Is A Black Male More At Risk For Adverse Scarring From Submental Incision For A Chin Implant?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am a black male considering a chin implant. I am Fitzpatrick skin type V/5. I am told the submental incision route for placing the implant is best but I am quite worried about scarring on my more melanated skin. I can’t seem to find any images of a submental scar on darker skin that has healed. Do you know where I might find this? I see lots of examples of caucasian incisions that have healed beautifully but I am skeptical about how camouflaged the scarring will be on darker skin. 

Thanks a lot.

A: I have never seen adverse scarring in darker skin pigments such as Fitzpatrick 5 from a submental skin incision for a chin implant. In reality the greatest concern for reactive scarring is in the intermediate skin pigments not on either ends of the Fitzpatrick scale. But even in these risker intermediate skin pigments even they do fairly well.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana