Custom Facial Implants

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am looking forward to have custom jaw and chin implants, but I’m located outside the us, and since I’m unmarried it would be nearly impossible for me to get a us visa in my country. So I was wondering if it would be possible to have the custom implants made for me without me having to visit your clinic personally. Like, I send you my 3D CT scan, we have a consultation over Skype, you get the implants made to custom fit my face and have them shipped to my location, and finally I have them implanted by a local surgeon in my country. Does that make sense? I wasn’t able to find any doctor doing custom facial implants here, they all have those made-to-fit all OTC implants which I don’t find appealing. So if what I suggested could be done, please let me know. I know it could be risky or maybe won’t give perfect results, but I’m willing to have it done regardless. Thanks. Looking forward to your reply.

A: Thank you for your inquiry. Essentially what you are asking is whether I could design your custom facial implants for you, have them made and then shipped directly from me to you so your surgeon of choice could implant them. That can not be done based on two fundamental issues: 1) I can take no responsibility nor should you assume that your surgeon has the knowledge and experience to successfully place them. Custom facial implants often require surgical technique modifications to be successfully placed, and 2) the regulation and legal issues with importing medical devices vary greatly amongst countries and I am certain shipping a medical device directly to a patient from an outside country violates many of those laws.

Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana