Chin Augmentation 

Using surgical implants can alter the underlying structure of the face, providing better balance to the facial features. The specific medical terms mentoplasty and genioplasty are used to refer to the reduction and addition of material to a patient’s chin. This can take the form of chin height reduction or chin rounding by osteotomy, or chin augmentation using implants.

This operation is often, but not always, performed at the time of rhinoplasty to help balance the facial proportions. Chin augmentation may be achieved by manipulation of the jaw bone (mandible) and augmentation utilizing this technique usually provides a more dramatic correction than with the use of prosthetic implants.

Chin implants are used to build a better profile, and can be silicone based or out of other materials that make them porous so you’re your own tissue can grow into them.

In addition, your own bone can be used, from ribs or the pelvis (the ilium) for augmentation. Use of donated bone implants in chin augmentation, even the patient’s own, appears to be associated with a higher rate of infection, even after the implant has been in place for decades.

Chin augmentation is still popular because it is a relatively easy operation, with no external scars (visible) for the patient, while producing noticeable changes in the silhouette of the face.