What is buccal fat pad removal? (Bichectomy)

The bichectomy(buccal fat pad) which is also known as bichat fat pad is the fat pad that’s responsible for the fullness (especially for the lower third) of the cheek. Especially after this social media boom, everyone’s after chiseled jawline and better defined cheekbones. Buccal fat pad removal is actually a procedure which can achieve both of those features.

So, one question remains is that who are the good candidates for buccal fat pad removal(bichectomy)?

Actually, we prefer younger patients for bichectomy procedure who have rather a good skin tone. Because when we take out the fat pad, we create some depression just under the cheek bone and if you perform this in fairly older patients because of the skin laxity the whole cheek area can go down and it can cause an unfavorable look. Therefore, the ideal patients for buccal fat pad removal are mostly the patients between the age of 20 and 45 who have rounder and fuller cheeks and a good skin tone.

The procedure itself is fairly an easy procedure that we can perform under local anesthesia through a very small incision inside the mouth. This takes around 30 minutes and after the procedure you just have a swelling for around one to two weeks and the end result will take place in around a couple of months.

Does bichectomy procedure has permanent results and how much cc is taken out?

Yes indeed, this is a permanent surgery. And, the surgeon can titrate the amount of fat to be removed according to the features&anatomy of the face and the fullness of the cheek. In our clinic, we do not prefer to take out the whole fat pad because we do believe that it is important to keep some of the fat remaining there. As, it will create a nice cheek support in the in the long run.

So, after the operation there are a couple of points that we need to care about.

1- The diet: We shouldn’t irritate the incision line even if it’s a small one.
2- Icing: Putting on ice often in the first few days post surgery is crucial.

After a week is completed, there’s not much to do except waiting to have a better high shiny cheekbones and a chiseled jawline. 🙂