Which Is Better For Putting In A Chin Implant, Through The Mouth Or Under The Chin?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I would like to know which one of the two approaches for chin implant surgery is better, intraoral or submental incision? How do you avoid cutting the branch of the facial nerve. When you do the submental incision and how likely is it to injure this nerve by the submental incision?

A: There are advantages and dusadvantages to each chin implant approach. Neither one is necessarily ‘better’. Both are acceptable chin implant approaches and produce similar results if technically done well. The submental approach avoids the intraoral incision and the need for disinsertion of the mentalis muscle from the bone when coming from above and that may make the recovery process a little bit easier. The submental incision should have virtually no risk of injuring the marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve. The course of that nerve lies way to the side of where the submental incision is and is in a much more superficial tissue plane than the subperiosteal approach to the chin bone.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana