Chin augmentation.

The primary goal of facial aesthetic surgery is to restore, enhance, and rejuvenate the aging face to a more youthful appearance, achieving balance and harmony. The mental area must be addressed in order to have a complete synthesis of the face. The concept of augmenting the mental area with implants has evolved so significantly that it now stands by itself as an important procedure. Various autogenous implants for chin augmentation have been in use for over 100 years but have complications. The advent of synthetic materials has given rise to various types of alloplastic implants: Gore-Tex, Medpor, Supramid, Silastic, and Mersilene. No one implant is perfect for every face. This article overviews several alloplastic implants--their advantages, disadvantages, and complications, in addition to the different techniques of preparing and delivering the implants.