Chin dimple removal can be done. The origin of this anatomical variant is due to lack of the mentalis muscle crossing over and leaving a dip.  Some others believe that the dimple is due to other soft tissue deficits.  Whatever the orgin, one may need to elevate the area and fill it in with fat or some other filler.  Because the skin is usually tacked and attached down to the deeper structures, some surgical lifting is necessary.  After lifting, you will then need to place some tissue there to keep it elevated and not associated with the skin again.  This is where grafts can work and there are many options for that.  Fillers are less efficacious in my experience. Chin implants can also serve to make those dimples less apparent as well but may change the way your chin looks in a significant way.

Thanks for reading, Dr Young

Dr Young specializes in Facial Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery and is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington

The cost of a chin implant (chin augmentation / chin enhancement / chin plastic surgery / chin cosmetic surgery / chin job / chin implant / chin facial implant) varies depending on the surgeons fee, anesthesia costs, after care, and the cost of the implant.  In total you will be looking at between 4-6 thousand dollars.  The implant itself costs from 200-400 dollars. The surgeons fee between 3-4 thousand dollars. Anesthesia fees can be anywhere from 500-3000 dollars.  Sometimes you get what you pay for. I wouldn’t do price shopping to find the best deal.  You can get an implant for the chin for 1-2k in some third world country but then you have to pay someone else another 4-6k to fix it or more.  I have taken care of many people who have gone out of the country for less expensive surgery only to come back to me to have it redone.  When you go out of the country, the surgeons there have less incentive to take care of you.  You did in fact go there for the price and not the surgeons skill so it really doesn’t matter to them if they do a good job because they are getting you to come based on price.  Also, with you in another country their follow up for you is a lot less and they don’t have to worry about you coming back every day or week to see you and take care of you.

I hope that helps!

Thanks for reading, Dr Young

Dr Young specializes in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington

This was a question I answered for someone recently:

It all depends on your bite.

Edward Angle was the first to classify malocclusion. He based his classifications on the relative position of the maxillary first molar. The mesiobuccal cusp of the upper first molar should rest on the mesiobuccal groove of the mandibular first molar.

* Class I: Here the molar relationship of the occlusion is normal or as described for the maxillary first molar, but the other teeth have problems like spacing, crowding, over or under eruption, etc.
* Class II: (retrognathism, “overbite”) In this situation, the upper molars are placed not in the mesiobuccal groove but anteriorly to it. Usually the mesiobuccal cusp rests in between the first mandibular molars and second premolars. There are two subtypes:
o Class II Division 1: The molar relationships are like that of Class II and the anterior teeth are protruded.
o Class II Division 2: The molar relationships are class II but the central are retroclined and the lateral teeth are seen overlapping the centrals.
* Class III: (prognathism, “underbite” or “negative overjet”) is when the lower front teeth are more prominent than the upper front teeth. In this case the patient has very often a large mandible or a short maxillary bone.

If you have malocclusion, orthognathic surgery (jaw surgery / oral maxillofacial surgery) could improve your chin position especially if you have a class 2 occlusion where the top jaw is more anterior than the bottom. Correcting this can project your chin forward.  If you have a Class one occlusion, and your chin is still posteriorly situated you have what is called retrogenia, or microgenia and a chin implant could improve the appearance of your chin.  Sometimes correcting a malocclusion can still leave you with a small chin and an implant may still be needed. Genioplasty is the actual movement of the bone in a forward and inferior direction to increase the chin size vertically and horizontally.  Chin implants (or chin augmentation, chin enhancement , facial implants, genioplasty, sliding genioplasty, chin surgery, chin plastic surgery, chin cosmetic surgery) can only increase the vertical dimension approximately 2mm anymore usually has traditionally required a genioplasty.  Although there are custom implants that can give you more vertical height of your chin.  Genioplasty is a significant surgery and many people feel it is more work than worth the recovery.  Chin implant recovery is much less than a genioplasty in most hands.  You should come in to discuss this with someone qualified to consult you about this.

Thanks for reading, Dr Young

Dr Young specializes in Facial Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery and is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington

Chin reshaping / chin shaping / chin implants / chin augmentation can have a significant impact on the way you look.  There are inter relationships between your chin, your face, and your nose.  Through my theories and studies on facial beauty, the end of your chin and the distance from this point to the center of the lower lip should be about the same distance from your lower lip to your nasal tip.  It should also be the same distance from your nasal tip to the level of the center of your eyes.  All of these distances are ideally equal to the distance from the center of your iris to the middle of your face.  I have found that distance to be ideally 3 iris widths in length.  At the bottom of the chin, the width that it conveys to a person should really be at most 3 iris widths.  But the highlights around the mouth area should be an area that is 3 iris widths radius centered at the lower lip.  This circular area should touch the nasal tip, the lower chin and the nasolabial folds.

On a less techinical side, a chin implant can be placed to make your nose look less prominent.  Prior to having a chin implant, your nose may appear that you would need to make it smaller through a rhinoplasty. But  after a chin implant, you would likely need to do much less reduction and may not even need to reduce the nose in anyway.  This same principle applies to different parts of the nose such as the nasal tip, nasal bridge and whole side profile of the nose.

How would you know whether you need a chin implant.  If you take a picture of a side view of your face, you can determine whether your chin is small or large.  This picture should be taken with the inferior eye bone ridge level with the top of the ear canal.  This is called the frankfort horizontal.  A line drawn through the anterior part of the lower lip, perpendicular to this horizontal plane, the chin should be 1-2 mm behind this line.  If it is more posterior a chin implant could help. If it is more a chin reduction procedure could help. Here is a video on chin reduction for you to see.

Another method is by drawing a line from the half way point from the deepest part of your nasal bridge between your eyes to the nasal tip.  From this halfway point through the anterior upper and lower lips, your chin should be about 3-4mm behind this line. If is posterior to this a chin implant could improve the profile. If it is anterior, a chin reduction could help.

Dr Young is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington