Sliding Genioplasty

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in a sliding genioplasty. I am 18 years old and male. Although I am an adult it is pretty young to be getting cosmetic surgery. I have a weak chin that is probably caused by a recessed jaw also, but I really do not want jaw surgery cause my bite is good. The problem is since I am young I am worried about bone erosion. Do you offer any procedures/osteotomy that can square the chin? I like the benefits of a sliding genioplasty because it can help with breathing. But it makes the chin look more narrow. My chin is rounded. Is there any way to square the chin and bring it forward with bony tactics? Since I want other implants such in the future I would like to avoid it on the chin. So basically my question is do you preform or can you preform any osteotomy that will bring the chin forward and give it more of a square shape? Like width wise and not pointy. Thank you doctor.

A: A sliding genioplasty can be performed where the down fractured bone segment is split in the middle and expanded within an interpositional bone graft. This will create some degree of wideness and maybe a hint of squareness. But it will not create the square effect that a square chin implant can create. An alternative sliding genioplasty strategy, and a better one, is to place carved ePTFE implants that had squareness to the corners of the advanced bone. This is a blended strategy of osteotomy and implant that uses the best of both of them for a more square chin effect in a male.

Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana