After dimpleplasty that has failed, when a dimpleplasty can be done again? (Photos)

Thank you for your question. You submitted several photos, asking how many months after undergoing dimpleplasty can the procedure be redone.
I can share with you my experience performing this procedure. A little background: I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years. I have become well-known for dimpleplasty as we’ve been featured in the media and people come to us from all over the world for dimples. I can explain this procedure, and what I do when enhancement is indicated.
The concept of dimpleplasty is to create a natural appearance where there is a connection between a muscle inside the mouth called the buccinator muscle with the skin, so when you smile, you get this nice, natural looking dimple.
It seems straightforward in concept, but not in execution as the procedure has different variations. I like to think what we do in our practice is an evolution of this procedure, and results in a pretty consistent rate of success. However, we’re working in such a small opening inside the mouth. The variables that affect outcome include relative thickness of the skin, amount of fat under the skin, elasticity of the skin and connecting the stitch between the external skin and the internal muscle to get a nice and symmetric result.
Even though it looks good in the operating room, some variables can cause the dimple to release. That could be anything from a suture not engaging the tissue or separating, swelling, or movement, so there is certainly an opportunity to enhance this procedure.
When this question comes up from our patients, I’ll examine them, and usually find the following. During the first few months, there’s still a healing process going on in the area operated. That healing process is marked by the presence of almost a nodule or hardish area that can be felt when you place your finger in the inside of the mouth, and put pressure on the outside of the cheek, so with your index finger and thumb, you can feel this little bump. Usually what I tell our patients is there is still an active healing process.
Technically, you can probably have a revision at any time, but I generally recommend doing this when swelling and inflammation related to healing are stable. As a rule of thumb, I’ll tell our patients after 3 months is probably a time it’s reasonable to do the procedure.  For people who travel, sometimes the challenges of timing can require we expedite things, but waiting around 3 months is a good rule of thumb. If there is any concern about the level of healing, inflammation, or other issues, then those concerns are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Once healing and swelling have resolved, it is relatively straightforward to go back and reattach the skin, and hopefully the dimple will work out favorably for you. I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck, and thank you for your question.This personalized video answer to your question is posted on RealSelf and on YouTube. To provide you with a personal and expert response, we use the image(s) you submitted on RealSelf in the video, but with respect to your privacy, we only show the body feature in question so you are not personally identifiable. If you prefer not to have your video question visible on YouTube, please contact us.

Dimple creation is a surgical procedure that can require a revision depending on the case.  I recommend a downtime of 3 months between surgeries.  Best of luck,Dr. Philip Solomon, Solomon Facial Plastic