Skip to main content

Cheek Implants and Facial Aging

Young people have positive fat distribution in the face that contributes to a “young” look. As we age, this fat atrophies and sags and produces a hollow and aged appearance.

Aging and Facial Changes

Aging is a process of deflation and as the youthful midface fat changes position, we look drawn and aged. Young people have plentiful midface volume which decreases with age.

Figure-1-14-700x313

The above image shows three generations of the same family.  The 5 year old has maximum facial volume, the 54 year old has moderate loss of midface volume and the 80 year old has extreme midface volume loss.

Midface implants can reverse these changes. Cheek implants are a small procedure that can deliver big improvements. They are frequently used with other rejuvenation procedures such as facelift, eyelid and brow surgery, laser resurfacing, etc.When used with other procedures, the main procedures are the “cake” and the cheek implants are the “icing”. Cheek implants can also be used as a solitary procedure as they add youthful volume to the face. To illustrate the importance of cheek implants, look in the mirror and smile. Most of us look better and younger when we smile because we are elevating the sagging tissues to where they were in youth. While smiling, hold your cheeks up with your fingers and relax the smile. When you let go of the cheeks, they will droop to the jowl area. Restoring the midface volume makes us look younger for several reasons. First of all, young people have volume in their cheeks; secondly the aging midface droops and makes the younger oval face appear square as we age. By replacing the volume in the midface, the face takes on a youthful oval shape.

An additional means of seeing what you may look like with midfacial augmentation is to lie back and lift your chin while looking in mirror. The gravitational change allows the sagging cheek tissue to return to its normal position. Lying back and tilting the chin forward can simulate midface augmentation and is a means of “previewing” what cheek implants may enhance ones appearance.

Office Address

Joe Niamtu III, DMD
11319 Polo Place
Midlothian, VA 23113

Office Hours

Monday - Friday
8:00am - 5:00pm

Link to Cosmetic Facial Surgery home page
Making Virginia More Beautiful...One face at a Time
Meet Dr. JoeOnline ConsultationSchedule An AppointmentHome
Click to open and close visual accessibility options. The options include increasing font-size and color contrast.