Jaw surgery

Chin surgery

Some faces have a poor projection of the chin, an overprojected chin, or a problem with the width or height of the chin. Chin surgery can be used to improve the appearance of a person’s chin.

A particular process, known as a sliding genioplasty, involves separating a horseshoe-shaped piece of the chin bone from the lower jaw and sliding it either backwards or forwards, and finally fixing it in place using titanium screws.

The profile of a patient can be significantly altered with a chin procedure. This, in turn, has a significant effect on overall facial symmetry.

Men and women look best with certain types of chins. A small chin can make a large nose look even bigger, or conversely, a large chin may even make a large nose look tiny for the face. This chin/nose relationship must be harmonious.

A central consideration in deciding if chin remodeling alone is appropriate is whether dental occlusion (the way your teeth meet) is correct or not. If dental occlusion is satisfactory, the appearance of the chin can be dealt with by chin surgery alone. If it is not, a combination of upper or lower jaw surgery may be needed.

Procedure

Chin surgery is carried out under a general anaesthetic and takes about one hour.

An incision is made inside the mouth, so no scar will be visible on the outside.

The chin is cut from back to front on both sides, using a powered saw with a special blade to separate the edge of the chin. The bone segment is then slid forward or backward, or any direction desired. If needed, a segment of bone can be removed.

Fixation The bone parts are fixed using titanium miniplates and screws. These will never be removed.

Advancement of the chin

If only the lowest third of the face is sunken in, yet the occlusion is normal, a chin advancement may be the solution. Especially in men, it can help to make the face look ‘stronger’.

Retraction of the chin

In patients with an overprojected chin and a normal occlusion, the chin as a separate entity can be retracted.

Width and height chin reduction surgery

If the chin is too width or heigh compared to the rest of the face, a piece of chin bone can be removed.

A second cut parallel to and a few millimetres over the first one can be made, and a slice of bone removed. This will reduce the height of the chin. The middle part of the horseshoe-shaped bone can be removed to make the chin more pointed.

The bleu areas indicate where bone is removed during a chinplasty.