How Can I Fix My Chin Which Looks Worse After Chin Reduction Surgery?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Hello sorry I forgot to send you a pre surgery photo of my chin reduction surgery. This is how it was before I am so upset with how it looks now I would do anything to try and make it look as better as it use to be.

A: Thank you for sending your before and after chin reduction pictures. You did not say how your chin reduction was done but the combination of a wider/flatter chin shape and the chin pad irregularities/dimpling would indicate to me that anterior chin shave was done, most likely from an intraoral approach. With the soft tissues stripped off of the bone and the bone support of the chin reduced, the soft tissue chin pad has limited ability to shrink back down around the shorter bone. Instead it often ends up into a contracted ball of muscle and skin which is why it looks irregular.

The best course of action is to add back some bone support (implant or a sliding genioplasty and release and redrape the soft tissues over a restored bone support. I would lead towards the sliding genioplasty because this can move the bone forward as well as shorten it at the same time which is beneficial aesthetically as well as for the best soft tissue support.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana