Background: Aesthetic jaw augmentations have historically been associated with men. While well defined jawlines have always been seen as an attractive facial feature for men as far back as one chooses to look at images, movies and advertisements, jawline augmentations have more recently become popular/desired by women. This can easily be seen by looking at contemporary high profile females. It is hard not to see a well defined jawline in almost any female model or actress. It is almost like it is a necessary prerequisite for entry into the most basic level of the entertainment or modeling industry.
Like men when women speak of desiring a better or or defined jawline they are not speaking of an isolated chin augmentation. This is still frequently misunderstood by many plastic surgeons. They are referred to the chin plus the rest of the jawline or a total jawline augmentation. They want to see a linear and visible jawline between the chin and the jaw angle, an effect that no chin implant alone can accomplish.
Also like in men trying to achieve an effective jaw augmentation for women using standard implants has its limitations. Besides the risk of asymmetry with three independently placed implants (chin and jaw angles) as well as magnifying whatever natural jaw angle asymmetry may exist, few current jaw implant styles can provide the type of chin and jaw angle shapes that women want. A narrow chin shape may be able to be accomplished with a hand-modified anatomic chin implant style and the use of vertical lengthening jaw angle implants is the only posterior jaw augmentation implant style that is more consistent with feminine aesthetic tastes. For these reasons a custom jawline implant design offers the most assured aesthetic outcome with the lowest risk of asymmetry.
Case Study: This young female male desired an enhanced jawline augmentation result. From the dimensional standpoint she need a 45 degree type of chin augmentation with jaw angle lengthening and width with a linear connection between the chin and jaw angles. This change is best seen in the side view.
3D assessment of her jawline implant showed an overall narrow design with total implant volume of 6.5ccs. (she was just over 5’ tall and slender)
Under general anesthesia and using a very small submental incisions with bilateral intraorla incisions the petite custom jawline implant was placed and secured.
In looking at her result six weeks later she had a more defined jawline but one that still fit her small facial structure.
Designing female jawline implants requires an understanding of what separates them from that of men. It is about their more narrow shape, often with vertical lengthening along the jawline, that makes it possible to achieve their aesthetic augmentation goals of the lower face without ending up with a result that is too big.
Case Highlights:
1) Jawline augmentations in women must take into consideration their different aesthetic objectives and shape of the jawline from that of men.
2) Design considerations in women are for more narrow chins, jawlines and jaw angle shapes.
3) Most female custom jawline implants have volumes that are usually less than 10ccs.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana