The traditional approach to jaw augmentation has been a chin implant for many decades. Bringing the front part of the lower jaw forward is the common perception of improving the contour of the lower third of the face. Chin augmentation is commonly performed in young patients and is also often part of a facelift in older patients particularly in females.
But chin augmentation treats just 1/3 of the lower jaw and is a subtotal jaw augmentation procedure. With new and improved standard and custom jawline implants that are available today, it is not rare that initial chin augmentations are enhanced in a secondary jaw augmentation procedure.
In some cases patients come to realize that they desire a more complete lower third of the face reshaping effect. They desire to have the entire jawline augmented and this is often the reason to graduate to a custom jawline implant. Digitally seeing the indwelling chin implant allows a custom jawline design that considers its existing benefits and deficiencies and uses it to help create a more complete jawline implant. In my custom jawline implant experience I would estimate that 30% to 40% of such patients already have had chin implant surgery.
Another reason one may change a standard chin implant to a custom jawline implant is aging. With time and gravity jowling appears and the shape of the back of the jaw disappears with soft tissue sagging. A custom jawline implant recruits soft tissue from the neck and jowls and adds a bit of a facelifting effect with the expansion of the bony jawline contours.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana