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Facial Implants

Plastic surgeons use facial implants to enhance and improve facial contours. Regularly, these implants will help to provide a more melodious balance to their face and features so those patients feel better about the way patient look. There are many implants available, manufactured from a variety of materials.

They may help strengthen a jaw line or bring the chin or cheekbones into balance with the rest of the face. This booklet describes some of the facial implants presently available as well as the techniques for their use. Facial implants can enhance their appearance and bolster their self esteem. If patient are looking for improvement, not perfection, in their appearance and are realistic in their expectations.

Facial implant surgery may need only local anesthesia combined with a sedative, a general anesthesia may be recommended. Insertion of a chin implant may take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. During the procedure, the surgeon selects the proper size and shape implant to improve their appearance and inserts it into a pocket over the front of the jawbone. The small opening to create the pocket and insert the implant is placed inside the mouth.

Cheek implant surgery usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes. When cheek implants are being placed in conjunction with another cosmetic procedure, such as a facelift, forehead lift or eyelid surgery, the implants may be inserted through the slits made for those procedures. An incision will be made either inside their upper lip or their lower eyelid. A pocket is then formed and an implant is inserted.

Insertion of a jaw implant usually takes about 1 to 2 hours. Internal incisions are made on either side of the lower lip to provide access for creating a pocket into which the lower jaw implant can be inserted. Dissolving stitches are used to close the incisions. 
 
A facial implant can shift slightly out of alignment and a second operation may be necessary to replace it in its proper position. If infection were to occur around a facial implant and did not clear up after treatment with antibiotics, the implant might have to be temporarily removed and replaced at a later time. Some of the implant materials are made of a solid silicone. Presently, there is no scientific evidence that this is a harmful substance.
 


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