How Much Width Increase Can Temple Implants Make?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have a question about temple implants. What I want is to build width and length to my face through multiple procedures. (Not all done at the same time of course). These include jaw implants to add width and vertical length to the face, a chin implant which meets the jaw implant, and forehead widening from the temporal region up into the sides of the head, and possibly heightening. I believe the chin and jaw implants are relatively straightforward, but the forehead is a bit more complicated to me. Is the recovery period painful for skull reshaping and is there a significant loss of blood? One question I’d like to ask is how much width can be added to the forehead on each side? Is it possible to broaden the forehead up to 1cm on each side stretching from the cheekbone all the way up to the highest part of the head? As you can tell I really want to completely restructure my face to more large proportions and just add volume all over as it has bothering me greatly for some time now. I do not want to do anything with my features as I like my features, its the size of my structure that I really want to change.

A: When it comes to temple implants, there are two major factors to consider in your specific request. First, the amount of temporal and forehead augmentation is only limited by the ability of the scalp to close over it. Based on a lot of experience in these kind of surgeries I would say that a 1 cm increase on each side is very achieveable. Secondly, it will require custom designed temporal implants that would be made to start at the zygomatic arch and create a maximal 1 cm width increase at the point of maximal convexity as it blends into the forehead area. I have designed such temporal implants in the past so this amount of temporal volume addition I have done before.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana