Can I Have A Facelift After Jaw Surgery?

Q: Dr. Eppley, if I had maxillofacial surgery, would a chin implant and mini facelift be out of the question for me? Does having had the facial/jaw bones being worked on exclude the possibility of having implants placed on top of the bone or the outer skin lifted like in a facelift?

A: Any type of a facelift and chin implant can be done on someone with a prior history of  orthognathic surgery, whether it was a LeFort 1, mandibular advancement/setback or genioplasty or any combination of them. What is done down at the bone level has no impact on the adjustments of the facial soft tissues along the jawline or on the side of the face. A chin implant can also be done over a previous sliding genioplasty even though there may be some more scar or tissue adhesions around it. To illustrate this point, it is not rare in my experience to place facial implants at the same time as having orthognathic surgery or to do a second stage after orthognathic surgery to place them. Given that the bone is at a completely separate layer than the skin or the SMAS tissues, there is no impact on having any type of a facelift later.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana