Dr. Buckinghams Q&A

Question:

Can I restructure my cheeks with a cheek implant? I would like higher, more pronounced cheekbones. What material do you use for the implants?

Answer:

You can provide more pronounced cheeks with implants. We utilized a silicone implant for this purpose. In most patients however we find that fat transfer is a softer effective technique for augmenting the cheeks and in most cases we will use fat transfer for this purpose.

Posted by Dr. Buckingham

Question:
I am 24 years old, female, and I would love to have beautiful, high cheek bones.  I read somewhere that cheek implants are permanent.  Is this true?  I am concerned that if for some reason I wasn’t happy with the results I would be stuck with them.

Answer:
Cheek implants are permanent if you choose to leave them in place.  However if a patient is unhappy with them they can be removed with relative ease. 

Question:
I am interested in getting implants for my cheeks. I am 28 years old and in good health. Will the incision be inside the mouth or under the chin? Is the procedure done under local anesthesia?

Answer:
Cheek implants are place through an incision inside the mouth. Chin implants are placed through an incision under the chin. The procedure for cheek implants is performed under an IV sedation and local anesthesia and takes about an hour.

Posted by Dr. Buckingham

Question:
I’ve always had very flat cheeks and have envied those with nice high cheekbones. Would implants be a good way to improve my flat cheeks? Are there any other options like fillers?

Answer:
There are several options to inflate cheeks. They include implants, fillers or autologous fat. In young patients who are looking for a large increase in cheek size an implant is a good option. For patients who are looking for a more subtle result fillers or fat are a good options. For patients who have only lost volume fillers or fat are the best options.

Posted by Dr. Buckingham

Question:
What are cheek implants made from?

Answer:
Cheek implants can be made from a variety of materials, however most commonly they are made of silicone.  There are also varieties where the bulk of the implant is silicone, but it is coated in Gortex.  This allows for a small amount of tissue ingrowth into the implant stabilizing its position.