Jaw implants are generally safe when performed by an experienced surgeon, but they carry real risks that vary depending on the material used, how the implant is secured, and your individual anatomy. The overall infection rate for silicone chin implants, the most common type, is estimated at just 0.7%. More frequent concerns include implant displacement, bone changes underneath the implant over time, and temporary numbness. Understanding these risks in detail can help you weigh whether the procedure makes sense for you.
What Jaw Implants Are Made Of
Several materials are used for facial implants today, and each has a different safety profile. The most common options include solid silicone, high-density porous polyethylene (sold under the brand MedPor), titanium, and a newer material called PEEK. Less frequently, surgeons use methyl methacrylate or hydroxyapatite.
Solid silicone is the most widely used. It’s soft, easy to carve or shape during surgery, and simple to remove if something goes wrong. The FDA classifies silicone facial implants as Class II medical devices, meaning they’ve been cleared through the 510(k) process for use in cosmetic augmentation of the chin, cheeks, and jawline. The tradeoff is that silicone doesn’t bond to your bone tissue. It sits on top of it, which makes displacement possible if the implant isn’t mechanically fixed in place.
PEEK is gaining popularity because its flexibility closely matches that of natural cortical bone. It’s also nonallergenic, nonmagnetic, and carries a lower infection risk than methyl methacrylate. Methyl methacrylate, by contrast, generates heat as it hardens during surgery and has a higher infection rate, making it a less favorable choice for many surgeons today.
The Most Common Complications
A study of 98 patients who received silicone facial implants found that 25 developed complications requiring revision surgery. Among those who needed revisions, the breakdown looked like this:
- Bone resorption: 36% of revision cases. The bone underneath the implant gradually erodes over time.
- Patient dissatisfaction: 28%. The aesthetic result didn’t match expectations.
- Displacement: 12%. The implant shifted from its original position.
- Combined bone resorption and displacement: 12%.
Bone resorption is the most discussed long-term risk. When an implant sits on top of bone and applies constant pressure, the bone slowly reshapes underneath it. This happens with both fixed and unfixed implants, though the difference is dramatic: non-fixed silicone chin implants are associated with about 18.25% bone loss, compared to only 1% in implants that are screwed into the bone. This is one of the strongest arguments for choosing a surgeon who uses rigid fixation with screws rather than simply placing the implant in a pocket.
Nerve Injury and Numbness
Your lower jaw contains a nerve that runs through the bone and provides sensation to your lower lip, chin, and gums. Implant placement near this nerve can cause numbness or tingling, a condition called paresthesia. Reported rates of nerve injury related to mandibular implant procedures range widely, from under 1% to as high as 40%, depending on the type of procedure and the surgeon’s experience.
Most nerve injuries are temporary. Sensation typically returns over weeks to months as the nerve heals. If numbness persists beyond six months, it’s generally considered permanent. The risk is highest when the implant is placed close to where the nerve exits the bone, which is why precise surgical planning and imaging beforehand matter so much.
How the Surgery Is Performed
Surgeons access the jawbone through one of two routes: an incision inside the mouth (intraoral) or a small incision under the chin (extraoral). The intraoral approach is far more popular because it leaves no visible scar. The extraoral approach, while sometimes preferred for certain implant positions, leaves a small scar on the underside of the chin.
For intraoral procedures, surgeons make a horizontal, vertical, U-shaped, or V-shaped cut inside the lower lip to create a pocket along the jawbone. Because the inside of your mouth isn’t sterile, you’ll take antibiotics afterward and use an antiseptic rinse several times a day. In a study of 122 patients who received chin implants through an intraoral approach, none developed infections, delayed wound healing, implant deviation, or lasting lower lip numbness. Swelling in those patients subsided within two weeks.
What Recovery Looks Like
The first week is the most restrictive. You’ll eat a liquid or soft-food diet while the incision inside your mouth heals, and your chin may be taped or bandaged for three to five days to keep the implant in position. Stitches come out about a week after surgery.
Swelling is significant and can take several months to fully resolve, which means your final results won’t be visible right away. Most people find the first two weeks the hardest in terms of discomfort and visible puffiness. Returning to work within one to two weeks is typical for people with desk jobs, though strenuous exercise needs to wait longer.
Who Should Avoid Jaw Implants
Not everyone is a good candidate. Surgeons generally won’t perform the procedure if you have an active infection in the area, your facial skeleton hasn’t finished growing (typically before your early twenties), or you don’t have enough bone or soft tissue to support an implant. People with skeletal discrepancies that affect their bite are usually better served by orthognathic surgery, which repositions the actual bone rather than adding material on top of it.
One less obvious risk factor involves the mentalis muscle, the small muscle at the front of your chin that you use when you pucker your lower lip. If this muscle is already working hard to compensate for a weak chin, it can apply extra pressure on a chin implant after placement, increasing the chance of displacement or bone erosion over time. A surgeon should evaluate your muscle activity and bite alignment before recommending an implant over other options.
When Implants Need to Be Removed or Revised
Revision surgery is not uncommon. In the study of patients who developed complications, every one of them underwent a second procedure. The options included removing the silicone implant and performing a bone-repositioning surgery (28%), placing a custom-made implant to replace the original (28%), orthognathic surgery (16%), or simply repositioning and re-fixing the existing implant (4%).
Displacement specifically occurred in cases where the implant was not rigidly fixed to the bone. This reinforces a key point: how the implant is secured matters as much as the material itself. If you’re considering jaw implants, asking your surgeon whether they use screw fixation is one of the most important questions you can raise. The difference between a fixed and unfixed implant can mean the difference between 1% and 18% bone loss, and it significantly reduces the chance you’ll need a second surgery down the line.