how long do surgically created dimples last cheek dimple surgery also called
dimpleplasty has continued to be a growing area of interest for people who
come to my practice specifically for this procedure from throughout the
United States and occasionally from outside our country this is a do
probably in part to my own initiative many years ago to improve the surgery
which had not been updated for decades since the first publication of a
technique in the medical literature a common concern for people in having
cheek dimples is in the longevity of the dimple placement I'll discuss how I
perform dimple plasti for my patients and the factors that affect the
longevity of surgically created dimples 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 the New York City and Long
Island area for over 25 years much of my practice is focused on addressing facial
aging such as cosmetic eyelid surgery facelift surgery skin rejuvenation with
lasers and PRP as well as filler treatments I also developed TrichoStem
Hair Regeneration which is now established over 10 years as a major
advance in the non-surgical treatment of male and female pattern hair loss as
mentioned earlier I also became known for dimple surgery and have been
featured in the media for this procedure naturally occurring dimples are the
result of a defect in a muscle called the buccinator muscle which results in an
indentation when the muscle contracts
this indentation or dimple is visible with certain types of facial movements
particularly when you smile so what do I do for someone who wants to have dimple
surgery the first thing I do is to take some measurements and determine by feel
where a dimple if it were to exist as if you were born with dimples would be
placed naturally I have the patient's smile while indenting the cheeks to
simulate the potential appearance of the dimples if the patient is happy with the
estimated location of the dimple and acknowledges understanding the risks and
benefits of the procedure we go ahead and move forward with performing surgery
I always explained that natural dimples can be asymmetric in terms of location
and depth I also reserve the option to use my judgement if there is any
potential for any injury to a critical local structure such as a large blood
vessel or a salivary duct and during surgery generally I performed this
procedure from the inside of the cheek and I create a connection between the
buccinator muscle and the cheek skin this results in a dimpling of the
skin and is expected to be visible even when you're not smiling for several
months afterwards there is the possibility in some situation that there
can be a dimple present without smiling even after one year this can be the
situation in some older people with a very very thin skin another important
point is if you change your mind later on or you have dimple regret that this
is a procedure which cannot always be undone that is to say that releasing the
connection which was made during surgery may not be enough to fully restore your
preoperative appearance the longevity of the dimple is most effected by the
patient's skin thickness and elasticity the term skin thickness is in the
context includes the amount of fat to the skin this means that facial
weight gain can result in the dimples being obscured or the connection made
during surgery can be stretched and weakened to the point that the dimple
cannot be seen generally if a dimple is present and looks good
six months after surgery it's a good sign for a long-term stability the
longevity is also affected by the age you are when you have your dimple
plastic if you think about if facial aging affects the cheekbone projection
and the layers of fat under the skin and the thickness of the skin if the dimple
becomes less visible another dimpled plastic surgery can be considered in
addition to other facial aging procedures such as filler placement the
top 3 reasons people have stated that they want dimples are as follows number
one they had a sibling or siblings who had dimples who when they were growing
up got a disproportionate amount of
attention number two they feel a dimple or dimples make their face look slimmer
or more angular and number three they love the way dimples look on a specific
celebrity or several celebrities in fact I have numerous medical colleagues who
perform all aspects of cosmetic surgery who actually referred their patients who
request dimples to me my explanation for this is that although dimple plasti
looks like it should be simple and straightforward in reality dimple plasti
is a surprisingly complex procedure to perform with predictable consistent
accuracy it's important for you to be confident in your decision and in who
you select to perform your dimpleplasty surgery I hope you found this
information helpful thank you for your question
you