Chin, Cheek & Facial Implants

Facial Implants Ft. Lauderdale

When patients require cosmetic/esthetic enhancement to balance the face, facial implants can be inserted. The most common areas treated are the chin, cheekbone (malar bone) and lower jaw (mandible).

Do you have concerns over your facial appearance?

Does your appearance make you look older than your real age?

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Do you notice uneven or irregular appearance to cheeks or jaws?

The goals of placing facial implants is to achieve balance and harmony of the facial structures. If your condition also involves a problem with the way your teeth come together (malocclusion), there may also be a problem with alignment of the jaws (skeletal jaw deformity). Signs of this deformity include:

  • Overbite or underbite
  • Deepbite or open bite
  • Open bite

In these cases you may benefit from orthognathic surgery. However, facial implants can be used as a replacement for orthognathic surgery in some circumstances to mask, or camoflague the jaw discrepancy. Placement of facial implants are commonly used as an adjunct to jaw repositioning surgery to correct resultant contour irregularities that sometimes appear postoperatively.

Patient Testimonial

When I began my procedures, I did not know what to expect. I am now near completion of my treatment and feel complete again. The entire staff has been amazingly helpful and caring. I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Leslie Sultan and the Sultan Center.
– Melody

What Are Facial Implants Made Of?

The various facial implants used by Dr. Sultan are made of a variety of materials, each of which is compatible with the human body, making for a very low risk of rejection or allergic reaction.

There are the materials used:

  • Silicone — Silicone has been used since the mid-20th century for facial implants. Silicone implants are usually attached to the jawbone or cheekbones, and scar tissue grows over them. This creates a capsule that holds the implants securely in place for the duration. Silicone implants don’t fuse to the bone or merge with tissue, so they can be removed more easily than other implants, should the patient desire that at some point in the future.
  • Polyethylene — Polyethylene facial implants are porous. This allows tissue to grow through the implant, firmly fusing it into place. This is a great feature of these implants unless the person wants to remove them in the future. Also, polyethylene implants are different from silicone in that they cannot be as easily sculpted or shaped.
  • Gore-Tex — Gore-Tex, technically known as expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, has been used in facial implants since the late 20th century. Like polyethylene, Gore-Tex implants are porous, so tissue can grow through them.

How Is Facial Implant Surgery Performed?

Dr. Sultan prefers the use of implants manufactured from porous plastic material, or a combination of silicone coated with plastic. These materials never resorb, or dissolve, have less risk of infection, and do not cause scar tissue capsules around them, which can result in a contour irregularity.

These implants are placed either through small incisions in the mouth, or from inconspicuous incisions well hidden on the face. Deep sedation or general anesthesia is preferred for patient comfort, delivered by a Board Certified Anesthesiologist. The majority of these procedures can be performed in our sate of the art hospital style outpatient facility.

The most common areas for correction with facial implants are:

  • Chin
  • Cheeks
  • Lower jaw (mandible)
  • Para-nasal (around the nasal base)
  • Lower rim of the eye socket (infraorbital rim)

If necessary, soft tissue procedures are performed at the same time as implant placement to enhance the results:

  • Midface suspension sutures (Midface lift)
  • Removal of fat from beneath the jaw (lipectomy/liposuction)

Many times Dr. Sultan utilizes preformed shapes, or stock implants in different sizes. However, as no person is perfectly symmetric, and many conditions are patient-specific, custom Computer Designed Facial Implants can be manufactured.

Dr. Sultan is a surgeon with years of experience you can trust. Read more about Dr. Sultan's incredible facial reconstruction story when he gave a woman her smile back after her jaw became deformed and restored her missing teeth due to a gun shot wound.

HOW IS RECOVERY AFTER HAVING FACIAL IMPLANTS PLACED?

These are not difficult recoveries. Because there isn’t much tissue repositioning and subsequent trauma, there is little bruising and swelling with the placement of facial implants. Pain is usually manageable with over-the-counter pain medication. Dr. Sultan may have certain implant areas covered with bandages to support the implant during the initial healing phase. We’ll give you detailed instructions on caring for your incision or incisions, whether they are inside the mouth, under the eyelid, or under the chin.

It will help to sleep with your head elevated for the first week. This minimizes any swelling. Obviously, you’ll also have to not sleep on your face.

Most patients can return to work in just 5 to 7 days. Of course, if you’re combining your facial augmentation with other procedures, such as a facelift, your recovery will be predicated on that.

AM I A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR FACIAL AUGMENTATION WITH IMPLANTS?

Many people feel self-conscious about their facial proportions. Augmentation can change that. It can strengthen a jawline or balance the chin or cheekbones with the rest of the face.

