Patients undergo chin and cheek implant surgeries in order to redefine and enhance certain facial features such as their cheeks or jaw lines. This is often done for cosmetic reasons or due to a facial reconstruction need arising from a prior surgery. Prior to surgery (whether the patient is receiving implants for the chin, cheek or both), the patient will meet with their plastic surgeon to discuss realistic expectations for the procedure and discuss which facial areas they are seeking to enhance and their reasons for doing so. Prominent cheek bones and a strong chin provide balance and definition. Dr. Rodriguez of Cedar Valley ASCENT, located in Waterloo, Iowa and serving the Cedar Valley, is committed to helping define and enhance your self-confidence through chin and cheek implant surgeries. Both surgeries are outpatient procedures that generally require a shorter recovery time frame, after which normal activities can be resumed.

Chin and Cheek Implants

Chin and cheek implant surgery, or mentoplasty and malarplasty, respectively, are both generally outpatient procedures that do not require an overnight hospital stay. Each surgery generally takes one-to-two hours. Cheek implant surgery involves two potential surgical approaches to inserting the implant: either internally through the upper lip or through the lower eyelid, varying in time from one-to-two hours. Chin implant surgery entails placing an implant under the patients chin or through their lower lip, with the procedure generally taking under an hour. In addition to the situation where a receding chin is augmented with an implant, chin surgery can also involve reducing a too-prominent chin through the liposuction of excess fat under the chin or jowl or along the neck’s upper area.

woman holding her face and smiling

Patients recovering from these surgeries should have a person stay with them for at least a night after the procedure(s) and avoid certain foods and medications as prescribed by their physician. Most patients only miss one week of work, at a maximum, recovering from the procedure(s) and engage in at-home rehabilitation activities, such as application of icing, ointment and gauze and eating easy-to-swallow foods. Bruising and swelling will diminish over a few days immediately post-surgery. In terms of complications, there is a risk of the implant-shifting that could require an additional surgery or infection that would require antibiotics.

Is Chin and Cheek Implant Surgery Right for you?

A pleasing, balanced profile can be achieved by inserting an implant or moving the bone forward to build a receding chin or by reducing a jutting or too-prominent chin. The result can be greater facial harmony and an increase in self-confidence. Understanding that facial implant surgery is intended to enhance your existing features, not to make your appearance mirror someone else’s and having an appreciation of the potential risks and complications associated with the surgery are crucial before undergoing surgery (regardless of whether it is chin or cheek implant surgery). In order to help patients set reasonable expectations and goals for the procedure(s) and to show how they may look afterward, we offer a specialized imaging system that provides future images based on a current photograph.

Case Study

side profile of a woman's face

BEFORE

side profile of a woman's face

AFTER