What Can Be Done For My Very Short Chin?

Q: I am a 19 y/o male with a receded lower jaw along with a very small chin. I am very unhappy with my profile and unable to afford corrective jaw surgery nor do I wish to deal with orthodontics for over a year. I have had braces before when I was younger and do not want them again. I want my chin to look masculine and large but not abnormal. At the moment my mouth and nose stick out farther than my chin. I would like my chin to go out farther than, or at least in line with my mouth. Any advice or help you can offer is very much appreciated.

A: Thank you for sending your pictures. Your chin deficiency is significant enough (at least 12 to 15mms) that a chin implant alone will not suffice. No chin implant is made that can bring the chin far enough forward. Rather than an implant, you need a chin osteotomy (not a jaw osteotomy) which is to cut and move the chin bone forward. That will bring the chin forward about 12mms. In addition, it also has the advantage of vertically lengthening the chin which an implant alone can not do. If you then add a chin implant in front of or on top of the chin osteotomy, you can then get the more ideal result that you are after from a horizontal projection standpoint in a profile view.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana