Overview

Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought that your mid to lower cheek area appeared too full and made your face appear fat or too round?

Buccal fat are pads of fat located in the lower portion of the cheeks, in the area of the cheek hollows. The amount of buccal fat varies from person to person. This fat rarely is reduced with weight loss or exercise. For some, enlarged areas of buccal fat can create the look of chubby cheeks that may be out of place with the rest of your facial features. Buccal fat removal decreases fullness in the lower cheek by removing the fat pads between the muscle planes in the cheeks. As a result, this highlights the upper cheek for a more sculpted appearance.

30 Procedures ( View All )

12 Face & Neck Procedures

Surgical Technique

Buccal fat removal can be performed under local anesthesia or "twilight" iv sedation in our AAAHC-accredited in-office surgical suite, or if you prefer, under general anesthesia at an outpatient surgical center. There are no external scars, as we use an incision on the inside of each cheek to tease out and remove the buccal fat. Care is taken to remove enough fat to see an improvement, but not too much to make the cheeks too hollow. The surgery takes approximately 1 hour and there is very little downtime other than some swelling in the face for a few days. Most patients can return to work the next day.