Facial Contouring Surgery with Custom Silicone Implants Based on a 3D Prototype Model and CT-Scan: A Preliminary Study
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Updated: Apr 13, 2026

Treatment of Facial Deformities using 3D Planning and Printing of Patient-Specific Implants
Published on: May 23, 2020
Hyung Woo Yim1, Anh Nguyen, Yong Kyu Kim
1Apgujeong YK Plastic Surgery Clinic, Seoul, Korea.
Background:
From perspectives of differences in anatomic and cultural characteristics from Caucasians, Asians have been considered to undergo facial bone contouring surgery of the zygoma and mandible and fat grafting in the anterior mimetic area of midface. We have sought to develop more ready-to-use methods for increasing the applicability of custom facial implants in the field of esthetic surgery.
Patients And Methods:
We performed insertion of custom silicone implants after taking a clinical history and photographs in a total of seven patients (n = 7) between March 2008 and July 2014. Our clinical series of patients comprises two men and five women, whose mean age was 41.6 ± 21.6-years old (range 23-82 years). In addition, the patients were followed up during a mean period of 11.43 ± 6.68 months (range 3-24 months). In the current study, we evaluated treatment outcomes of custom silicone implants using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in facial contouring surgery by reviewing seven cases.
Results:
There were no abnormalities of the soft tissue or bone due to the use of custom silicone implants. Moreover, we found that custom silicone implants were advantageous in predicting treatment outcomes. All the patients were satisfied with treatment outcomes.
Conclusion:
Custom silicone implants based on the PVA clay on the 3D RP model will play a prominent role in facial contouring surgery but its full potential deserves further studies.
Level Of Evidence Iv:
This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

