Facial Implants and Fillers

Overview

Facial implants are specially formed solid materials that are compatible with human tissues and are intended to improve or increase the physical structure of your face.

The exact type and size of facial implants that are most suited for you require an assessment of your goals, the traits you desire to improve, and your surgeon's expertise. While implants may be placed in any part of your face, the cheeks, chin, forehead, and jaw are the most commonly used. Plastic surgery with facial implants may be beneficial if you are disturbed by a tiny chin, a weak jaw, or a lack of facial shape.

Facial fillers are chemicals injected into the skin to smooth and conceal wrinkles. Injection of a face filler is often performed as an outpatient treatment using numbing drugs. The operation might take up to an hour to complete.

For up to a week, you may have slight pain, bruising, and swelling. After the swelling has subsided, you may require a touch-up injection for the best results. The duration of the impact is determined on the type of wrinkle and filler used, among other things.

People with impaired immune systems or who use blood-thinning drugs (anticoagulants) should avoid using facial fillers or soft tissue fillers.

What's Facial Implant?

While fillers are a great approach to try with a new and enhanced look, implants are an alternative if you want long-lasting, effective results. Implants are custom-made solid materials that are utilized to add symmetry and balance to the face, namely the cheeks, chin, and jaw, and are the surgical approach for significant modifications in your facial structure.

Cheek implants make the breadth of the cheeks look wider, chin implants make the chin larger and more protruding, and jaw implants expand the bottom part of the face. In the previous two decades, male cheek augmentation has increased by 126%.

Custom-designed face implants can be implanted through incisions in the facial tissue during implant surgery. For protection throughout the healing period, these incisions might be wrapped or taped. Scars at the incisions will be hardly noticeable with good care and can be easily concealed with cosmetics. Many chin implant operations, for example, leave scars inside the mouth that are not visible following surgery.

Advances in 3D printing have enabled the majority of the work to be completed prior to surgery. A 3D model of the patient's skull and face bone structure is uploaded to a computer and used as a thorough reference guide by the surgeon. This significantly decreases surgery time, while advances in 3D scanning enable the patient to be more closely involved in the entire reconstructive process.

3D printing has also enabled hyper-customization to suit implants, resulting in minimum problems and a very high satisfaction rate.

Chin and jaw implants are extremely long-lasting devices that are meant to last a lifetime. While the natural aging process impacts look in many ways, an improved contour will not. A facial trauma might cause damage to an implant, necessitating further surgery to replace it.

What's Facial Filler?

Facial fillers, also known as dermal fillers, are used to reduce the look of moderate to severe wrinkles and to provide youthful fullness to the face in order to eradicate symptoms of aging. Smile lines around the nose and mouth, marionette lines at the corners of the lips, frown lines between the eyes, and fine lines around the mouth are the most commonly treated regions with fillers.

In contrast to Botox, which lowers wrinkle-causing muscle activity, facial fillers stimulate collagen development in the face while providing definition to lift the skin. Fillers fight collagen loss while giving your skin a firm, youthful, and hydrated appearance.

There is no perfect filler, and each is utilized for different regions of the face, skin types, and indications. Collagen fillers like Zyderm®, Cosmoderm®, and Restylane Fine Line® are all designed to treat minor or shallow wrinkles and scars and can be very successful in smoothing delicate frown and smile lines and helping to cure specific types of acne scarring.

Restylane® and Juvederm® hyaluronic acid fillers naturally hydrate the skin by attracting water molecules and serving as a cushioning agent by holding in water, giving the skin a smoother, healthier look.

Juvederm® Ultra Plus, Perlane®, Sculptra®, and Radiesse® are thicker fillers that are excellent for volume enhancement and treating regions of the face that need plumping up through fat and dermal-fat transfer.

Fillers provide instant effects, do not require surgery or anesthesia, and are both safe and cost-effective. The effects fade off after around 12 to 24 months and are frequently used as a trial technique for face enhancements. Periodic re-treatment is frequently required to preserve results.

Types of Facial Implant

1. Chin implants:

A well-defined jawline structure is the basis of a balanced and appealing male or female face. A qualified cosmetic surgeon can give strength to a weak or depressed chin by implanting a custom-fit chin implant, enhancing facial harmony. Continue reading to find out more.

