Chin Implant Surgery | What is Mentoplasty?

Chin Augmentation (Mentoplasty): Complications, Risks and Outlook

What is Chin Augmentation?

Genioplasty, mentoplasty, or chin surgery is a cosmetic surgery procedure rarely discussed but that produces significant changes in the face to harmonize it. Chin Augmentation can be done alone or with other interventions, such as rhinoplasty. There is also Profil Plast, whose objective is to correct the entire profile.

What is mentoplasty?

Chin surgery, genioplasty or mentoplasty, is a surgery with which it is possible to modify the shape or size of this area of the face. Its main objective is to ensure that facial features are proportionate as a whole. This is an intervention that is performed very often in the context of maxillofacial surgery.

The goal of genioplasty is to correct an unsightly chin that can be in different shapes:

Backward, in this case, it is necessary to advance the chin.
Outstanding, too far forward, and will need to be moved back.
Too high, giving an effect of too short a face, it will be necessary to lower the chin.
Too low, giving here a too long face effect, where it will be required to lift the chin.
Asymmetric that will have to be refocused.

An ideal candidate is a person who does not feel satisfied with the general appearance of their face and especially their chin. There are several motivations:

Harmonize the look by enhancing the contours of the face.
Harmonizing the result of rhinoplasty with the chin is called profiloplasty.
Correct double chin; the cause may be associated with an underdeveloped chin.
Redraw the angle between the neck and the chin.

As in all cosmetic surgery procedures, an ideal patient is a healthy person who has reached the age of majority and is clear about the intervention’s benefits and risks.

The surgeons who can perform chin surgery are cosmetic surgeons, and surgeons specialized in maxillofacial surgery. This speciality treats all the pathologies of the oral cavity and the face.

To choose your surgeon, we recommend that you first research some websites to verify that your doctor is a registered surgeon specializing in cosmetic and plastic surgery.

Once you see your surgeon, feel free to read the reviews of former patients on the Internet and do extensive research to find images of their results.

Do not hesitate to make an appointment with several surgeons, and it is important that you feel comfortable and confident with the person who will operate on you.

How is the first consultation with the surgeon carried out?

In the first consultation, the doctor will analyze your motivations and expectations. It will study your case with precision and, in most cases, it will simulate the result on the computer * to help you imagine your future face. You must bear in mind that the surgeon will suggest a chin style that will harmonize with the rest of your face.

Next, the doctor will explain the different ways to proceed, the anaesthesia modalities, the possible risks, and prepare a complete budget.

Please take advantage of this first consultation to ask all your questions and ask the doctor to show you images of their results.

In most cases, your doctor will ask you to perform a preoperative evaluation and some tests before performing the procedure. You will also have an appointment with the anaesthetist at least 48 hours before surgery.

* It is important to remember that the simulations are only informative and do not necessarily constitute insurance for your future result.

How to prepare for the intervention?

You must follow the recommendations of your surgeon before performing the surgery. Do not take aspirin or derivatives for at least ten days before surgery. You should stop smoking one month before and after surgery to facilitate healing and obtain better results.

Anaesthesia and hospitalization

The anaesthesia will depend on the type of surgery to be performed. General anaesthesia is often referred to in chin surgery with osteotomy, while genioplasty with implants can be performed under local anaesthesia with sedation.

However, if you are performing an implant placement, you can always ask your surgeon for general anaesthesia, for your comfort.

The most common is a single night’s sleep in the hospital (osteotomy genioplasty), but surgery may be done on an outpatient basis. (prosthetic genioplasty)

Intervention procedures

There are several ways to perform a mentoplasty:

Genioplasty with implants: If the chin is back, the easiest way to perform the procedure is by placing an implant in the chin that will have an unlimited life. This intervention lasts from 30 minutes to 1 hour. There are many shapes and sizes of implants to suit the anatomy of each patient. The surgeon will first make an incision in the mouth (the scar will be invisible) or under the chin (the scar is very inconspicuous). You will then create a custom box to place the chin prosthesis and close the incision. Finally, he will put a compression bandage that you will have to keep for five days. The result is immediate. The chin is corrected and is in harmony with the rest of the face. Remember that it will be necessary to wait between 2 and 3 months before seeing the final result once oedema has completely disappeared.
Chin osteotomy: It is an operation that lasts approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. The surgeon will first make an incision inside the mouth (invisible scar) and then cut the chin below the teeth’ roots and move the bone fragment in the desired direction. This fragment will be fixed using screws or mini-plates (this is called osteosynthesis). Then the doctor will make stitches in the mouth that will disappear after 2 to 4 weeks. Oedema and bruising will be present for the next 15 days, which will make the results visible from that moment on.

If the chin is too prominent, the surgeon will also ream the chin’s lower edge, requiring the patient to wear a modelling bandage for about a week.

Postoperative

Whether you have had a prosthetic or osteotomy mentoplasty, it will be necessary to respect certain conditions after the operation to promote good healing. It is recommended that the patients follow a semi-liquid diet for the first few days (and avoid hot foods for the first 48 hours) and impeccable oral hygiene (special mouthwash).

