Buccal Fat Pad Removal [Small Procedures, Big Results - Part 1]

Speaker 1 (00:08): Welcome back to Behind the Double Doors. I'm Dr. Bob Basu. Today on our podcast, we're kicking off the first in a multi-part series about the little procedures that have big results, some of which we, you may not even have even heard about. Look, the internet's wide and free. There's lots of information out there, but if you don't know what you're looking for, you might never even find some of these delightful options, and some of these procedure names might get really confusing. So we're gonna dispel all the myths and inform you about some very powerful small little procedures that will yield big, big, big results. So we're gonna cover three little procedures with big results for the face, including buccal fat pad removal, FaceTite, also known as NeckTite, and the surgical lip lift. So let's first talk about buccal fat pad removal. What is the buccal fat pad?

(00:55): Well, if you have full cheeks and you always felt you wanted more that slender kind of “instagramy” look, then buccal fab pad removal might be a procedural option for you. So what's this procedure for? It's really to slenderise the cheek area. The wonderful thing about this procedure is that there are no external scars. We actually make a tiny one centimeter opening inside your cheek and then basically access the fat pad and tease it right out. And the results are fairly quick, a little bit of swelling for a couple days, and you will start seeing slenderizing of that cheek area within several weeks as the, as the, uh, swelling goes away. Now are the results permanent? Yes, they are. If you maintain your weight, now you're allowed to gain a little bit of weight here and there during the holidays. But if you maintain your weight within reason, these results are long lasting.

(01:45): And so a buccal fat pad removal can be done under IV sedation or it can be done under a local anesthesia with some oral sedation. And it typically takes me about 30 minutes to 45 minutes to complete. So fairly quick procedure. The recovery, this is what I tell my patients after a buccal fat pad removal. The worst case scenario is this will feel like a mild dental procedure. Most of my patients come back and tell me this is much, much, much easier than any dental procedure they've had cuz we're not working on your teeth or bones, right? So we can numb the areas up with numbing medicine that lasts for several, several hours into the next day. Uh, that makes the recovery very, very smooth. Most of my patients are able to go back to a desk job the next day. If anyone at work asks you why your cheeks look a little swollen, just tell 'em you had a little dental work done.

(02:30): But really the recovery should be easier than that of any dental procedure. And it's very, very rare that any of my patients have to take any narcotic pain pills. They typically just take some Tylenol after the procedure and maybe one pain pill on the first day if necessary at all after the procedure. Patients can eat regular food, but I generally recommend soft solids for about a week. You don't wanna be eating things like tacos or corn or things that can get stuck in your teeth because there is a little incision inside your cheek that's healing down. We don't want to get food caught in that. What's really important after the procedure is that you do good oral hygiene care. I prescribe a medicated uh, solution called Peridex that you're gonna do swish and spit basically oral hygiene care. Keep that mouth clean. The best part of this is there's no stitch or suture removal.

(03:16): I use a dissolvable suture inside the cheek and that suture dissolves away in a matter of days and that incision is completely healed. So by the time the patient comes back to see me for their first follow up visit a couple days after surgery, the incision inside the mouth is completely healed. The sutures completely dissolved and gone. So how do you know if buccal fat pad is the reason why you're having more roundness in the face? Well, first, that requires me to evaluate you. I have to take a look at you and assess your facial anatomy to see if indeed you're a good candidate for a buccal fat bed removal and whether it will achieve results. Often we have to address the cheeks, but we also have to address and define the jaw line and the neck together with other procedures, whether it be liposuctioning or another procedure called FaceTite, also known as NeckTite, which we'll talk about in a little bit.

(04:03): But it really requires an assessment from a board certified plastic surgeon to tell you if you are indeed a good candidate for a buccal fat pad removal. There are some patients who should not consider a buccal fat pad removal. If you already have a lean face, you're a runner, you're fairly slender. Caution needs to be taken because if you take the buccal fat pad out, it will give you even a leaner look. And that could lead to more of an age look. So we have to be careful. Not everyone is a good candidate for a buccal fat pad removal. And that's what's so important that you, you come in for an evaluation so we can see if you're a good candidate or not, because sometimes you shouldn't do a buccal fat pad removal can actually make things look worse. Now what if you've already had a buccal fat pad removal and you're not happy?

(04:49): It's too hollow. We do have some options to correct it depending on your anatomy. A fat grafting, perhaps some fillers can kind of blend that area if you feel that it's over indented. But again, it really requires an individual assessment to create a treatment plan. So I know it gets confusing. A lot of patients come in and they're thinking they need a buccal fat pad removal, but they're actually pointing to the cheek area. Now, what do I mean by cheek area? If you take your finger and put it right below your eye, you've got a bone there. That's the cheekbone, right? That's called a zygoma. That's the midface. Now, if you take your finger and drop it about three centimeters, about one to two centimeters lateral or to the side of the corner of your mouth and you press, and if that area feels full, that's your buccal fat pad.

(05:39): The other thing you can do is take your tongue in your cheek and push it out. And if that area looks really full, you are pushing out on your buccal fat pad. So what a buccal fat pad does is it does not treat the cheek or the zygoma area. It treats the area lateral to your mouth. Now a common question is, well wait a minute. Why are people getting fillers in the cheek, meaning the zygoma area of the midface, but why are people taking away the buccal fat pad? Because the desire is to have a more slender face, a more angulated face, it feminizes a face, it gives you more of an attractive appearance for both women and for men. And so the midface, or where the zygoma or the cheekbone is, people fill that area because as we age, it hollows and when you fill that area it actually lifts your face.

(06:26): Whereas in the buccal fat pad area, which is lateral or about two centimeters lateral to the corner of your mouth, that area just creates more roundness in the face. So we have to assess all of these anatomic areas together to give you the best, more refreshed result. So we've covered a lot of ground here about the buccal fat pad removal. The buccal fat pad removal is a fairly straightforward small procedure that takes me between 30 minutes to 45 minutes to perform. It can be performed under a local anesthesia or a little IV sedation. Recovery's really quick. Most patients go back to a desk job the next day. Just hold off on working out for about two weeks. You'll have a little bit of swelling from the local. That typically goes away over several weeks. You'll really see your end results in three to four weeks after the procedure. So fairly quick recovery, and it really treats the fullness in your face. That's about two to three centimeters lateral to the corner of your mouth, and it helps to slender eyes the face. But remember, we also have to evaluate other areas of the face, such as the cheek area and also your jawline and your neck together so that we can give you the best results. But a buccal fat pad removal in summary, is a very small procedure that yields some really big results.

Speaker 2 (07:42): Basu Aesthetics and plastic surgery is located in Northwest Houston in the Towne Lake area of Cypress. If you'd like to be a guest or ask a question for Dr. Basu to answer on the podcast, go to basu plastic surgery.com/podcast. On Instagram, follow Dr. Basu and the team @BasuPlasticSurgery. That's B A S U Plastic Surgery. Behind the Double Doors is a production of The Axis, the axis.io.