Dr. Oz explains growing trend of chin implants

LAUER: Dr. Mehmet Oz is the host of "The Dr. Oz Show." Doc, good to see you. Good morning. Do you buy -- do you buy that this is a result of people seeing themselves on webcams? I mean, we've had mirrors for generations.

Dr. MEHMET OZ (Host, "The Dr. Oz Show"): Yeah.

LAUER: Why would a webcam suddenly make me go out and change my chin?

Dr. OZ: Well, I think it reinforces the reality that you may not be happy with your chin or yourself. But there's another factor, Matt. It's a -- and it's a big one. We always think that people with strong chins have stronger personalities, will be more effective in the workplace. And this is one of those plastic surgical trends that's not predominantly in women. It's actually in men, as well. And that actually is not a misplaced belief. It turns out that less than 10 percent of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies have weak chins.

LAUER: All right, so there's some perception issue here. If you want a stronger chin, this is surgery, after all.

Dr. OZ: Yeah.

LAUER: Any other options before you get to this step?

Dr. OZ: You have other options. There's a small little muscle called a platysma. People can exercise it. It's not that effective. But you sort

of......do this. Not very attractive either to do that.

LAUER: Do that in the comfort of your own home.

Dr. OZ: Exactly, when no one's watching.

LAUER: Right.

Dr. OZ: Good posture helps. And it turns out that, ironically, weight loss is probably the most effective technique. But if you want to avoid surgery of all, something called ultherapy -- it's a ultrasound therapy -- being done a lot. It's a half-hour office procedure, no cutting. And we've actually featured it on the show. It's very effective.

LAUER: All right. You showed me something -- I'm going to make you make a funny face again here -- but if you want to know just how big a chin or more prominent chin you can get, you can show yourself.

Dr. OZ: So this gets back to who this works for and who it won't work for, and this will predict complications. The most important test -- and everyone can do this at home right now and, Matt , you and I will do it -- is stick your chin out as far as you can. Right. That's as far forward as your chin will

look if you implant a little....

LAUER: But isn't that more about your jawbone than your chin?

Dr. OZ: We're just mimicking how far out the chin can go.

LAUER: Oh, OK.

Dr. OZ: This is not actually what you're going to look like. But if you implant the device that's larger than that in an attempt to get more augmentation, then you're much more likely to have erosion, which is a destruction of the skin. Also increases the chance of infections. And that's the major complication of the operation, that you get an infection. It's about 5 to 7 percent chance.

LAUER: All right, so what questions should people be asking themselves before they say, 'OK, I'm going under the knife just so that I can have a more prominent chin'?

Dr. OZ: This a big issue, not just for chin implants, but for any surgery. First off, are they board-certified. In this case, of course, you want a board certified plastic surgeon. Make sure they can actually put this -- the product into a person in a hospital. They're going to do it in their office -- I know that -- but if a hospital lets them do it, it means they're really good at it. Secondly, how many do they do? They should be doing dozens of them. Find out who their patients are and actually talk to those patients. You get references from other people, you're going to hire a contractor. Get references from your surgeons as well.

And finally, you got to ask that soul-searching question: Am I happy and I'm doing this because I want to be happier, or is this going to make me happy? Because the latter is not a good way to go.

LAUER: Yeah, a lot of plastic surgeons are really good about talking to patients and saying, 'By the way, this will give you a more prominent chin. This will not make you happier, this will not make you funnier at parties...'

Dr. OZ: No.

LAUER: '...the life of the party , socially more active,' things like that.

Dr. OZ: And I think that's the big takeaway message. If you -- if you want to get this procedure done, make sure in your heart of hearts you're doing it because there's the compelling reason. And I don't want to, you know, discount the value of a strong chin in the workplace. The story we just heard of and many others that I've heard of recently augment that reality. People with strong chins are perceived as better. In fact, the heads of major companies who don't have strong chins often started those companies. No one had to hire them; they took the business themselves.

LAUER: And two other procedures on the rise, apparently lip augmentation and cheekbone augmentation.

Dr. OZ: If I can give you some numbers, those have increased maybe 50 percent, 70 percent increase. And this procedure, Matt , has been around since you and I were born. So in the last year there's been a massive shift in perception.