There is no doubting the influence that a strong jawline has on the appearance of the male face. From a well-defined chin back to the jaw angle, a straight and strong jawline creates a favorable lower third of the face which is aesthetically important in men. But creating a good jawline for those who don’t have one is not as simple as it may seem.
What makes up the jawline? It is a single bone of the mandible (lower jaw) that incorporates three distinct aesthetic regions. These include the chin, the body, and the jaw angles. The combination of all three ideally create a well-defined line (at the lower border of the jaw) that runs smoothly from the chin back to the jaw angle. It is broken up into three areas based on how it must be surgically approached. The use of chin implants for the front and jaw angle implants for the back are well known. But it is the central zone, the body, that poses the most challenging area to aesthetically augment.
If the body area is augmented with an implant, this poses three potential problems. First, there is no standard implant that is available or pre-fabricated for this application. As a result, one has to custom carve during surgery the shape and length of implant needed. Secondly, placing a body implant in between a chin or jaw angle implant creates a three-piece jawline implant that has the real potential of being able to feel the transition zones between them. This is particularly true at the back end of a chin implant and the front end of the body implant. Lastly, the purpose of most jaw body implants is to provide more projection to the edge or bottom side of the jawline. This makes placing it and holding it in place after surgery a potential challenge.
For these reasons, I feel that a custom fabricated one-piece jawline implant is almost always best. This requires preoperative modeling and an implant design which certainly adds to the cost of the operation. But if one is looking for a more vertical elongation to the entire jawline, this is definitely the way to go. One-piece implants, regardless of size, are always easier to place and will have less potential for postoperative problems.
When lateral jawline augmentation is desired, then the three-piece approach is more reasonable. The body and jaw angle implants can be placed inside the mouth while the chin implant is placed through an incision underneath the chin. Screw fixation is used for all implants as this is best way to prevent shifting or migration of the implant.
Every jawline patient must be looked at individually and a specific implant approach used for each depending upon their goals and aesthetic desires. The concept of jawline augmentation with multiple plastic surgery options intermingles a variety of factors that defies one standard approach.
For the older male, creating a stronger jawline must take into account the development of jowling from aging and gravity. A facelift (neck-jowl lift) would be a necessary part of the plan. The use of one or two implants, at the chin and jaw angle, may be all that is needed to recreate a more well-defined jawline prominence.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana