Cheek implants: To secure or not secure?

Question

Is there a higher risk of migration and/or infection when a cheek implant is placed without securing it with screws? Will just the pocket created, with the resulting scar tissue be enough to keep the implant in place?

Barry L. Eppley, MD, DMD · Answer

Whether cheek implants are secured in placed by a screw is a matter of surgeon preference. However, the most assured way to know that a cheek implant will never move from its placed position is to secure it to the bone with a self-tapping 1.5mm screw. This takes less than a minute to do and has a very low cost.

William Portuese, MD · Answer

There is no general consensus whether to  screw in cheek implants to the bone. We make a precise pocket to place the implant in directly over the bone through intra-oral approach.  The implants generally stay in the position where they were placed once the scar tissue capsule forms around them

Richard W. Fleming, MD (retired) · Answer

I have been dong cheek implants for many years and never found it necessary to secure them with screws. Every surgeon has their own technique.

Cheek implants: To secure or not secure?

Answers (3)