Custom Jaw Implant

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in a custom jaw implant. I have always felt my mandible is very under developed and I am starting to think my neck and jowls are slowly swallowing the thing. I just turned 35 and I look like I’m about 21 years old. I feel this is mostly because my mandible hasn’t grown much since I was a teenager. As a male, I feel like I project slight weakness because of my insecurity. I thought for a long time I would outgrow my dissatisfaction but unfortunately that has not been the case. I have also been hopeful that my face would eventually full out, but that too has not occurred.

I read countless reports about chin implants and jawbone expansion techniques, etc. your website had the most comprehensive descriptions of what I feel is “wrong” with my ever slimming face. I like your description of how the jawline can be lowered as well as widened with specific implants. I want to keep my “shape”, but I want it to be lowered and widened. Does that make sense? 

A: Thank you for sending your pictures. What I see is an entire lower jaw that is both vertically and horizontally short. This makes it disproportionate to the upper two-thirds of your facial structures. This is the ideal anatomic deficiency for which a custom jaw implant works so well to correct and put the face in balance.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana