Background: This is a great patient question in regards to aesthetic jaw augmentation. It is an insightful question that relates to whether standard chin and jaw angle implants can create a total jawline augmentation effect.
Question: I have a question regarding the combination of standard chin and jaw angle implants.
How do they connect? I´m aware that they are 3 separate implants, which are not connected by screws or anything like that. But will there be visible gaps between them if you wrap the skin around them very tihghtly?
How can it look like 1 uninterrupted jawline instead of 3 “hills”? Or is another technique like wrap around custom jawline implants better regarding that concern?
The best way to answer this question is in the following case study of that exact issue.
Case Study: This male had a prior history of standard chin and jaw angle implants for total jaw augmentation. Between the asymmetry and the lack of a smooth jawline effect he desired replacement with a custom jawline implant. From his 3D CT scan the three separate implants could be seen with the chin implant asymmetrically placed. The jaw angle implants were placed in the correct position on the jaw angles but the natural bony jaw angles were asymmetric…thus an augmentation makes that asymmetry more apparent. But what is very apparent is that standard chin and jaw angle implants will not usually create a smooth connected jaw augmentation look. They can’t and that is not what they are intended to do.
A new custom jawline implant was designed that made a smooth and connected jawline from one jaw angle to the other. It captured some of the augmentation dimensions from the standard implants and also corrected the asymmetry of the jaw angles. An overlay of the one piece jawline implant design over the standard implants showed the difference.
Under general anesthesia the standard chin and jaw angle implants were removed and replaced with the custom jawline implant. As different as they looked on the 3D CT scans the actual implants side by side during surgery conformed their disparity in shapes.
His three month postoperative results show the difference in what a one piece custom jawline implant can create as opposed to standard jaw implants.
A post 3D CT scan seen for below shows that in the custom jawline implant there is a smooth connection between the three corners of the lower jaw. This is a long explanation, but a very visual one, that demonstrates that the wrap around jawline implant is the only jaw augmentation method that makes for a smooth connection between the chin and jaw angles. That is one of its many features/advantages.
Highlights:
- Standard chin and jaw angle implants do not connect making it atypical to ever get a smooth uninterrupted jawline.
- With three standard implants that don’t connect the risk of asymmetry and implant malposition is significantly increased.
- A custom jawline implant creates a smooth connected jawline look by virtue of its design.
Dr. Barry Eppley
World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon