Would buccal fat removal help to improve the heaviness of my lower face?

Thank you for your question. This could definitely be an option for you! Buccal fat removal and manipulation can be a great adjunct procedure my in eyes. Often times fat transfer in conjunction with this procedure is able to give a more “ideal” heart shaped face. This can make a big difference in patients as a combo. It may seem counter intuitive to add fat when you say your problem is fat cheeks. What we do is add fat around the cheeks to the side of the highest and most projected point of the cheek bone and taper it to the lower face. This helps to camouflage overly chubby cheeks.  This is especially helpful in thin women and in combination with buccal fat pad removal is a powerful maneuver. All of this can be done in clinic with some calming medications and local anesthesia.
I recommend getting a consult with a surgeon who does this procedure frequently to get a full facial analysis to make sure your specific goals are addressed.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck.
DrC

A buccal fat removal procedure can provide slimming in the lower face, in the lower anterior cheek region specifically. It can also help create more definition in the lower face depending on the overall bone and underlying tissue structure of the face. Based on your photos, it is possible that you are a suitable candidate for this procedure and benefit from it in the manner you seek. It is best to consult a board certified facial plastic surgeon in person and discuss your goals and options after a physical examination.Hope this helps,Ali Rıza Öreroğlu, MD FEBOPRASEuropean and Turkish Board Certified Aesthetic, Plastic and Reconstructive SurgeonIstanbul, Turkey

Dear SerenaHeart, Thank you for your question. Buccal fat removal would certainly give you more contouring to the cheeks, but I do not think it will improve the heaviness to the lower face. I would recommend that you proceed with buccal fat removal, lower cheek liposuction and cheek augmentation with fillers to provide improvement in your profile and lower face. I would recommend that you seek consultation with an experienced facial plastic surgeon. Let us know if you have any further questions or concerns. Good luck! P. Daniel Ward, MD. 

Great question! The best way to think of buccal fat reduction is to realize where it creates shadows and improves contours.  If you gently suck your cheeks in just slightly, such that the inner lining of your cheeks barely touches your teeth, you'll have a decent idea of what it can do and what contour you can achieve.  Maximizing that result really comes from having a well defined jawline as well as prominent cheek bones - i.e. highlights above and below the contour of the buccal space.  I hope some of this helps! Best of luck.

Buccal fat removal is a plastic surgery procedure that could improve the heaviness of the lower face in the correct patient candidate. By removing the fullness of the anterior lower cheek, patients could achieve a thinner lower face. However this result depends on the prominence of the cheek bones. If the cheek bones are not prominent, the results won't be as dramatic. Therefore, if a patient wants to improve the fulness of the lower face and has poor cheek bones he/she should enhance the cheek bones (usually with fillers like voluma) at the same time of the buccal fat removal.