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How much will it cost? The fee for facial implant surgery can be located in the suggested fees . Please call my office for an accurate price quote or make an appointment for a personal consultation to discuss your specific concerns. My suggested quotes include professional fees, anesthesia fees, operating room costs, implant costs, house calls, before care and after care. They do not include hospitalization costs, prescriptions, home nursing care, preoperative history and physical examination, laboratory costs, or pathology fees. If you compare prices, make sure that you consider all these costs. In addition, facial implant surgery usually requires some time off work for a safe recovery. I require complete payment two weeks in advance of all cosmetic surgery. What can I do about my weak chin, jaw, and cheeks? Facial implants are made specifically to enhance these bony landmarks of the face. They give a more sculpted, refined appearance. Will I ever be exactly the same on both sides? It is normal for the face not to be the same on both sides. Surgery can reduce these differences but not eliminate them. It will be necessary for you to adjust to some facial asymmetry after your surgery. Will there be scars after surgery? Scars are part of all surgery. It is important to understand where facial implant surgery scars will be placed. Each implant requires unique skin scars to position the implant. They are either hidden inside the mouth or inconspicuously placed on the face. These can easily be covered with makeup. What are the risks of facial implant surgery? There are risks with any surgery. Infection, excessive bleeding, abnormal scarring, poor healing, slow healing, skin loss, changes in skin sensation, muscle or nerve injury, although uncommon, can occur with any surgery. Fortunately, most problems that result from such complications are correctable with additional surgery. Some temporary numbness of the cheeks and/or lips can be expected. Although rare, it can be permanent. There is also a risk of poor implant position. You must understand your risk of complications completely before you choose to have a facial implant surgery. What material is used to make the implants? Most implants are made from solid silicone only. There is no filling material. Other implants are made from implantable Gore-Tex material. This has been used for blood vessel replacement for over fifteen years. All man made implants will eventually break once they are implanted in the body. This is a result of material fatigue. Once an implant is placed the body stresses it. Living tissues like bone and muscle can make up for this by growing stronger. Manmade implants cannot do this so they will eventually fail. I have heard about so many bad things on television, is it safe to have facial implant surgery? There are always risks with facial implant surgery. When severe complications are combined with inexperienced surgeons, poor results can occur. I believe that facial implant surgery can be done safely with a high degree of patient satisfaction. Serious problems are usually related to infection and/or nerve injury. Most poor results can be improved with additional surgery. What can you tell me about this new technique that I saw on television? Everyone in America wants the latest in medical care. This is not always the best medical care. At times media presentations will leave out critical information about potential complications, quality of result, and FDA regulation. I am open minded when it comes to new technology but I would rather not use my patients to try out the newest techniques. Recent advances in facial implant surgery include placement at the same time as facial rejuvenation surgery (facelift, forehead lift surgery, and eyelid surgery) and alternate implant materials like Gore-Tex, and porous compounds. How old do I have to be to have this surgery? Facial development can continue into the teens. When surgery is done before this time, there is a chance the surgery will have to be repeated or it will not look natural. In addition, it may be emotionally difficult to adjust to the surgery during teen years. I generally suggest that surgery be postponed until eighteen years of age. However, exceptions can be made for teenagers who have severe nose or facial deformities that are a result of birth defects. For general health reasons, I recommend that all my patients stop smoking. It is clear that smoking increases your risk for developing all sorts of cancers. Breathing problems like emphysema and circulatory problems including heart attacks are also linked to smoking. Smoking can increase the risk of coughing after your surgery that can lead to unwanted bleeding. Smoking also reduces blood flow that can result in skin loss during the healing period. Both of these problems can ruin the results of your facial implant surgery and lead to revision surgery. It is always best to stop smoking. There are other choices when it comes to facial implant surgery. These include fat graft injections, buccal fat pad excision, facial rejuvenation surgery, bone advancement surgery, acceptance of a deformity, and changes in makeup or hairstyle. Always understand all your options before having facial implant surgery. What is the difference between facial implant surgery and bone advancement surgery? Facial implant surgery involved placing a manmade implant beneath the soft tissues of the face. Bone advancement surgery rearranges the facial bones or uses bone grafts to accomplish the same results. Patients choose facial implant surgery due to its simplicity, lower cost, and reduced convalescence time. What is the relationship between buccal fat pad excision and cheek implants? Buccal fat pad reduction removes fat from the cheek through a small incision inside the mouth. This reduces the fullness of the cheek below the cheekbone. The cheekbones appear more prominent. Buccal fat pad excision complements cheek implants. What additional procedures can I consider that will enhance the result? Surgeries can be combined to yield dramatic and complimentary results. For safety reasons, I recommend the length of surgery be limited to six hours and no more than two areas of the body be treated at the same time. Facial implant surgery is frequently combined with facial rejuvenation surgery (upper eyelid surgery, lower eyelid surgery, facelift, forehead lift, and laser resurfacing), facial liposuction, buccal fat pad excision, hair restoration, and nose surgery. About fifteen percent of patients choosing nasal surgery benefit from chin enlargement surgery. Am I a good candidate for facial implant surgery? This is a question that can only be answered after a personal consultation. Facial implant surgery is suggested to patients with weak facial bone structure and/or coarse facial wrinkling. I feel strongly that facial implant surgery should not be done if high blood pressure (hypertension) is not well controlled or if you are smoking. There are other things to consider as well including psychiatric conditions, life stress, medical illness, obesity, and motivation. You should be a healthy nonsmoker, within twenty pounds of your ideal weight. Major life stresses (i.e. grieving a death and divorce) must be absent in your life. The ideal candidate is motivated by internal desires to look better. How many times can I have facial implant surgery done? When facial implant surgery is done, scar tissue is developed around the implant. I strongly discourage any sun exposure or weight gain that would damage the face. In addition, redoing the surgery may overly correct the facial contours, giving an unnatural appearance. For these reasons, I recommend that facial implant surgery only be done once or twice.
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