Can A Jaw Angle Implant Pop Off After Surgery?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Hello, I’ve been interested in custom jaw implants for a long time and actually had non custom angle implants put in years back and one of them popped off when I yawned which eventually led to a hematoma in my cheek. We ended up just removing them to avoid that happening again which has scared me from getting them redone. They were not custom ones and he said the smallest ones were still pretty big for my jaw which. I’ve been a bit scared to have them redone (which if I do I’ll be going to you.) have you ever had anyone’s jaw implants pop off? I’m worried if I go there and return home, and it pops off again that you’ll be so far away. It’s the hematoma in my cheek that scared me. We did leave it in there for around 3-4 days after it popped off until he could redo them so maybe that’s why that happened?

A: Having performed over 1,000 jaw angle and jawline implants, standard and custom and for primary placement and revisions and replacements,  I have never seen any implant ‘pop off’ or develop a hematoma after surgery. So what happened exactly to you I do not know. But if popping off of the implant means it moved from its position right after surgery that is completely avoided by using screw fixation. I would go so far as to say that no jaw angle or jawline implant should be placed that is not screwed down.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon