If I Remove My Jaw Implants Will I Need To Treat The Residual Bone Imprinting?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have had chin and jaw implants (both silicone, the jaw implants are fixated by screws, the chin implant is not) for roughly 10 years now. They were placed about a year apart, with different surgeons. I regret having anything in my face, and am looking to remove them entirely, and do a sliding genioplasty to make up for resorption from the chin implant, if this is possible and safe to do. I no longer can tolerate the feeling of the implants inside of me, and I do not like the look of them especially in motion and certain lighting, and just want to revert back to my normal self as closely as I can. I am a bit worried about resorption or impressions left from the jaw implants, and the overall process of removal. I think I may benefit from a CBCT scan (I believe that’s what it is called), to see what’s going on underneath.

A: Thank you for your inquiry and detailing your objectives of chin and jaw angle implant removals. It is quite normal on the lower jaw for any type of implant to have some imprinting on the bone as well as bony overgrowths. How significant implant imprinting is on the bone and the amount and locations of the bony overgrowth can be quite variable and is not related to implant size, material, or duration of implantation. These are natural biologic phenomenon from the presence of an implant which violates the congenital anatomic boundaries of the tissues. This is not a pathologic reaction and it has no functional significance.

If it is important to visualize the bony impressions and the amount of bony overgrowths this requires a 3-D CT Scan with digital removal of the implants and colorizations of the imprinted areas as well as the bony overgrowths. This can certainly be done but does not impact the implant removal process.

If the goal, in addition to implant removal, is to try and restore the bone contour as much as possible to its pre-surgical state you could fill in the bony impressions with cadaveric  bone chips. While you could do a sliding genioplasty to compensate for the impression left by the chin implant that maybe overkill for the amount of oppression death that exist and bone chip placement alone may be more appropriate.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon