Why Chin & Jaw line fillers are a tip of the iceberg approach

Jaw line & chin fillers have become treatment of choice for men and women but these treatments alone do not provide the best outcomes for patients. They represent a tip of the iceberg approach to jaw line contouring and chin augmentation

In this article global KOL Helen Bowes discusses the multi disciplinary approach for the most skilled practitioners. That is - the many different treatment options available to patients and the multiple modalities for the treating practitioner.

Jaw line and chin fillers have become so popular amongst men and women since 2018 that manufacturers are developoing their dermal fillers around these tretment areas

Leading aesthetics manufacturer Allergan have developed the dermal filler product Juvederm Volux specifically for jaw and chin enhancement. Allergan have produced an excellent jaw and chin filler here which is capable of modeling the jaw and chin to good effect. However, there is so much more to treating these areas than dermal fillers alone.

Don't forget the submandible and submental treatment areas!

Imagine you are a patient visiting a cosmetic skin clinic. You have heard about jaw and chin fillers and you want to define these areas. Your practitioner at the clinic offers to inject dermal fillers along your jaw line and to elongate your chin. Essentially, these treatments amount to jaw definition and chin augmentation. You leave the clinic with a more prominent jaw line and your chin protrudes slightly from its norm. Your facial profile looks slightly less rounded.

Whilst these dermal filler treatments have achieved a little definition to your chin and jaw line on the facial side you will likely still have a less well defined submental region, that is the region beneath your chin (double chin or submental fat). This is known as the submental plane. It may also extend to the neck or the cervical plane. These two planes combine to give the cervico-submental angle.

Many practitioners focus only on the definition of the jaw line and chin, but the cervico-submental angle is highly significant when treating these areas and must be addressed by way of a multi modal treatment approach.

Image 1.0 showing cervico-submental angle before treatment with dermal filler (jaw and chin filler) and PDO thread jaw tightening & neck lift.

In the above image the patient has multiple concerns: the cervico-submental angle is obtuse, the chin has little prominence and the jaw line is not well defined. Many less experienced practitioners would attempt to define and contour the chin by injecting dermal filler directly in to the mantle (chin) and along the jaw line (mandible). However, this approach will do absolutely nothing to tighten or reposition the tissues beneath the jaw line and chin. Without addressing the submental and sub mandible areas the jaw line will not yield optimal results.

Why is the submental plane so important when treating the jaw and chin?

If you think about the origins of the submental tissues in relation to ageing these are fatty deposits that have repositioned or 'sagged' over time. Anti ageing medicine is about assessing what has changed or has been lost over time. If we determine that our patient has sagging tissues that are obscuring the contours of the jaw line then we should find a solution to return the patient's skin tissues and jaw line contours back to how they used to be. By placing jaw and chin filler just above the submental fat amounts to nothing more than extra tissue.

Conversely, depositing dermal filler along the mandible and mental regions for facial profiles with little or no repositioned submental fat can yield very good results. I have performed many a successful chin and jaw filler treatment for patients with less rounded facial profiles whom have little or no lax tissue and have seen many good examples from colleagues in practice too. THe key is to assess the submental tissue first, and, if it is lax and/or excessive then decide how to address it before considering jaw and chin fillers.

Assess the facial profile before deciding on chin and jaw line fillers

Dermal fillers are, by their very nature, filling materials. i.e they will add to the facial profile, not subtract from this. This is where the important decisions have to be made by the practitioner. These decisions often distinguish the inexperienced medical aesthetics practitioners from the more experienced ones.

Consider the profile of your face. If you have a round face and a poorly defined jaw line then you will likely require more jaw and chin filler than average to offset this. The danger here is that if you have a small face, especially a small rounded face then there is a much lower ceiling for adding dermal filler before the facial profile begins to look distorted. (A small face never looks pleasant with a large jaw and chin). If you are a lady then you will certainly not appreciate a heavy, masculine looking jaw line.

Limitations of chin and jaw line fillers

• dermal fillers add volume to targeted areas of the jaw line and chin
• jaw and chin definition can be improved only along the mandible (Jaw) and mental (chin) 
• The submental (double chin) and sub mandible (under jaw line) cannot be defined or contoured with dermal filler
• Lax tisue cannot be lifted or tightened
• The cervico-submental angle cannot be improved with dermal fillers

There are better ways to treat the jaw and chin than with dermal fillers alone.

Treating the whole jaw and chin with a multi disciplinary approach

Part of my approach to treating the jaw and chin is to assess all neighbouring areas. In the case study below our patient required a multi disciplinary approach. Firstly the sub mental tissue was lifted and repositioned with PDO threads. These absorbable sutures allow for repositioning and suspension of sagging tissues. The anchoring of barbed cog threads effects skin tightening from several anchor points, thus, there are many different treatment options.

How many treatment options are there with PDO threads?

In clinic I perform over 100 different treatment options with PDO threads. There are several options for the face, neck, jaw, chin, arms, legs, abdomen, ankles, knees. In fact the list is almost infinte, but it requires experience to perform this many different procedures as well as experience of assessing patients for these treatments.

Step 1: Revealing the jaw line

Application of PDO threads in the mandible and cervical plane. This will reposition the tissues to expose the natural jaw line and chin. Image 2.0 (below) shows the natural jaw line exposed after treatment.

Step 2: Addressing jowls

If after repositioning the tissues there are jowls present then further PDO threads can be inserted to tighten and lift jowls.

Step 3:  Defining the mandible and chin

With the jaw line revealed we can now assess the requirement for chin filler and possible jaw line filler.

Image 2.0 before and after PDO thread neck lift and jaw tightening with jaw line and chin filler by Helen Bowes

Results of combined PDO thread neck and jowl lift with jaw and chin fillers 

By first revealing the natural jaw line the cervico-submental angle is improved along with the mandibular angle. Injection of dermal chin filler and jaw line filler is the final stage of the treatment process.

Where can I find these treatments at your clinics?

At Skin Beautful Medical & Cosmetic Clinic Helen Bowes regularly performs jaw and chin fillers, pdo thread lift, neck lift in Exeter Bristol Milton Keynes Coventry Swansea Bournemouth Llanelli Carmarthen Daventry Warwick.

About the Author

Helen Bowes RGN BSc (Hons) NISP KOL

Helen Bowes is the owner and clinical director of Skin Beautiful Medical & Cosmetic Clinic, the UK largest single practitioner medical skin clinic. She is an industry expert Key Opinion Leader and head trainer for PDO thread lift. She has performed almost 10,000 medical aesthetic procedures to date without a single injury/complication


Skin Beautiful Medical & Cosmetic Clinic
PDO thread jowl lift - jaw tightening by Helen Bowes
PDO thread neck lift by Helen Bowes
Jaw line fillers
Chin fillers


Follow Helen Bowes on Facebook
Follow Helen Bowes on Twitter
Follow Helen Bowes on Instagram
Follow Helen Bowes on Pinterest
Follow Helen Bowes on Tumblr
Follow Helen Bowes on LinkedIn