LAM FACIAL PLASTICS

I know chin implants are available in various materials such as silicone, goretex, and porex. I spoke to an implant doctor who uses only porex instead of silicone. As I understood it, the arguments for porex were:

- less bone resorption
- less risk of infection
- because of tissue ingrowth, the implant is more stable and less likely to migrate
- feels more like bone
- can be carved for custom fit
- less noticeable "capsule" formation

Silicone has some advantages as well:

- much easier to remove IF an infection does occur
- easier to place in body because it is flexible
- more doctors seem to use silicone for chin implants

I was curious why you use silicone as opposed to porex or another material? My biggest worry with porex is its difficulty of removal if an infection occurs. On the other hand, I'm extremely worried about silicone causing bone resorption and eventually damaging my teeth 20 years later. I'm also worried about the capsules becoming visible over time. Scary!

yes, your fear of porex is correct. that is the #1 reason i do not do it. i would say that all implants cause bone resorption but you don't put the implant over the teeth. you put it below the dental roots in front of thick cortical bone so that even a 1 mm resorption should not be an issue. i think encapsulation of a chin implant is part of the process for silicone stability but to actually see the edges is something quite unusual. i simply cannot recall a case of seeing the silicone implant. that is not the case for silicone implants in the nose. they do become visible that is why i prefer gore-tex there. i used to do gore-tex in the chin but stopped because you tend to lose about 1 to 2 mm of projection in the chin over time due to the spongy nature of gore-tex in the chin area.