Do I Need Jaw Angle Implants If I Get A Chin Implant?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am a 25 year old man with a normal mandible angles but a slightly weak chin that has a little steeper angle then the rest of my jaw. Anyway I have been considering a square wrap-around or extend chin implant to slightly increase the width and moderately increase the forward projection of my chin But I am concerned that a chin implant will make my jaw angles appear greater so I was thinking a combination of a  chin implant with jaw angles might be right for me. So my question is generally speaking do you think that those people who undergo chin augmentation would benefit from jaw angle implants that increase the vertical height of the ramus decreasing the angle.(for me I think part of the reason my angles seem so square is because my chin is undersized and the angle is about 90 degrees but then after the groove increases to about normal dimensions) And then my second question do you have an photos that demonstrate the depression that is formed when off the shelf chin and jaw angle implants are used together?

A: There are no general statement that can be made about the influence of the chin on the appearance of the jaw angles. Each patient’s jawline and facial anatomy is unique and must be considered individually. The best way to answer your question is through computer imaging…change the chin without the jaw angles and see what it looks like. That is the best way to answer that question. You are correct in assuming that most standard chin and jaw angle implants do not meet in the ‘middle’ (body of the mandible) and, even if they do, these are thinnest and most tapered aspects of the two implants. Thus it is possible the jawline might not be perfectly straight from the chin back to the jaw angles and usually isn’t. But whether that occurs or not and is aesthetically significant depends on each patient’s jawline anatomy and the implants used.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana