The lack of prominence about the chin may be anterior only, the broadness being sufficient, due to a lack of development of the mental process, or it may be deficient laterally with a pronounced mental prominence, giving it a sharp, protruding, or pointed appearance, or the lack of form is combined, as is commonly the case.
Such chins may be made to appear normal, and even ideal, by the subcutaneous injection method. The type of chin most favored by American men is the square angular, now so plentifully seen in pen-and-ink illustrations.
The tissue of the chin lends itself readily to the building-up process. Almost any form may be attained by the judicious employment of the method under consideration.
Fig. 302. Fig. 303.
Profile View, showing Correction of Antero-lateral Deficiency about Chin.
While it is true excellent results may be obtained with hard paraffin, used in liquefied form, it can often be shown, however, that the paraffin injected under pressure will run down in narrow, pencil-like streams underneath the chin and skin of the anterior aspect of the neck, where they may be felt afterward as hard oval cysts or of elongated form. This is not possible when the cold mixture of vaselin and paraffin is used, since the position of the mass can be easily followed with the eye or felt with the fingers.
The injections should be made from either angle at the first sitting. Enough of the mass should be introduced to leave a ridgelike formation across the anterior chin, varying in thickness according to the shape of the chin previous to operation and the form desired.