Other than that, the postoperative period is quite a simple period. The patient will be able to resume a social activity between 7 and 15 days after the intervention and a soft and progressive sports activity after two months.

The patient will not feel pain but rather discomfort that tends to disappear little by little.

Whether after a prosthesis or an osteotomy, the results are directly visible, even if it usually takes three months to see the final results once the bruising and oedema disappear.

Patients are generally delighted with their intervention and feel more comfortable in their bodies.

Risks and complications

Fortunately, there are very few cases with complications. However, you must know all the possible risks before having the procedure.

General complications from general anaesthesia and those related to the surgery will be limited if you choose a licensed and competent surgeon. Other possible risks are:

Bleeding
Sensitivity disorders
Lack of bone consolidation
Dental injuries
Fusion of the bone fragment
Poorly tolerated implant

If there are imperfections in the results, your surgeon can easily touch them up. However, it is recommended to wait several months to do a touch-up so that the area is completely healed.

People who have a receding chin can also use less invasive or at least more straightforward techniques. These include:

Mentoplasty with lipofilling: This technique consists of extracting the patient’s fat in a donor area before treating (Coleman technique) and reinjecting it in the chin. The injected fat can be reabsorbed up to 30% in the following months and may require retouching.
Hyaluronic Acid Mentoplasty: In this case, the doctor injects a very cohesive hyaluronic acid to reshape the chin. The doctor can also take the opportunity to reshape the nose, performing a medical rhinoplasty. However, these injections need to be renewed every 8 to 12 months.

The says, “I generally conducted with hyaluronic acid or with hydroxyapatite and in many cases accompanying remodelled mandibular or to disguise jowls with lipolytic treatments for the same”.

FAQ’s

Is it a painful procedure? This is a painful procedure. In most cases, simple pain relievers are sufficient.
What can other interventions be done at the chin level? It is also possible to perform liposuction of the neck and chin and surgery of the jaws. Your surgeon will be the best person to advise you on the type of surgery to be performed.
What is a profileoplasty? Some patients decide to perform a mentoplasty at the same time as a rhinoplasty to harmonize their profile. This is called a profiloplasty.
What does the chin surgery scar look like? The surgery scar is usually hidden in the mouth. However, in the case of implant placement, it can be done outside, under the chin. In this case, it will be fine and discreet and will fade over time.

I had a chin augmentation treatment. It is overcorrected, and I wouldn’t say I like the result. After a week, I feel limited in movement, and it hurts quite a bit, itches, and I feel restricted in the movement of my lower lip because of the hardness just below. I want to remove the infiltrated product. Can hyaluronidase be used after a week for this purpose ?. Could there be any complications? The fillers used in the chin area are the hardest, which implies that the time it takes to adapt and fit in the area is longer, a week is a very little time, and the fact that you notice pain indicates that there is still an inflammatory component. It would be best if you waited at least 3-4 weeks to assess the final result. Since then, you would see that you no longer have limitations to mobility and that the result is much more natural. You are always on time to request hyaluronidase’s infiltration to reduce it, as long as what they have put you is hyaluronic acid.
My advice is to wait at least three weeks to assess the result because you are always in time to eliminate it, and the chin is already a particularly painful and inflamed area. Do not rush.
I have been in contact with a surgeon who performs chin augmentation permanently, and in consultation, I have a product called osteosynt, a synthetic bone graft. I would like to know if it works well and if there are more Dr. who uses it. Besides getting a bit of projection, I would like to hide the crease between the chin and the lip, and I would also want something definitive, which I understand would be the fat. If there are other options, I would like to know about them.

I want a procedure that is permanent and also done in consultation. Above all, I want to know the permanent increase with osteosynt and know Dr. that they do it. The best option would be to have an advanced mentoplasty and later a lipidification of the sulcus. That would give you a definitive result, and it is not a very aggressive surgery.

I had a chin surgery four years ago, but the surgeon did not place the implant centre. I would like to know if there is a solution. According to him, it should be removed entirely and a new one implanted. Do the operation from the beginning. Of course, he does not accept the error, and he says that my base/bone was not centred, and I know that it is not.

This can happen over the years. It is not that it has been placed incorrectly. Over time, the implant undermines (erodes) the underlying tissues, and asymmetry can occur. The solution is to intervene.

I have a very marked and deep mentolabial groove/fold. Could you tell me why it is caused and the possible solutions or how to treat it? Two causes mainly produce the mentolabial groove (formed between the chin and the lip): the first is a very prominent bony or muscular chin that causes that groove between the chin and the lip. The other option that should be considered is if your teeth’ position is correct in relation to your jaw bone since if the teeth of the jaw have a very vestibular angulation (rotated forward), they can mark this groove.
I recommend a personalized assessment as there are multiple options to improve it.
Can chin implants cause tooth root resorption? Without seeing an X-ray, it is difficult to make the assessment, but from the outset, chin implants are fixed to the bone, but at a great distance from the dental root and without influencing them at all, so your comment, it is very rare that they are due to the implant. Also, the dental roots’ size rarely varies throughout adult life, so the most normal thing is that you have always had them that way.