Chin Implant & Chin Augmentation in Newport Beach & Orange County

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Procedure: Chin augmentation by insertion of a silicone facial implant in order to correct sagging skin of the chin area and improve the overall shape and balance of the face and neck.

Length: 30 minutes to 1 hour

Anesthesia: General anesthesia or intravenous sedation

Place of Treatment: Office-based surgical facility, outpatient surgical facility, or a hospital operating room

Recovery: Patients may feel sore and fatigued for the first day or two after surgery.  Patients can usually resume light activity the day of the surgery and return to work within 7 to 10 days after surgery.

Duration of Results: Chin augmentation surgery usually leads to a permanent enhancement of chin, facial, and neck balance. Patients are usually extremely satisfied with the results and enjoy a lifetime improved chin shape and facial balance.

Side Effects: Side effects are events that may be experienced by patients as a result of your surgery and should not be considered adverse events. Our patients are counseled regarding these effects and if experienced they are tolerable and often temporary in duration.

1. Bruising/Swelling: Temporary bruising and swelling usually occurs after surgery and greatly diminishes within a few weeks after surgery.
2. Numbness: Patients may have a temporary loss of sensation in the chin due to swelling after surgery.  The numbness usually disappears within a few weeks after surgery.  In rare cases, the numbness may become permanent as a result of direct injury to the chin sensory nerve (mental nerve).
3. Scarring: Incision may be lumpy and red for a few months, but surgical incisions become less apparent over time and fade to a thin white line. It is important to acknowledge that smoking impedes the healing process and will result in more prominent surgical scars.  Visual scarring can be avoided by using an intra-oral approach; however, this approach is associated with increased risk of chin numbness and implant infection.
4. Asymmetrical chin: An uneven appearance of the chin may result if the chin is asymmetric preoperatively. Although the surgeon makes all attempts to sculpt the implant intraoperatively to compensate for any asymmetry, patients with significant preoperative asymmetry may demonstrate residual asymmetry.

Risks: Risks are unwanted events that may occur during or following surgery. These events are recognized as “complications” but their occurrence is minimized by appropriate patient selection, proper surgical decision making, effective surgical technique, and thorough preoperative and postoperative patient management.

1. Damage to the teeth is rare but possible when using and intraoral approach or when using screw fixation of the chin implant.
2. Migration of the implant: The chin implant may shift from its desired position. When implant migration occurs it is usually caused by an over dissected pocket which allows the implant to migrate from its initial position. This complication can be avoided by placing a small suture through the implant and securing it to the bony lining. This complication will require revision surgery to replace the implant and fine-tune the pocket position.
3. Infection: An infection can occur after chin augmentation surgery. An infection may result in disruption of surgical incision lines and may leave the patient with an open wound.  Prolonged antibiotics and possible removal of the implant may be required to fight an infection and to prevent further extension of the infection. Risk of infection is minimized by using sterile technique, using intra-operative antibiotics, and sealing all incisions sites so that bacteria can’t get in through external contact. In addition, infections are less likely in patients who don’t smoke cigarettes or in smokers who quit smoking for at least 1 month prior to surgery.  Finally, chin implant infection can be minimized by avoiding brushing of teeth over the first week following surgery; patients are instead instructed to use mouth wash only during this brief period.
4. Pulmonary embolism: Blood clots may form in leg veins during any surgery when the patient is under general anesthesia.  Patients with a leg vein clot will complain postoperatively of pain in their calves. Patients with this complaint should be taken seriously and treated if a vein clot is diagnosed. Early treatment of patients with a deep leg vein will avoid migration of leg vein clot to the heart and lungs causing pulmonary embolism. Even though pulmonary emboli are rare, pulmonary emboli are the leading cause of death after surgery. Pulmonary emboli must be detected early by performing a CT Scan and should be treated urgently.