how are cheek dimples created with
cosmetic surgery the influence of
celebrities in social media has made
having dimples a growing area of
interest for many of our patients they
express how much they envied siblings
who had dimples and got a lot of
attention because of possessing them
it's remarkable how passionately people
come to our practice for dimple creation
surgery also known as dimple plasti this
procedure has been increasing in
popularity and we are seeing more people
coming from around the country and world
to have this done I'll discuss how I
approached dimple surgery in my practice
I'm dr. Amiya Prasad I'm a
board-certified cosmetic surgeon and
fellowship trained oculofacial plastic
and reconstructive surgeon I've been in
practice in Manhattan and Long Island
for over 20 years
dimpleplasty is an interesting niche
we've become well-known for and we've
been featured in the media for this
procedure during a consultation for
dimpleplasty I asked the patient
questions such as why they want to have
dimples and what is it about dimples
that they think are good or desirable
after reviewing relevant medical history
and current medications I begin the
consultation by showing the patient
where a dimple would have naturally
occurred if they had been born with them
very often people think dimples are much
higher in the cheeks than they really
are
when someone is born with them there's a
particular area in the cheek that I
refer to as the sweet spot where the
anatomy would allow for a dimple to be
formed I show them where this sweet spot
is
I mark the area I have them then use
Q-tips to push in those areas pictures
are then taken with them smiling so they
have an idea of what the final results
will look like the goal of dimple
surgery is to create a natural
appearance of a connection of a muscle
between the buccinator muscle and the
skin so that when you smile you get this
nice natural-looking dimple dimple
plasti may seem like a straightforward
procedure but in fact there are many
elements that are deceptively complex
and can make it a less than predictable
procedure than a lot of other cosmetic
procedures when we create dimples
surgically we're creating a connection
through the inside of the mouth between
the buccinator muscle and the skin
of the cheek as the muscle contracts
when smiling the cheek pulls in and you
get this nice dimple shape there are a
few different techniques to get this
done and I've developed a variation of a
technique which has yielded a
consistently high rate of success some
variables that can affect outcome
include the relative thickness of the
skin the amount of fat under the skin
the elasticity of the skin and the
resilience of this muscle to skin
connection after suture placement some
technical challenges that make this
procedure not so straightforward our
people who have thicker skin and people
who have a lot of fat in the cheeks and
they tend to have a harder time getting
a really good deep dimple there's also
the chance that the dimple will not be
as deep as you like or not have the
shape that you would like there's a
limit of what can be done and there are
times when enhancement or revision is
necessary like any other cosmetic
surgical procedure it's important to
understand that initially you can expect
that the dimples will be present even
when you're not smiling
it's also common to have a different
degrees of dimple depth for the first
several months this is because we want
to make that connection between the
muscle and the skin sufficiently secure
so the dimple will be present long term
interestingly most of our patients have
no problem with the indentation
that's temporarily always visible and
have reported back to us that its
presence was not a problem in social
situations as far as aftercare is
concerned I tell my patients that since
we're working in the inside of the mouth
basic precautions to keep the mouth
clean is advised we routinely place our
patients on antibiotics and have them
use antibacterial mouthwash we also give
them specific restrictions regarding
different types of food they can have as
well as the proper temperature the food
should be in order to allow the opening
inside the mouth to heal adequately and
minimize the risk of infection
generally speaking patients can go back
to work the following day after dimple
surgery since the procedure is done
completely on the inside of the mouth
there's usually no external incision and
no stitches or anything on the outside
just the indentation of the dimple over
the course of several months the dimple
tends to soften to the point where it
appears more pronounced when smiling
there can be a subtle or not so subtle
indentation in the cheek at rest which
is often seen in people who have natural
dimples if you've been considering
dimple plasti meet with a doctor who is
highly experienced in performing dimple
surgery I always say that this procedure
is deceptively complicated because
you're working in a very small area to
create a very specific result I've been
referred patients for dimple surgery
doctors who are in positions such as
chief of plastic surgery at a major
hospital it's a niche procedure that
doesn't have anything to do with being a
better surgeon it's a matter of
experience which comes from performing
this type of surgery regularly many
acclaimed surgeons simply don't perform
dimple plasti with enough frequency to
be comfortable in performing this
procedure surgically created dimples can
be affected by facial fat and weight
changes so maintaining a healthy weight
and living a fitness focused lifestyle
is beneficial surgically created dimples
can last a long time and give you the
added impact to your smile you've always
wanted I hope you found this information
helpful thank you for your question
you
