Genioplasty is cosmetic surgery of the chin. This surgical intervention not only improves the appearance of a person’s chin but the entire face entire face. Thousands of people in the United States and Canada undergo this surgery every year either for aesthetic purposes or to correct a deformity.
An osseous or “sliding” genioplasty, involves the repositioning or reshaping of a persons chin using their own chin bone. By using a patients own bone, the surgeon can change the projection, height, shape and proportion of a person’s chin. The results are dramatic, making the face and its other more proportional. A genioplasty can move the patient’s chin forward or backward, up or down and even make it wider and more square or narrower and more rounded. An osseous, or sliding genioplasty can also change a persons facial shape, giving them a more striking “V” line shape, as opposed to a rounded lower facial shape. It has the added effect of tighteninh the neck line and jaw line, making the patient more youthful looking by reducing the signs of aging such as jowls and double chins.
A genioplasty either reshapes a patient’s chin or repositions the bone that supports their chin. During the genioplasty, the plastic surgeon will perform an incision inside the patient’s lower lip, inside the gum area, so that the scar is not visible.
The following types of people make the best candidates for an osseous genioplasty:
The recovery time for osseous or sliding genioplasty is approximately two weeks, although swelling will last for longer. Generally, by six weeks approximately 80% of the swelling is gone.
Patients who undergo a sliding or osseous genioplasty have a very low risk of developing the following complications:
The cost of an osseous genioplasty is generally higher than a chin implant because it is a more specialized procedure that is more predictable in its outcome, generally has a lower infection rate, and once healed, the reshaped chin is your own with no concerns about it moving, failing or needing to be removed, as is sometimes the case in chin augmentation surgery using an implant. The cost ranges from $5,000 to $10,000 (Canadian dollars). How much the procedure will cost at a certain facility will depend on a surgeon’s experience, geographical location and the complexity of procedure being done. This surgery is generally not covered by medical insurance. Patients who can’t pay out of pocket can talk to the plastic surgeon about financing options.
Like any other cosmetic surgery, a patient will have to carry out research to find the right surgeon. Osseous or sliding genioplasty is a procedure offered by very few plastic surgeons because it requires training not generally undertaken in standard residency programs. Nevertheless, osseous or sliding genioplasty offers many advantages over augmentation, or chin implant surgery. One of the greatest advantages is its ability to change the soft tissues of the lower face giving the patient a more defined jawline and neckline. Another advantage is that the newly shaped chin is all your own bone and once healed, there is no concern that it will move, or get infected or need to be removed, as is sometimes the case with implants. Finally, because no “additional” material is being added to your chin, the results tend to look much more natural, because , in fact they are- after all it is your own chin being re-shaped!
It is best for a patient considering chin surgery to know the advantages and disadvantages of all options for reshaping or augmenting the chin. Interview multiple plastic surgeons to determine which surgeon has expertise in all of the options, including implant chin augmentation and osseous or sliding genioplasty, and ask to see photographs of their real patients before and after to see the differences between the various options, particularly the difference between an implant chin augmentation and a sliding genioplasty.
To learn more about chin augmentation or to schedule a consultation in Toronto, contact Edelstein Cosmetic. We can answer any questions and help you decide whether this procedure is right for you.
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