Genioplasty Turkey

Look at the question under our heading. Your answer to it decides whether you need genioplasty in Turkey at all. If all your chin needs is a little more forward projection, a chin implant usually does the job with less surgery, and we'll tell you so. Genioplasty in Turkey makes sense when the answer involves another direction: back, up, down, or across to the middle of the face.

That's why plenty of people who enquire about genioplasty go home with an implant instead. The chin surgery overview compares the options. This page is for the cases where bone really does need to move.

What sliding genioplasty actually involves

Sliding genioplasty is the most common form, and the name describes it fairly well. Working through a cut inside the lower lip, the surgeon makes a horizontal cut through the bottom of the chin bone, below the roots of your lower teeth. That lower piece is then free to slide into its new position, where it's held with two small titanium plates and a handful of screws.

There's no scar on your face, since all of it is done from inside the mouth. Osseous genioplasty and chin bone surgery are other names for the same thing.

Planned on your scan, not by eye

Before anything is booked, we look at a CT scan of your jaw. It shows where the tooth roots sit and where the nerve supplying your lower lip exits the bone. The cut line and the exact movement, down to the millimetre, are decided from that scan and written into your plan. You get a copy, so you can see exactly what's proposed before you agree to anything.

A genioplasty planned from photographs alone is guesswork. If another clinic quotes you without imaging, it's fair to ask how they've decided what to move. If you already have a CT from a dentist or another clinic, send it, as it may save you a scan.

Chin advancement for a weak chin

Most genioplasties bring the chin forward. For a small change we'd usually suggest an implant instead. Bone is the better choice when the chin is very short, or when its shape has to change as well, and moving it forward tends to tighten the area under the chin too.

Many advancements are combined with a small change in height, because a chin that's both short and set back is common.

Chin reduction: when the chin is too big

Not everyone wants more chin. An implant can't make a chin smaller. Chin reduction surgery pushes the segment back, or takes out a thin wedge of bone to shorten it. Some chins need both.

Much of the reason genioplasty in Turkey gets chosen over an implant comes down to this. Reducing a chin with bone surgery keeps the soft tissue in a natural relationship with the bone, which looks better than shaving the front of the chin away.

A long or short lower face

Some faces look long in the lower third, others look compressed. Changing the height of the chin can rebalance that. A long chin can be shortened, as above. A short one can sometimes be lengthened by moving the segment down, occasionally with a small bone graft in the gap.

These vertical changes can't be made with an implant at all, so if your concern is about length rather than projection, bone is usually the answer.

A chin that's off-centre

This is the case that most clearly needs bone. Put an implant on a crooked chin and you get a larger crooked chin. Moving the bone itself is what centres it. Send a front-on photo for this, taken in daylight with your head level.

Genioplasty for men and women

Many men want a broader, stronger chin. A lot of the women we see want the reverse, and some come to us as part of facial feminisation surgery, where genioplasty is one of the most useful steps. Either way, the plan comes from your own scan.

The titanium plates

The plates hold the two pieces together while the bone knits, which takes six to eight weeks. Afterwards they stay put, and most people never feel them. If one does cause trouble later, it can be taken out.

After the operation

The wound is inside your lower lip, so for two to three weeks it's soft food, with a rinse after every meal.

Your lower lip will probably feel numb or tingly. The mental nerve sits just above the cut and gets stretched even when it isn't touched; it usually recovers in one to three months, though a few people keep some change. Your smile can feel stiff for a few weeks too, while the lip muscles heal.

Is genioplasty safe?

It's a well-established operation, and serious problems are uncommon. The main risk is a lasting change in feeling in the lower lip, which affects a small number of people. Infection is rare, and now and then a plate needs taking out later.

Genioplasty and age

Your face has to have finished growing. That's confirmed for each person rather than set by a birthday, but it usually means the late teens at the earliest.

Before you book

We'll ask smokers to stop for a while before and after, since smoking holds the bone back. A gum or tooth infection has to be cleared first. Braces are worth mentioning too, and if your teeth don't meet properly, jaw surgery might suit you better than a chin operation.

Genioplasty recovery

You'll have one night in hospital, then six to eight nights for genioplasty in Istanbul, with a check before you fly at about day seven. Swelling peaks around days two to four, and a scarf covers the bruising under the chin. Around the two-week mark most people feel fine about being seen. You can do light things again at two to three weeks. The bone has knitted by six to eight weeks, and the chin's shape carries on settling for about six months.

Does genioplasty hurt?

Not as much as most people fear. Expect an ache and a tight feeling for a few days, which normal painkillers cover. The numb lip actually blunts some of the soreness. Most of the discomfort comes from swelling, so a couple of extra pillows at night make a difference.

Back to work and the gym

Desk work is usually fine from about two weeks. Talking a lot can be tiring at first, because the lower lip is stiff. You can walk around from the first day or two, while the gym tends to wait until around four weeks. Contact sport has to wait until the bone has fully healed and the surgeon has checked it.

Will people notice?

Usually they notice something without being able to name it. Friends often just say you look healthier, or rested. The biggest change is often in photos, so take your own before and after pictures, always from one angle and in one kind of light, to compare later.

Is genioplasty permanent?

Yes. Once the bone has healed in its new position, there's nothing to wear out or replace, unlike an implant. Your chin then ages along with the rest of your face. If you're unhappy with the result, changing it means another operation, so it's worth taking time over the plan, and that is reflected in the price being set only after imaging.

Can it be undone?

Not in the way an implant can be taken out. The bone can be moved again in a second operation, but that's a bigger undertaking than the first. It's one more reason we plan conservatively and agree every millimetre with you beforehand, using the scan to show you exactly where the chin will end up.

Replacing an old chin implant

If you already have an implant that has slipped or never looked right, it can often come out in the same operation that reshapes the bone. Let us know what type it is and when it went in, and send any notes.

Genioplasty with rhinoplasty or liposuction

The chin and nose are judged against each other in profile, so genioplasty is often planned alongside rhinoplasty. Both can be done under one anaesthetic, though you'll need the longer genioplasty stay. If there's also fat under the chin, chin liposuction can be added in the same sitting, and the before and after difference to the jawline is often greater than either would give alone.

Genioplasty before and after photos

Front views are the place to start. The chin point should sit in the middle of the face, and the lower lip shouldn't look pulled. Side-on, the line from lip to neck should be smooth.

Ask to see before and after cases with the same movement as yours. Patient reviews are a good place to find out how long the numbness lasted.

Genioplasty cost in Turkey

Genioplasty has no fixed list price, since every movement plan is different. Your price is confirmed in writing after the CT has been reviewed. Plates, screws, anaesthesia and the hospital night are all included, and so are transfers, a translator and a year of check-ins.

The table above has prices from other countries. When comparing a genioplasty price elsewhere, find out whether the plates and the scan are included.

Genioplasty or chin implant: the cost difference

With us, a chin implant costs €4,200. Genioplasty is quoted separately and can cost more, since it's more surgery and needs a scan and a hospital night. If an implant would do the same job for you, it's the cheaper choice, and we'll say so.

Questions to ask about your genioplasty plan

Whoever you see, ask whether an implant would give the same result in your case, and what on the scan says otherwise. You should also be told how far the bone is moving, and where the cut sits relative to your tooth roots and the nerve. A surgeon planning genioplasty in Turkey or anywhere else can answer all of that from your own imaging, and if they can't, that tells you something too.