Facial Implants in West Palm Beach, FL

Facial Implants in West Palm Beach, FL is performed by Dr. Albert Carlotti at BellaNova Cosmetic Surgery's state-registered Level III surgical center at 1261 S Congress Ave in West Palm Beach.

Facial shape comes from the skeleton. Soft tissue drapes over it, ages on it and can be repositioned across it, but the underlying architecture determines where the light falls — the cheekbone, the orbital rim, the mandibular border, the chin.

The face also loses bone with age. The orbital rims widen, the maxilla resorbs and rotates, the mandibular angle blunts. Restoring soft tissue over a skeleton that has lost projection produces a fuller face rather than a younger one, which is a large part of why heavy volumizing can add years rather than remove them.

Am I a candidate for facial implants?

Facial implants are used to:

• Restore or create cheekbone projection where the midface is flat or has resorbed
• Correct a deficient or retruded chin
• Define the mandibular angle and jawline border
• Address congenital asymmetry or post-traumatic deficiency
• Provide a stable platform beneath a facelift, where a lift alone would reposition tissue onto inadequate support

Not every deficiency needs an implant. Where the discrepancy is one of jaw position rather than contour, orthognathic surgery is the correct operation. Where a modest, reversible change is wanted, fat grafting or filler may be reasonable.

Stock, custom and the choice between them

Stock implants come in standardized shapes and sizes in silicone or porous polyethylene. They are well proven, cost less and work well for straightforward chin and cheek augmentation. Their limitation is that a standardized shape must be adapted to bone it was not designed for, which is where visible edges, asymmetry and rotation come from.

Custom implants are designed from your own CT scan against a three-dimensional model of your skeleton. They seat in one position, follow your bony contour precisely and deliver the exact dimensional change planned. See custom jawline implants for the full process.

Placement. Most implants are placed through intra-oral incisions, leaving no external scar. Some cheek implants are placed through a lower eyelid or intra-oral approach depending on the position required. Every implant is fixed to bone with titanium screws — unfixed implants are the ones that rotate and become asymmetric, and screw fixation is not optional in Dr. Carlotti's practice.

Combining with a lift. Implants and facelifts are complementary rather than alternative. A lift moves tissue that has descended; an implant rebuilds the platform it descends over. Performing both in one operation is common and is often what separates a good result from an excellent one in an older patient.

Recovery timeline

Every recovery is individual. This is the pattern most patients follow, and you will receive a written plan specific to your procedure.

When	What to expect
Days 1–5	Swelling peaks around day three. Soft diet if placed intra-orally. Antiseptic rinses.
Days 7–10	Sutures dissolve or are removed. Most patients return to desk work.
Weeks 3–4	Exercise resumed on clearance. Numbness in the distribution of nearby sensory nerves is expected and improving.
Weeks 6–12	Most swelling resolved; contour becoming clear.
Months 4–6	Final result.

Risks and considerations

Risks include infection (the principal reason for removal, and higher with intra-oral access), malposition or rotation, palpable or visible edges in thin tissue, altered sensation from nearby sensory nerves, asymmetry, bone resorption beneath the implant over many years, extrusion, and the need for revision or removal.

Cost and financing

Stock implants are less expensive than custom. Custom implant cost includes imaging, virtual design and single-patient manufacture. Implants are frequently combined with other facial surgery, which shares anesthesia and facility cost. See cost and financing.

Before and after results

Dr. Carlotti maintains a photographic result archive organized by procedure — real patients, consistent lighting and angles, published with consent. View facial implants before and after photographs.

Facial Implants: questions patients ask