Chin implants can enlarge and project a chin that is out of proportion with the forehead and mid-face. A little or recessed chin is one that appears to vanish into the neck of a normal-weight person rather than standing out as a distinguishing facial feature.

Chin enhancement surgery, also known as genioplasty, enhances chin, neck, and jawline features. Typically, surgery entails placing an implant around a patient's existing chin bone in order to increase the size and form of the chin and establish a more naturally beautiful balance of facial characteristics. Chin enlargement, when performed by a trained, experienced cosmetic surgeon, can give a lasting remedy to a weak or depressed chin.

2. Jaw implants:

Jaw implants make the lowest portion of your face wider. A weak jaw, like the chin, is one that is not strongly defined and distinct from the neck, or one that slopes rather than angles from the ear to the chin. Both the chin and the jaw might contribute to facial asymmetry in some circumstances.

By increasing the mandibular body, angle, and ramus, implants can reinforce the jawline and provide a more symmetrical facial shape. This technique can assist a wide range of patients, including those with normal, defective, or surgically changed anatomy.

Most patients who want mandible augmentation have lower face horizontal dimensions that are normal in relation to the upper and middle thirds of the face. These patients, who are mainly men, consider a broader lower face to be attractive. This group benefits from implants that augment the ramus and posterior body of the jaw, increasing the bigonial distance (the distance between the mandible angles). Other patients want the mandibular boundary to be more defined and angular. This can be accomplished with implants that enhance the front mandible all the way back to the ramus.

3. Cheek implants:

Cheek augmentation using cheek implants is an option for people who want to regain face fullness lost with aging or just desire more pronounced cheekbones. The ideal candidate is old enough that the head and skull are no longer developing (maturity is generally attained by late adolescence), in good overall health, does not smoke, and has realistic surgical goals.

Cheek implants are classified into three types: malar, submalar, and malar/submalar combination. Malar implants are inserted immediately on top of the cheekbones to increase their projection. Submalar implants are put in the midface, right below the cheekbones, to give fullness to a sunken or gaunt face. Both the cheekbones and the midface are augmented using malar/submalar-combination implants. Although solid silicone is the most often utilized material for cheek implants, high-density porous polyethylene and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene are also employed.

Who's a Candidate?

Now that you understand the fundamental distinctions between these two types of face augmentation procedures, you should be able to choose the best choice depending on your objectives, availability for downtime, and overall health. Here's a short rundown of the top candidates for each treatment.

Those who desire a more permanent approach for boosting their face characteristics are good candidates for implants.
Those who do not want to go through the operation again.
Those who are willing to undergo surgery and the attendant recuperation period.
Those who are in good enough health to have surgery.
Those concerned about age-related volume loss are good candidates for fillers.
Those who don’t want to undergo surgery and its associated downtime.
Those who want to restore lost volume in the cheeks rather than add more volume.
Those who are willing to undergo (or have the time) for touch-up treatments to maintain results.
Those who are not fit or have medical conditions (e.g. Uncontrolled DM, hypertension) that make them unsuitable for surgery.

Contraindications

A history of severe allergy or anaphylaxis, bleeding problems, and hypersensitivity to one of the product's components are all general contraindications. For example, Hylaform should not be used in individuals who are allergic to avian products or eggs, and anybody who is sensitive to gram-positive bacteria proteins should avoid injection with bacterial-derived hyaluronic acid products. Before injecting bovine-derived fillers, a skin test must be done (bovine collagen and Bellafill).

Other related contraindications include recent use of aspirin, NSAIDs, or herbal supplements known to impact coagulation and hemostasis.

Before Having Facial Implant/Filler

Facial implant surgery is a highly personalized medical technique that may not be appropriate for everyone. Before making any decisions, consult with your doctor.

Before deciding on face implant surgery, keep the following points in mind:

Silicone is used in the manufacture of several face implants. Concerns have been raised concerning the safety of silicone implants, yet there is now no conclusive scientific proof that silicone is detrimental.
Consider the financial implications. Cosmetic surgery is often not eligible for Medicare or private health insurance company rebates.
Inquire with your doctor about any out-of-pocket expenses you may incur and whether you are eligible for a refund.
Smokers are more likely to develop complications. To reduce the likelihood of these issues and to improve your overall health and well-being, attempt to quit smoking before undergoing surgery.
Consider seeking a second opinion from another medical professional. Before opting to get face implant surgery, it is critical to gather as much information as possible.

