With almost no downside due to minimal recovery time and relatively low cost and a huge upside of a dramatic but widely loved look, ‘dimpleplasty’ – plastic surgery to create dimples – is growing into “the Next Big Thing.”
Selfie Culture Creates Dimple-Desire “Our selfie-driven culture is contributing to why we are getting more dimpleplasty requests,” says Atlanta’s Dr. Wright Jones, MD, creator of the dimpleplasty. He explains that millennial men and women, and the younger selfie-set in general, don’t want to look any older, “overdone and plumped.”
Why Dimples? Dimpleplasty is increasingly seen as an effective anti-aging treatment and a way to look fresh, “cute,” and approachable. A terrific example is celebrity Jennifer Garner, who “is over 40 but has an instant youthfulness that is considerably younger when she flashes her gorgeous smile,” says Dr. Jones. This trending treatment has a timeless quality as well: dimples are often seen as sexy, and some cultures consider them a sign of good fortune.
Which Celebrities Have Dimples To-Die-For?
For women, the most requested celebrity dimples are those like:
• Gabrielle Union
• Miranda Kerr
• Kate Middleton
• Jennifer Garner
Men most often request celebrity dimples like:
• Harry Styles
• Brad Pitt
• Eddie Cibrian
• Usher Designer Cleft Chins?
Some surgeons have even begun performing dimpleplasties on the chin, creating a cleft look (which coincidentally men used to have filled in!)
Patients come in requesting designer cleft chins like those of celebrities such as:
• Ben Affleck
• Patrick Dempsey
• Demi Lovato
• Fergie
• Sandra Bullock
The Dimpleplasty Procedure Dr. Jones, founder of Muse Plastic Surgery (and dimpleplasty inventor) says his first dimpleplasty came four years ago when a patient asked if he could give her dimples like his own. This lead him to research and spend a lot of time smiling and analyzing his own face. In this way, he figured out the dynamics of the facial muscles. The procedure is minimally invasive, takes just 30 minutes in the doctor’s office, and is done under local anesthesia. There are no external cuts or bandages involved. During the procedure, an incision is made inside the mouth, where a defect is created in the cheek muscle. The defect is then attached to the undersurface of the skin, so the dimples are seen when the face moves but not when it is relaxed, just like with natural dimples. Fat can be removed to further customize, deepen or contour the dimpling. Once the swelling goes down there is no visible scar or sign of the procedure.
Can You Make Yourself Develop Dimples Without Surgery?
Absolutely not! But from early on until the present day, that simple fact hasn’t stopped people from trying!
The Dimple Machine
The Dimple Machine was invented in 1936 by Isabella Gilbert of New York (It was no coincidence that this was the year the Shirley Temple movie “Dimples” came out.) The Dimple Machine was a headgear that pressed at the two sides of the face at the dimple points. Although today it regularly makes lists of “bad beauty inventions,” at the time it fueled the trendy belief that you could “make” dimples yourself with willpower and something pointy.
YouTube Videos
Just search YouTube today and you will find a shocking number of “how-to” videos that teach you how to make your own dimples. Many show how to make temporary indentations by pressing hard on the skin or working magic with makeup.
Dimple Piercings
Contemporary cheek piercing can fake or enhance the appearance of dimples by placing jewelry at the dimple site. A lesser-known alternative is micro dermal implants, which are said to avoid some of the drawbacks of cheek piercings.
Why are Some Smiles So Cute? The Reason People Have Dimples
Chin Dimples
Believe it or not, Demi Lovato and Ben Affleck’s “hot” chin dimples are the results of birth defects! Chin dimples are caused by an underlying bone cleft in the chin. The prevailing theory among scientists is that cleft chins are the result of a problem in fetal development in which the left and right sides of the chin don’t fuse together properly in the womb.
Cheek Dimples
Are They Genetic?
Yes, scientists generally agree that cheek dimples are genetic, but there is some argument as to whether having two parents with dimples guarantees that you will be born with dimples 100 percent of the time. It’s a puzzle that’s still being solved.
What Creates Them Physically?
There are two separate theories about what causes the actual dimple to form in your cheek.
1. It’s a product of shorter muscles around the mouth
2. The more popular theory: It’s a defect in a facial muscle (zygomaticus major, a large muscle in the side of your face) and the dimple forms due to a divide in the muscle, which is normally in one piece.
Natalay G. Maria 