How Can I Reduce My Large Chin?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am looking for someone who can give me realistic advice on how to reduce the size of my chin (mentalis) I heard botox is an option but probably wont have much affect. Are there any other options I could explore? I think there is fat in that area so would laser liposuction be an option? Any help would be great.

A: Thank you for your inquiry. I am not sure what you mean by realistic advice but here are the facts on chin reduction. A large chin is due to too much bone, too much soft tissue or both. Its reduction therefore must involve surgical reduction of either bone, the soft tissue cover or both. If the bone problem is one of too much vertical length, then an intraoral vertical reduction bony genioplasty is needed. If the bone problem is too much horizontal with or without vertical bone excess, then a submental bine burring reductyion needs to be done. All excessive soft tissues problems need a submental excision and tuck unless it is just a mild amount of laxity then an intraoral soft tissue suspension must be done.

I don’t know where the concept of Botox comes from since that is a temporary muscle paralyzer not a soft tissue reduction method anywhere it is applied on the face. No form of liposuction should ever be done on the chin as all it will do is dimple the chin and make it look irregular. The amount of fat in anyone’s chin no matter how big it is is very small and the chin needs it to keep an outer smooth skin contour.

The only way to reduce a large chin is surgery, removing either bone, soft tissue or both.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana