Can My Elevated Masseter Muscle Be Fixed After Jaw Surgery?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I had a custom jaw wraparound implant placed in September but now when I flex my jaw, the masseter muscle bulges  higher up than the gonial angle. Will it heal automatically? Do you offer any procedures that fix it?

A:You have masseter muscle dehiscence, also known as ‘implant reveal’, where the muscle has become disinserted and retracted up over the implant. While it causes no functional jaw movement issues it is an aesthetic deformity. This is a difficult problem for which there are no easy solutions. Repositioning the muscle back over the implant is the biologic approach but that is very difficult to do and requires an external neck incision to do so. Alternatively trying to fill in the soft tissue defect with injectable fillers, fat injections or subcutaneous implants are all camouflage options.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana