Question:
I am a woman in my late fifties interested in cheek augmentation. I understand that the procedure is done either with an implant or with the patient’s own fat cells. Is either method superior to the other, and how would you determine which is best for me?

Answer:
Chin augmentation can be done with the either technique. We perform the procedure with either implants or fat cells or occasionally both. Usually if a patient is in need of projecting the chin more anterior in a significant way we will recommend an implant. The implant has the benefit of reliability and longevity as well as ease of insertion.  When a patient has only a prejowl deficiency or has only minimal need for augmentation of the chin then fat cells work great. The difficulty with fat cells is that the more you have to put in to one location the less percentage of the cells are likely to survive. So if you really have to add a fair bit of volume to the chin, one fat transfer may not provide as sufficient result. You can of course add more fat at a later date, but it makes more sense to just use an implant. On occasion when a person has significant need for augmentation and a soft tissue deficit, we may place an implant and then add fat to the surface to increase the soft tissue covering.

Posted by Dr. Buckingham