Cheek implant or cheek augmentation surgery can be both reconstructive and or cosmetic. As with most elective surgeries, insurance will not cover procedures performed for cosmetic purposes. The main purpose of this surgery is to build a better profile, to emphasize the cheeks on your face.

Types of Cheek Implants

1. Solid silicone

2. Injectable implants (your own fat or fillers like Restylane)

Shapes of Implants and Placement Locations

Malar, submalar and combined are the three common shapes. The most popular is malar, which is placed directly on the cheekbone. Submalar implants are placed midface to reduce the sunken cheek look. The combined cheek implant is used to both augment the cheek bone and to enhance the mid face.

The Cheeks

Uneven facial features can give a less attractive look and might cause inferiority complex in many people. For those who are extremely conscious of their outer self and feel depressed due to their imperfect facial features; surgeries do the job for them. With a few minor changes your face can end up with a completely new and different yet attractive look.

In most of the cases, the flattened cheek is the main issue. This is because the lack of structure in cheeks, especially in the girls, can make them look more masculine. The simple solution is to enhance the volume of the cheeks that would give a more feminine and charming look.

Primarily, the job of the perfectly shaped cheeks is to balance out the eyes, cheeks and the lower face. This is why the cheeks should ideally be oval-shaped and fleshy. They should also be prominent on the face and must dwindle inwards. The ideal shape of the cheeks prevents the people from focusing on the nose.

Solution: Cheek Augmentation George Sanders, MD, plastic surgeon says, “Contouring the cheeks gives better symmetry to the face since it adds fullness and some width for a natural look”. This explains how the cheek implants can add an overall balance to your facial features by just making a few changes. The key element i.e. adding some volume in the upper part of the cheeks is what gives a chubbier yet appealing look.

Cheek augmentation can restore the youthful and cheerful look to your face that is lost over the time due to fat reduction and other weaknesses. For those who do not possess high cheekbones naturally, surgical treatments can restore the volume and definition to their cheeks. In order to restore volume and bring back the youthful contours the doctors usually suggest facial implants, fillers or fat grafting. However the major advice is to keep a balance between the current volume and the added volume so that the cheeks do not look fake.

Cheek implants

Implanting cheeks is one option that can restore youthfulness and liveliness to your face permanently. They are mostly recommended for people who want to add large volume and fullness to the face.

Materials Used

Surgeons may use a variety of materials for cheek implants, solid silicone being the most common. Other alternatives include high-density porous polyethylene and polytetrafluoroethylene. These inert substances provide better assimilation with the particular tissue and bone than solid silicon.

Shapes of Implants

 In general, there are three shapes to cheek implants; malar, submalar, and combined. Even though cheek implants generally seem to be the same, each one of these brings a different look to the face.

 Malar implants,

It is the most common shape. The implants are placed directly on the cheekbones. The outcome is extra projection of the cheekbones thus giving a higher contour to the side of the face.

Submalar implants

Unlike the malar implants they are not placed on the cheekbones. Their purpose is to enhance the mid-face, especially if the face is more flat in this area.

Combined implants

They are extended implants that are intended to enhance both the mid-face and the cheekbones.

Length of Surgery

Cheek surgery is usually performed by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, or plastic surgeon and the procedure takes between thirty minutes to one hour.

Risks of Surgery

Infection, blood clots, swelling, and implant displacement are risks associated with all implant surgeries. Please discuss all risks associated with your particular surgery with your doctor and make sure you understand and are educated for post surgery recovery to ensure no complications.

Costs of Cheek Implant Surgery

The costs include the surgeon’s fee, anesthesiology, the implant and operating room fees and they start at $2600.

The results are usually remarkable, this procedure is also preformed to bring balance to a face.