A custom-made nasal implant: prefabrication from curing of silicone adhesive

Abstract

When nasal augmentation is performed with implants fashioned from a piece of solid silicone block or commercially available prefabricated implants, the precise sculpturing of the ventral surface of the implant in order to conform to the convex contour of the nose is often difficult to achieve, increasing the possibility for malposition and extrusion. We devised two methods of making soft silicone elastomer implants from nasal cast models obtained from alginate impressions of patients' noses: type I, in which the implant is made from the curing of silicone adhesive that is spread on both sides of the sheet blueprint placed on the cast model, and type II, in which the implant is made only from the curing of silicone adhesive. Because these custom-made implants have a ventral surface of exact concave contour conforming to the convex surface of the nasal framework, they blend in nicely with the various configurations of the existing nasal framework and thus minimize malposition and extrusion. These implants also avoid having a prototype nose for everyone and are more cost-effective than commercially available implants.