With aging, some people feel their face now appears sunken, flattened, or just tired. This is because of the natural slackening of tissues and declining production of collagen. Implants placed over the cheekbones can return volume to the cheeks, which is a tenet of a younger face. Jaw implants can strengthen your jaw line. Chin implants can add proportion or balance to a face.

To be a good candidate, you should be generally healthy, without active diseases or conditions. It helps if you’re not a smoker. If you are, you’ll need to stop for at least one month prior to and after your augmentation.

Other factors that indicate a good candidate include:

  • Have cosmetic/esthetic concerns only
  • Have a good bite relationship
  • Have a good jaw relationship
  • Have had previous jaw correction (orthognathic) surgery
  • Have facial deficits from previous traumatic injuries

HOW ARE FACIAL IMPLANTS FIXED IN PLACE?

Here are the methods Dr. Sultan uses for placing implants in the three main areas. For each type of implant, he makes an incision and then creates a pocket to hold the implant:

  • Lower jaw implants — The implant is placed inside the lower lip, back along the jawline at the crease where the inside of your cheek and gums meet. Your incisions will be closed with absorbable sutures that will dissolve in about one week.
  • Chin implants — These implants are placed through your lower lip along the crease that joins your lower lip and gums. An alternate location is through a small incision made under the chin.
  • Cheek implants — The incision for cheek augmentation is made inside the mouth or along the lower eyelid.

Dr. Sultan places implants in facial augmentation with permanent sutures. In some patients, they may also be secured with titanium screws, as the body completely accepts titanium and grows tissue around the screws.

HOW DO FACIAL IMPLANTS COMPARE TO INJECTABLE FILLERS?

Many of the common materials used to augment the face (dermal fillers, fat) achieve only temporary results. As such, they need to be performed on multiple occasions to achieve and maintain their results. Facial implants, when placed, give a long lasting, consistent improvement of restoring smooth, even contour to the facial structure.

CHIN IMPLANT VS GENIOPLASTY

WHICH IS RIGHT FOR ME?

The most common chin conditions requiring correction include:

  • Excessively long or pronounced chin
  • Deficient, short or pointed chin
  • Asymmetric chin position (off center, uneven)

Surgery is performed to reposition or recontour the chin region in order to improve facial profile and lip posture. Some cases are amenable to the placement of an implant, while others are corrected by sectioning and then repositioning the chin using small titanium screws (genioplasty).

The decision to perform a chin implant or chin repositioning with genioplasty is made during the consultation and based on the type correction required and the needs and desires of the patient.

THE CUSTOM IMPLANT PROCESS

Certain patient conditions are not amenable for correction with stock, or "off the shelf" implants. For example, a patient with an asymmetric, or uneven face. When the manufacture of a patient specific custom implant is required, a CT is taken of the patient and sent to our medical modeling facility. Data from the CT scan is converted to usable three dimensional images that are analyzed for proper dimensions, symmetry and contour. An online meeting is set up for Dr. Sultan, the patient and our Virtual Modeling Engineer to design the ideal implant shape. This virtual design is then converted to an actual custom implant ready for placement within approximately two weeks.

Although the cost of these custom implants are higher than the "stock" variety, their placement results in a more accurate result, less operating time and decreased risk of complications.

Please refer to the section on Computer Guided Surgery for a more in depth discussion on the topic.

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Deficient Chin
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Deficient Chin
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Excessive Chin
chin reduction
Chin Reduction
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CUSTOM CHEEK, ORBIT POST TRAUMA
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Lower Jaw Implant
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CUSTOM WRAPAROUND MANDIBLE
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Lower Jaw Implant
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Chin Implant
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CUSTOM CHEEK, MANDIBLE, GENIOPLASTY

COMPUTER DESIGN CHEEK

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COMPUTER DESIGN CHEEK, ORBIT

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ARE THERE RISKS INVOLVED WITH FACIAL AUGMENTATION?

These are minor surgeries, but they are surgeries, and they involve the same risks: excessive bleeding, poor wound healing, infection, and the like.

For facial augmentation the risks are possible nerve damage, numbness, skin discoloration, and fluid build-up. These are usually temporary. There is a slight risk of the implants shifting or of asymmetry between both sides of your face.

WILL MY FACIAL IMPLANTS NEED TO BE REPLACED?

These are meant to be permanent placements. The silicone, polyethylene, or Gore-Tex won’t degrade. In fact, the body grows tissue around or into these implants, making them, in effect, part of the patient’s bone structure.

There can be instances where a facial implant migrates, but this is quite rare. Dr. Sultan is a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon, and this is the kind of training, expertise, and experience you can trust to attain the results you seek with these facial implant procedures.

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION TODAY!

To learn more about our Chin, Cheek & Facial Implants, please schedule a personalized appointment with Dr. Leslie Sultan! Call 954.771.8772 today or fill out and submit the Consultation Request Form below. Our practice looks forward to serving you!

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