Facial Fillers Vs Implants

Cost: Fillers cost between $1000 and $3000, while face implants might cost between $2400 and $5000.
Time: Filler injections typically take five to thirty minutes per location, but most face implant operations take thirty minutes to two hours and may require general or local anesthesia.
Construction: Dermal fillers are injections that add volume to critical places beneath the skin and improve face features and shape. They typically last 12 to 24 months. Implants are materials that a surgeon inserts into a pocket created within the face tissue.
Materials: Fillers, which are comprised of collagen, hyaluronic acid, or fat grafts, are injected into regions of the face to provide definition. Silicone, Teflon, Dacron, or newer biological inserts compatible with human tissues are used to make implants.
Type of surgeon: Fillers need intricate face sculpting skills, and implant surgery requires a skilled plastic surgeon with a love for aiding patients.

Which's Better?

In the plastic surgery business, face augmentation may be accomplished through a variety of techniques. Dermal fillers and facial implants are two of the most often utilized treatments for altering facial appearance. While fillers provide good temporary results, facial implants have various benefits that may make them a better choice for cosmetic augmentation.

Facial Implants Produce Long Lasting Outcome:

Face fillers require repeated procedures to preserve their benefits, whereas facial implants give long-term results. A single surgical operation is used to introduce the implant(s) into the appropriate area(s) of the face, following which the implant(s) will augment the facial structure for the foreseeable future. Patients do not need to return for subsequent treatments and may enjoy their long-term improved look.

Facial Implants Provide Augmentation of the Facial Structure:

Facial implants improve the skeletal structure of the face, as opposed to fillers, which enhance the face by filling up the skin. Facial implants can drastically enhance the look and contour of the face by addressing the underlying skeletal structure. Furthermore, only face implants can correct a weak chin, ill-defined cheeks, or other similar abnormalities.

Implants Provide Balance Between The Facial Features:

Some people's facial characteristics look out of proportion. A receding chin with a large nose is a frequent occurrence. Face implants can restore facial harmony by putting them into appropriate alignment with one another. Inserting chin implants, cheek implants, or jaw angle implants can improve facial harmony by augmenting regions that were previously weak. Many people who want rhinoplasty might benefit from a chin implant to create a more beautiful facial profile.

Implants Improve Facial Definition:

An attractive face is well-defined, with clear lines distinguishing the features from each other. In particular, the jawline, cheeks, and chin should all have strong angles, lines, and curves. Some individuals lack this natural facial definition or lose it as they age. Facial implants can improve facial definition and balance by creating attractive shapes and angles to highlight your facial contours.

Recovery Time

Because implants need surgery, you will be sedated prior to the operation. A tiny incision is performed beneath the chin or within the mouth for chin augmentation. I will make space for the chin implant and put it around your chin bone through this incision. In the case of cheek augmentation, I normally create a tiny incision within your mouth to accommodate the right size and form of the implant. The implant will be correctly positioned into the pocket and stabilized to prevent movement. Expect to feel bruised and swollen for the first 5-7 days after these operations. You should be able to return to work within five days of your operation.

For dermal fillers, a topical anesthetic will be applied to the treatment area. Next, a tiny needle or micro-cannula will be used to deliver precise volumes of dermal filler in the targeted areas of the chin, cheeks, or jawline. The dermal filler also contains a small amount of lidocaine, which reduces any discomfort during and after the procedure. The entire injectable procedure can be performed less than an hour, and you can immediately return to your normal activities. You may have very little swelling and bruising after your treatment, which is temporary.

Conclusion

Facial implants are usually constructed of silicone or other solid materials that are compatible with human flesh, and they are intended to be permanent modifications to the underlying facial structure. They are surgically implanted in order to improve or augment a certain physical structure on your face.

A cheek implant may give you a "high cheekbone" appearance and a well-defined jawline, whereas a chin implant can correct a depressed chin and restore harmony and proportion to the face. Only use silicone implants since they are the simplest to shape exactly, are long-lasting and sturdy, and can be readily removed if necessary.

While fillers can improve face contours mildly to moderately, implants can produce a more significant contour improvement that lasts longer. However, this does not diminish the fact that both procedures, when performed by a qualified surgeon, may give great results.