Is Sliding Genioplasty The Best Way To Make My Face Less Round?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I want to hear your expert opinion on whether a chin implant or a sliding genioplasty or some other thing is more appropriate for my jaw. I have attached pictures from 3 angles of my lower jaw, at a default, relaxed face. Notice my big jowls and rounded face. I have been told (by a few oral/maxillofacial surgeons) that a sliding genioplasty would probably be better than a chin implant because, as one surgeon put it,….an implant usually doesn’t create the angles I would need for the roundness to soften up a bit and for significant loose skin to pull. I don’t mind a slightly round face, I just don’t want to look like a balloon on the lower half of my face.

In your experience, how true is this???

A: A properly designed chin implant can create more angles than than a sliding genioplasty. A sliding genioplasty brings the chin forward but will make it more narrow in doing so. That is fine if that is the frontal change that you want….which usually works well for a female. Most males want a more square chin as it comes forward with a genioplasty which will not create that effect unless the bone is split and widened. But in doing so there will be a dip behind the chin in the jawline. Many bone-based facial surgeons often know how to do one chin approach (sliding genioplasty) but often do not have much experience with the array of chin implants, preformed and custom, that are currently available. Both implants and a sliding genioplasty are effective chin augmentation operations but their effects can be dimensionally different. It becomes imperative to know what each of them can aesthetically do and then apply it to the aesthetic needs of the patient.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana