Dr Terino - Jawline

A well-defined jaw line is now the standardly accepted sign of attractiveness in the face. A well-defined jaw line for a woman means that she will have the appearance of a tight, smooth neck, because the jaw serves as a “shelf”, or “roof” over the neck. A well-defined jaw line in a man represents a strong, determined personality, and that is felt to represent success in life. Unless a jaw line is too strong, and “cartoon-like”, excellent strength and definition will always be desirable.

The jaw line consist of two parts:

1) The front part, which can be weak and therefore cause the nose and the cheeks to be out of balance and appear too big; and

2) The back part, called the angles, which creates definition and a wider, more square looking face.

The front part can be improved with simple chin implant procedures performed through small incisions that are invisible, underneath the chin and heal to look good within two weeks to a month. There are many different to the front chin implants to create square or more square, round, or wider and even longer appearances to the lower part of the face.

Implants of the back part have been specially and anatomically designed to imitate the shape of the angle and to cause a wider, more square jaw line along the side and in the back. There are inserted through a 1½ inch incision behind the molar teeth, and are placed directly on the bone. Swelling from these implants can be greater than for chin implants and therefore, it requires a bit more time for the definition to appear, sometimes as long as 4 to 6 weeks. Jaw angles implants rarely need to be fixed into place, but when necessary this is done with a small screw through the implant into the bone, which does not cause any additional pain or discomfort.

The chin/jaw line has a very significant relationship to the contour shape of the neck below it. In young people, there may be an excess of fat causing a round look, or even look. There is also a sloping appearance from the chin down to the bottom of the neck, which is considered undesirable as it does not emphasize and bring out the best qualities of the shape of the face and of the chin/jaw line.

In older people, the muscles below the chin get loose, and they start to sag down in the front. There are two of them, one on each side, and they appear as “stringers” attaching from the chin down to the collar bone.

At any age, there are procedures to tighten these muscles and remove fat from beneath the chin/jaw line. This can be performed for younger people using the same incision that a chin implant is placed (approximately 1½ inch opening beneath the chin). For older neck changes that require tightening of the muscles in the back, as well as the front, and more extensive fat removal, incisions around the earlobe and behind the ear, that are inconspicuous or invisible should be used to accomplish the best and longest result.

The minimally invasive insertion of jaw implants requires 30 minutes. An early age neck muscle tightening requires an hour-and-a-half procedure. More advanced tightening for older necks might be anywhere from two to three hours, depending on the degree of loosening and sagging, and how much needs to be done to fix it. The best jaw implants, as with all facial implants, are made out of silicone rubber, because they have a smooth surface and can be removed or changed fairly easily. The body forms scar tissue around them that attaches them to the underlying bone so that they do not move and they feel like the patients normal bone structure. Infections can occur with any foreign substance placed in the face, but they are rare with silicone rubber implants and in the majority of cases can be resolved without removal of the implant. When absolutely necessary, the implants can be removed and after a healing period of 6 –8 months, they can easily be replaced. This type of situation is very uncommon for all types of silicone rubber face implants.

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