imaging needs to be done. To do this type of computer imaging analysis, I need non-smiling pictures from the front and profile views to get a non-distorted imaging. As beautiful as your smile is, it distorts the soft tissues of the chin and nose. This is the one time where smiling is not helpful!

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana