Buccal fat is the fat that exists between the cheekbones and the jaw bones in your face. These fat pads help to form the general shape of your face. Removing this fat is known as buccal fat removal. Below, we provide a guide to buccal fat removal.

This type of procedure has the potential to highlight the bone structure of your face. The cheekbones and the hollowed-out area between your cheeks and jawline are especially accentuated. This type of procedure is also sometimes called a cheek reduction.

Guide to Buccal Fat Removal

If you’re interested in this type of procedure, here’s a quick guide to how to go about approaching this effective and exciting type of treatment.

What Is Buccal Fat Removal?

Buccal fat refers to the fat that exists between the cheekbones and the jaw bones in your face. The exact amount of fat that this is will vary heavily from person to person. The exact shape of this fat will also vary from person to person.

Buccal fat is harmless, but for some folks, it just doesn’t fit their exact image of what they should look like. This is where buccal fat removal comes in. This procedure removes fat from one’s cheeks in order to create a more chiseled and refined appearance. This procedure is ultimately considered a type of plastic surgery.

Who Makes a Good Candidate for Buccal Fat Removal?

Many different types of people can benefit from Buccal fat removal. All it really takes is a healthy individual who wants to modify their appearance slightly. Some folks who already have a narrow face or are into their elderly years may find that they are not considered the prime candidates for this type of procedure.

In addition, Buccal fat naturally diminishes over time. This means that many people can simply wait for their own fat to diminish in order to achieve a slimmer look without resorting to surgery.

What Happens During Buccal Fat Removal?

This type of procedure can be done in both hospitals and in a healthcare provider’s office. In both cases, you’ll go home the same day. During your procedure, you can expect some of the following:

• You’ll receive a local anesthetic to numb your face in order to diminish pain. Local anesthesia won’t knock you out, so you’ll remain awake for the procedure. If you’re having more than one procedure done at the same time, you may end up receiving general anesthesia.
• Your physician will remove your buccal fat pads via small incisions on your face and subsequently close the incisions after the buccal fat pads are removed. Dissolvable sutures are placed on your incisions and should dissolve over time.

After Your Procedure

After your procedure is finished, your healthcare provider will give you some directions to care for your incisions. They may give you some things like a special mouth rinse to expedite healing and prevent further infection. You’ll be assigned a liquid diet for the first few days after your procedure. You’ll be able to gradually add soft foods to your diet as long as your provider says it’s ok.

Some of the symptoms you can expect after surgery include:

• Swelling
• Bruising
• Numbness at the incision sites

These types of symptoms should gradually fade as your body heals. The window of healing time you can expect usually takes about three weeks. The final results of your procedure may take some time to fully present themselves – some individuals have to wait several months before they see the final results.

Risks at Hand

There are some risks associated with this procedure. However, most patients should be able to undergo treatment without much trouble. Some of the risks associated with this treatment include:

• Infection at the incision site
• Numbness or sensation changes
• Asymmetry
• Injury to the facial nerves or salivary glands

As with any type of surgical procedure, it will be up to you to determine whether or not the risks outweigh the benefits in your particular case. You’ll be able to discuss with your physician the risk scenarios that you personally might be vulnerable to in your own procedure.

Relating any health concerns or issues that you might have can help your doctor understand your medical profile when you head into treatment. This can increase your overall chance of surgical success in the procedure.

Tarzana’s Best Dentist

The Smile Specialists are widely considered to be one of California’s best and most trusted dentists. If you’re interested in receiving buccal fat removal treatment, then don’t hesitate to contact our orthodontist today to set up an appointment.