A woman preparing for dimple plastic surgery.
Plastic surgery for dimples is an option for anyone who wants to create this facial feature. The surgical procedure is relatively simple and involves mimicking the cheek muscle attributes present in naturally formed dimples. People with dimples have a mild deformity of the cheek muscle, usually genetically inherited, in which the skin covering this muscle defect adheres to the connective tissue below, creating a small depression in the cheek. This depression is usually more prominent when the dimpled person is smiling. Many find this facial feature attractive, hence the advent of cosmetic surgery for dimples.
A boy with dimples.
The process of surgically creating a dimple is non-invasive and can usually be done in less than an hour. The surgeon makes a small incision on the inside of the cheek, through the mouth. Using this method, there is no risk of leaving scars on the outside of the face. A suture is used to pull a small piece of the outer skin of the cheek inward, creating the effect of a dimple.
Most surgeons use a dissolvable suture during the procedure. The scar tissue created from the procedure allows the dimple created to remain after the sutures are removed. As with natural dimples, cosmetic dimple surgery gives the patient dimples only when smiling. The risks are minimal and the surgery involves only local anesthesia. The procedure can also be easily reversed if the patient does not like the end result.
Recovery time from cosmetic surgery for dimples is short, usually one to two days. Dimples can appear on other parts of the body, such as the chin, but cosmetic surgery for dimples is most often done on the cheeks. If a chin dimple is desired, the surgeon may use a procedure similar to creating a cheek dimple. Cheek dimples can be created in any size and anywhere on the cheek. If large dimples are desired, an entire section of cheek tissue may be removed to accommodate a deeper dimple.
Some opt for cosmetic surgery for dimples, usually chin dimples, to remove the feature rather than add it. This surgical procedure involves removing the connection between the outer skin and the underlying muscle or tissue deformity on the chin. The surgeon often adds filler, such as fat, to the dimpled area of the chin to ensure that the patient’s outward appearance is smooth and dimpl-free. As with cheek dimple surgery, incisions for chin dimple surgery are made from inside the mouth to avoid visible scarring.