Background: Chin augmentation is one of the most popular lower facial reshaping procedures and has been so for many decades. Its benefits are most commonly perceived in the side profile demonstrating increased horizontal projection of the chin. While changes in how far the chin projects forward is one of the most important benefits of a chin implant, that view alone is an inadequate perception of the overall chin augmentation effect.
Chin augmentation should be seen as a 3D procedure and not just a 2D one. This takes into account the frontal view as well, assessing the vertical and transverse dimensions. The frontal view of the chin includes its width which is highly gender specific. The female chin ideally has a amore narrow and tapered shape. Conversely the male chin is wider, more angular and can even have a square shape.
While there are numerous styles of chin implants, they have only two basic frontal shapes…convex and square. The square chin implant is unique in that it maintains a square shape when applied to the front edge of the chin bone which is usually convex. It does so because it is thicker on the sides of the chin so when pressed against the bone it maintains a square shape.
Case Study: This 45 year-old male had a chin implant placed several years previously through an intraoral approach. While it did improve his profile, he had been unhappy with how his chin looked straight on and he also felt it was sitting too high. He wanted more of a masculine square chin shape.
Under general anesthesia, his existing chin implant was removed through a submental skin incision. The implant was positioned high and was asymmetric in position. It was a central style of chin implant that was curved with no lateral wings. It was replaced with a style 1 square chin implant of similar anterior projection thickness. (7mms) A centrally placed 2 x9mm screw was inserted to ensure its central position low on the chin bone.
A square chin implant is uniquely made for men who desire a wider and more angular chin shape. It comes in two widths known as a style 1 and style 2 chin. In the style 1 the square chin width is 45mms and in the style 2 the square chin width is 55mms. Which style of square chin width is best for each patient depends on the horizontal width of their mouth and how strong they want the square chin to appear.
Highlights:
1) Chin implants come in both different styles as well as sizes.
2) When considering chin augmentation how the chin will look in the frontal view is often overlooked.
3) For men who seek a more angular and wider chin look, the square chin implant can help achieve this type of frontal chin shape.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana