Sliding Genioplasty Reversal

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in a sliding genioplasty reversal. I am a 26 year old female that is almost 3 years post op from a sliding genioplasty. I’m unhappy with the results and original surgeon has offered to reverse it, but I have numbness and my lip has never returned to its previous position on the left side. I desperately want my previous smile back, but am extremely concerned about causing more numbness/nerve damage with a revision.

A: While I have no information about your chin other than your description, I would not count on ‘getting your smile back’ just because the bone is returned to its original position. You might but there is an equal if not greater chance you will not. You undergo a reverse genioplasty because you want the original look of your chin back…which will be a very likely outcome of a bone repositioning procedure. The smile is a result of dynamic muscular actions whose effects can not be assured by what happens to the bone as the soft tissues have been permanently changed from their being stretched. There is also the risk of creating further sensory loss of the lip although I do not consider this a major reason for not doing the reversal. Once the damage is done it is not likely to be worsened. 

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana