Will Jaw Angle Implants Help Balance My Face After Having Had A Genioplasty?

Q: Hi there. I tried to send a photo over for the 3d imaging but it didnt send unfortunately – said I hadn’t filled in all fields but they were all complete.Was after some advice really. I have had maxillofacial surgery because I had an under developed bottom jaw. This included a genioplasty too. However, since having the genioplasty my chin looks really long to me when I smile, especially from the side. My jaw bone is only a cm under my ear. Would jaw implants in this area improve the look of the length of chin do you think and widen the lower face a little?

A: When an osteoplastic or sliding genioplasty is done, the vertical dimension of the chin almost always increases. That is because as the chin is brought forward there is a natural tendency to open the ‘wedge’ of the osteotomy or it may be deliberately done to actually lengthen the chin as well. That is part of the presurgical planning. If a genioplasty is done with a mandibular advancement osteotomy (jaw brought forward) that may leave the posterior height and width of the mandible deficient. This would be evident by a steep mandibular plane angle between the bottom of the jaw angles and the bottom of the chin. In these cases, I have done jaw angle implants whose primary goal is to increase the vertical dimension of the jaw angles more so than adding width. Much jaw angle width is rarely needed in most females.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana