Options for Better Defined Facial Features

Have you ever looked in the mir­ror and wished for bet­ter cheek­bones? Have you ever envied peo­ple with strong chins or well-defined jaw lines? Facial aug­men­ta­tion may be an option for you.

Implants can add bal­ance, pro­por­tion and def­i­n­i­tion to vir­tu­al­ly any area of the face, although they’re most com­mon­ly used in the cheek, jaw and chin. For cer­tain indi­vid­u­als with weak chins, we can sur­gi­cal­ly move the chin bone into a more promi­nent posi­tion.

Let’s explore your choic­es.

What is facial aug­men­ta­tion?

Facial implants are spe­cial­ly formed sol­id mate­ri­als that work with your bone and tis­sue to enhance, or aug­ment the phys­i­cal struc­ture of your face. They can be made from a vari­ety of mate­ri­als; I pre­fer a firm, porous, high-den­si­ty poly­eth­yl­ene called Med­por. Sil­i­cone implants are anoth­er option, but they hold a high­er risk of mov­ing out of posi­tion or becom­ing incor­po­rat­ed into the sur­round­ing bone tis­sue.

We can cor­rect many struc­tur­al imper­fec­tions with implants. Cheek implants can increase the pro­jec­tion of and add vol­ume to the cheek­bones. Jaw implants can increase the widths of the low­er third of the face. Chin implants can increase the size and pro­jec­tion of a small or recessed chin. All of these implants may be per­formed alone or in con­junc­tion with oth­er pro­ce­dures, such as facelifts or nose or ear surgery.

Some patients, espe­cial­ly younger peo­ple with sig­nif­i­cant­ly weak or recessed chins, may be bet­ter off with a chin osteoto­my, where the chin bone is sur­gi­cal­ly cut and repo­si­tioned. Once the bone heals, it will stay that way for­ev­er, where­as a too-large implant may move over time. You’ll also get the look you desire using only your own tis­sue, with­out arti­fi­cial mate­ri­als that car­ry a risk of infec­tion. These ben­e­fits may make this big­ger, more com­plex pro­ce­dure worth it for some peo­ple.

What hap­pens dur­ing these pro­ce­dures?

Both pro­ce­dures are done on an out­pa­tient basis, in either a hos­pi­tal or sur­gi­cal cen­ter.

For facial implants, an inci­sion is made to cre­ate a sup­port­ing pock­et beneath the skin and soft tis­sues. The inci­sion is usu­al­ly made inside the mouth, along the gum line, although for some chin implants an inci­sion just beneath the chin may be more appro­pri­ate.

Once the implant has been posi­tioned in the pock­et made by the inci­sion, the implant will be held in place by the mus­cle and tis­sue sur­round­ing that pock­et. Occa­sion­al­ly, I’ll fur­ther sta­bi­lize the implant with sutures or sur­gi­cal screws.
For an osteoto­my, I make an inci­sion through the mouth, along the gum line in the low­er lip. I sur­gi­cal­ly cut the chin bone and repo­si­tion it as desired. I then secure the bone in its new posi­tion with tita­ni­um screws and plates.

What should I expect post-surgery?

If you’ve had an implant, your pain will be minor, but you’ll have bruis­ing and swelling for the first sev­en to ten days. If your inci­sion was made through your mouth, you may be restrict­ed to a soft food diet in the begin­ning, to help the wound heal and for your com­fort. With­in two weeks, you’ll be back to your nor­mal activ­i­ties.

If you’ve had an osteoto­my, your recov­ery will be longer and you’ll have more bruis­ing and swelling. There’s also a risk of tem­po­rary numb­ness in the lip and chin. Still, you’ll be back to all your nor­mal activ­i­ties with­in two to three weeks.
As your swelling sub­sides, you’ll begin to notice new­ly defined facial fea­tures, nat­ur­al angles, and vis­i­ble con­tours. And you’ll feel more com­fort­able with and con­fi­dent in your looks.

Imag­ine what you’ll think when you look in the mir­ror fol­low­ing your pro­ce­dure. Call the office today to sched­ule your con­sul­ta­tion, and let’s dis­cuss what options are best for you!