Sliding Genioplasty Korea: Moving Bone Trades One Risk for Another, So Which Suits You? Cost, Methods and Reviews

Hello, I'm Dr. Im Young Min, Chief Director and a board-certified plastic surgeon at VERYGOOD Plastic Surgery in Seoul, and an adjunct professor of plastic surgery at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital.

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Im Young Min

Chief Director · Board-certified in Plastic Surgery

• — Ph.D. in Medicine
• — Internship and residency, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital
• — Board-certified plastic surgeon, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital

Facial contouring here falls to Dr. Park Sang Wook and me. Nerves and bone thickness are mapped on CT, and three board-certified anesthesiologists work here full time, one dedicated to every operation.

I wrote this because many people treat bone surgery as a stronger version of an implant, then choose on that belief.

A sliding genioplasty cuts the lower part of the chin bone, repositions it and fixes it with a plate and screws. It suits a chin that needs a larger or more complex change, and the usual trade is more temporary numbness for fewer implant infections.

If a doctor at home said “implant” or “jaw surgery”, send a side photo with your teeth together on WhatsApp and ask which of those words fits your chin.

The belief to drop first: a stronger chin implant

An implant sits on top of the bone and adds shape. A sliding genioplasty adds nothing to the outside of your bone: your own chin segment moves, with its muscle and blood supply still attached, and the plate holds it while it heals. That one difference explains most of what follows.

That table follows a 2025 systematic review in Aesthetic Surgery Journal Open Forum. It pooled seven studies and 1,126 patients, most of them retrospective with short follow-up, and its authors concluded that the choice should be individualized. Treat it as a guide and not as a verdict on your chin.

Sliding genioplasty vs chin implant: which method suits you?

Look at the direction your chin needs to go. An implant can push forward and widen. It can't shorten a long chin or correct much of a tilt. Moving the bone can do those things, and the same review found the soft tissue followed bone more closely than it followed an implant.

Say your chin sits slightly back, its height is fine and you've never had surgery there. I'd want you to hear about an implant, because a smaller operation may be all you need. Now say your chin is short and off to one side, or an earlier implant has caused trouble. That's where I'd start talking about the bone. Both operations can give a good result on the right chin, so I recommend the one you need and leave out the other.

For a fuller view of how chin, jaw and cheekbone plans fit together, read our checks on facial contouring beyond a clinic list. The facial contouring center on our English homepage sets out how the clinic approaches bone.

Can it shorten a long face?

In short, it can address a long lower face when the excess sits in the chin. The surgeon removes a horizontal slice of bone and fixes the segment higher, or moves it back. People who search for long-face surgery often expect this to change the whole face, but it changes only the part below the front teeth.

There's also a limit worth hearing early. A sliding genioplasty doesn't correct your bite. If your teeth don't meet properly, you need an orthodontic or oral-maxillofacial opinion, because corrective jaw surgery isn't something we offer here. A chin moved over an untreated bite problem may look better and still leave that problem in place.

The chin also changes how your nose reads from the side, so people often ask about both. If that's you, compare our notes on closed rhinoplasty, on alarplasty for a wide nose and on male rhinoplasty and when to wait before you plan one trip around several changes.

How numb could your lip get, and for how long?

Put simply, this is the question I'd want answered if it were my face. The mental nerve leaves the jaw through a small opening on each side and gives feeling to your lower lip and chin. The bone cut runs below it, close enough that the nerve is often irritated even when it isn't cut.

The 2025 review found sensory change was common after bone repositioning and mostly temporary, with about 7% to 12.5% of affected people reporting it as prolonged. Implants had fewer sensory changes overall, but infection reached about 24% in one implant series, against 0% to 5.3% after bone surgery. Reoperation was also more common with implants.

A Korean series of 588 lower-jaw contouring cases, published in 2014, gives one more reference point. Sensory deficit occurred in 6.46% of patients and 1.53% still had it at one year. Those were mixed operations from a single surgeon's practice, and only some included sliding genioplasty, so don't read the numbers as your personal odds. Eight patients in that series also asked to have the plate and screws removed.

Here's what those figures mean for your decision. If a numb patch on your lip would trouble you more than a possible second operation, that belongs in your first conversation with any surgeon.

Send your CT or any earlier operation notes on WhatsApp, if you have them, and ask how close the planned cut would sit to your nerve.

What reviews get right, and where they mislead

Reviews often say numbness is unavoidable and lasts forever. The first half is close to the mark, since sensory change is common early. The second half overstates it, because most cases in the literature resolve.

You'll also read that a bone move looks more stable than an implant. The research is less tidy: relapse was similar in the 2025 review, and some implants held up well over time.

The claim that no hardware is left behind usually isn't accurate either, since plates and screws commonly stay unless they're removed later. Ask directly what will be left in your chin.

What decides sliding genioplasty cost in Korea

People search for a figure in KRW or USD. Neither would help you here, because the plan sets the number. These factors move it:

• Direction and size of the move: forward only, or shortening and correcting asymmetry too.
• Imaging and planning: CT and any further scans.
• Added contouring: jaw corners or other work in the same operation.
• Earlier surgery: an implant to remove or scar tissue to work through.
• Anesthesia and days in Seoul: the operating time, your stay and follow-up visits.

Foreign patients here pay the same surgery fee as Korean patients, and the quote comes in writing. Ask on WhatsApp what it would cost for your case, with a side photo, and ask whether imaging and follow-up visits are included.

What the risks look like once you're home

Risks and side effects to know

Swelling, bruising, tightness and numbness around the chin and lower lip are common at first, and eating and talking may feel stiff for a while. Less often there is infection, a wound opening inside the mouth, a visible step along the jawline, asymmetry, or plate problems that need another procedure. Rarer risks include tooth root injury, significant bleeding and lasting numbness. Recovery differs from person to person.

It's generally wiser to wait or look at other options if any of these apply:

• Your bite is untreated or orthodontic treatment is still under way.
• You have active gum or tooth infection.
• You have a bleeding disorder, or you take blood thinners.
• You're pregnant or breastfeeding.
• You still have growth ahead of you, or you smoke and can't stop around surgery.

If something changes after you fly home, swelling that grows quickly or trouble breathing or swallowing means emergency care right away. See a local doctor or dentist for fever, pus, or a wound that reopens. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises getting copies of all your records before leaving, translated if needed, so a local doctor can read your CT and operation details. It also warns that complication care at home may not be covered by insurance.

The same CDC guidance says flying after surgery can raise clot risk and advises delaying air travel for 10 to 14 days after major surgeries. Ask your surgeon how that applies to your operation before you book a return date, and buy a ticket you can change.

A first message needs only one profile photo, taken in daylight with your teeth together, and you can ask before booking anything. Send it on WhatsApp along with the one question that's holding you back about sliding genioplasty Korea trips. When you come to Seoul, the surgeon examines you, reviews the CT and recommends what fits your chin.

Related pages:

• Facial Contouring surgery at VG Plastic Surgery