Is Facial Widening With Implants A Fairly Standard Procedure?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’m trying to clarify whether this is even a real, standard option (not some crazy experiment). In the same way rhinoplasty is a well-established solution for a nose someone doesn’t like, is surgically increasing facial width (e.g., via cheek/malar and/or jaw angle implants) a recognized and commonly performed solution for patients with a proportionally narrow face?

Specifically, has this been routinely done before with the goal of increasing lateral facial width from a frontal view, and is this considered a normal indication for these procedures?

I’m not asking about extremes, only whether moving from narrow toward normal proportions through skeletal widening is a legitimate, established approach.

A: Skeletal widening of the face, whether it is the jawline or cheeks has been a standard surgical procedure with implants since the 1990s. It has become improved and more patient specific with contemporary custom implant designs. Such facial widening cannot be achieved by any bone-based procedure such as osteotomies or bone grafts.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon