Can Bone Cement Be Used As Cheek Implant?

Dr. Placik put it perfectly when he said bone cement is "far down the list of choices" in terms of cheek augmentation........ very far.  There are so many alternatives available from volumizers such as Sculptra, to more permanent solutions such as cheek implants, that PMMA (bone cement) would never be considered in a discussion on cheek augmentation. PMMA works well for skull defects, in facial trauma, in Neurosurgery, but would be considered highly unpredictable in facial aesthetic surgery.

Generally bone cement, which is rarely used in orthopedic surgery, is composed of a poly methylmetacrylate. It is occasionally used to fill skull defects. Therefore, it could theoretically be used. However, it is extremely difficult to handle and would be far down on the list of choices. Clearly the most common material is silicone followed by porous polyethylene (medpor), with a vairety of other implants such as PTFE (Gortex) or Polypropylene mesh.

You may want to first consider an injectable filler as an option.

There are several types of products which may be considered "bone cement," so it is unclear what product your patient had.  My advice would be to make sure you are seeing a board-certified surgeon with experience in facial implant surgery and let them do whatever it is they typically do.  Forcing a surgeon to use a different product or technique than they normally do can lead to problems.  Good luck.