Can Custom Jawline Implants Be Used To Partially Reverse An Overdone V Line Surgery?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Hello, I recently underwent genioplasty and jaw reduction surgery. The jaw reduction did not go as my expectation as they cut across the entirety of my jaw angle and now I have lost the angularity that I once had. I was expected just a slight elevation in jaw angle but they took more than expected to be used as bone graft on chin lengthening.

I searched about custom jaw implants that may recover and create stronger angularity again and was hoping to learn more about the procedure.

Would the implant between masseter and mandible? Does it wrap around the jaw bone? How long does it usually last? Are there alternatives? Some of my biggest concerns is how difficult is it to remove when there are complications and what is the infection / bone resorption rate like for such a procedure? 

A: In V line surgery there is not ‘just a little’ jaw angle removal, it has to be a lot based on how the cuts need to be made from an intraoral approach. This is a common patient misconception. That issue aside the only method to restore some or all of the removed bone is a custom implant design. Such implants are placed between the masseter muscle and the bone and wrap around the bottom of the bone edge.  Such implants are easy to remove should there be a need to do so. The infection risk is in the 1% to 2% range. Bone resorption is not an issue seen.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon