A Practical Surgical Technique to Expose the Mental Nerve in Narrowing Genioplasty

In this article, the authors present a practical surgical technique using the anatomical character of the inferior alveolar nerve to fully expose the mental nerve (MN) in narrowing genioplasty. During the procedure, a rectangular mandibular outer cortex adjacent to the mental foramen is removed before the osteotomy. The objective is to avoid the injury of the MN from the reciprocating saw or bur and offer abundant space for the surgical operation. The technique has a minimal learning curve and will be useful to plastic surgeons to minimize unintentional cutting or pulling injury to the MN in narrowing genioplasty.