What is a “bichectomy”?
Bichectomy is also called as Hollywood cheek surgery®, cheek fat removal aesthetics or buccal fat removal. It is the process of removing excess fat tissue from the cheeks with a small incision made inside the mouth.
What is the purpose of the bichectomy procedure?
This surgery creates an inverted triangle appearance by removing the fats that cause fullness in the cheek area, and where the cheekbones and jaw line are more prominent. With this procedure; a thinner, sharper, more attractive and more aesthetic facial structure is aimed.
How is bichectomy surgery performed?
This procedure is done with the help of 2 incisions of 1-1.5 centimeters made inside the mouth. With the incision made from the inside of the cheek, the fat pads that create fullness in the cheek are reached. Excess fat tissues are removed, and the incisions are closed with absorbable sutures. The procedure takes between 30-45 minutes on average. Since it is an oral procedure, I prefer to do it with sedation or under general anesthesia in order to increase the comfort of the patient and the surgeon.
How is the post-operative period after bichectomy surgery?
When leaving the operating room, a face corset is worn to reduce edema. Pain is not expected. The patient can go home on the day of the operation. After the procedure, facial edema is an expected situation. This edema is maximum on the 3rd day and decreases towards the end of the 3rd week. This healing process is further accelerated by the use of the facial corset. It is recommended to be fed with liquid foods for the first 2-3 days after the procedure because solid foods can damage the sutures in the mouth. It is important to pay attention to oral hygiene with intraoral care with sprays for the first 1 week to prevent infection. Since the incisions are repaired with absorbable sutures, there is no need for suture removal. Stitches usually dissolve completely around 3 weeks.
When do the effects of bichectomy surgery begin to be seen?
The effects of this procedure appear immediately after the operation, but the edema that will appear in the following period will hide the result. At the end of the 3rd week, while the edema decreases significantly, the clarity of the result begins to appear more clearly. 3 months should be waited for the net effect.
Will there be any scars in bichectomy surgery?
Bichectomy surgery is performed with tiny incisions made inside the mouth, so there is no visible scar from the outside. The incision made inside the mouth will heal quite quickly thanks to the rapid healing capacity of the oral mucosa and this scar will not be obvious.
What are the complications associated with bichectomy surgery?
The most common situation is facial edema, which is the natural result of the procedure. This edema decreases towards the end of the 3rd week. Damage to the facial nerves and parotis duct injury are very rare complications.
What are the aesthetic procedures that can be combined with bichectomy surgery?
Bichectomy surgery can be combined with many facial aesthetic procedures to increase the definition of cheekbone area and jaw line. Fat injection applications to the face (See Fat Injection (Lipofilling) Section) and dimple creation surgery (See Dimple Aesthetics Section) can be given as examples of these procedures.
Summary
With bichectomy surgery the desired inverted triangle appearance on the face is formed, the cheekbones area and jaw line become more prominent. So, a thinner, sharper, more attractive and more aesthetic face is created. The presence of facial edema masks the result in the first period. With the reduction of edema, the clarity of the result increases. Although it can be done with local anesthesia, I prefer to perform this procedure with sedation or under general anesthesia for the comfort of the patient and the doctor. Best regards.
