Buccal Fat Removal: TikTok’s Latest Darling

Hello and welcome to the Plastic Surgery Practice Podcast on the MEDQOR Podcast Network. I’m Keri Stephens, the co-Chief Editor of Plastic Surgery Practice. Today I’m talking to Dr. Michael Tantillo, a board certified plastic surgeon and founder of Clareo Center, about one of the hottest trends in plastic surgery, buccal fat removal. Dr. Tantillo, thank you for joining us today.

Oh, thank you very much for having me. It’s pleasure to be here.

Yeah, we’re excited. So let’s start. Can you just talk about your practice and the procedures you most commonly do?

So, we’re a plastic surgery practice. We have two surgeons. We’re in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. We focus on aesthetic surgery of the face, breast, and body. Our most common procedures are probably breast lift with augmentation, tummy tuck, liposuction, facelift, and eyelid surgery. We also do some minimally and non-invasive procedures in the office, such as injectables, such as things like radiofrequency, collagen tightening, that can be applied to the face or the body. So, that’s an overview of the practice.

So, let’s get into the crux of this podcast, which is about buccal fat removal. It seems that this trend, it’s become a trend out of nowhere. One day buccal fat removal was barely talked about by the general public, and then it becomes a TikTok trend. So, what has led to the popularity of buccal fat removal and why is it Gen Z that’s really propelling this trend?

Well, buccal fat removal’s been around for decades, really. I mean, we’ve been doing buccal fat removal for quite a long time. People who are interested in slimming their midface, slimming their cheek area, are people who are interested in buccal fat removal. What makes something go viral? I mean, who knows? You can ask that question about anything. And there’s plenty of things that have just been lying around for a while and all of a sudden, they get picked up and they become popular.

The younger patients are, they’re more open-minded or embracing aesthetic procedures, if you will, and buccal fat removal is a quick procedure, very minimal risk, minimal downtime, has reliable results that many people like. So, it’s just right now at least, there is a heavy drive towards slimming down the midface and avoiding the round face look.

Well, you mentioned minimal risk, but are there any patient populations that aren’t good for this procedure and should avoid the buccal fat removal?

No, not in general. I mean, the anatomy is pretty consistent. The procedure, when done by a properly trained surgeon, is safe. I mean, it is the face, one has to be familiar with the anatomy or there can be complications, but with the properly trained plastic surgeon, those are very, very minimal. Generally an office procedure, do it under local anesthesia. Sometimes patients get a little bit of sedation, some Valium or something like that. Procedure takes 30, 45 minutes and then quick recovery. But it’s a procedure that can be applied to really any and all broad groups of patients.

Okay, so you said it’s short. Can you explain what exactly happens in a buccal fat removal procedure?

Yeah, so the procedure describes the … or sorry, the name describes the procedure, which is good. We like that, it keeps everyone on the same page. So the buccal fat pad, it’s actually a pretty big fat pad in the midface and really extends up into the temple area but the part … So, it’s not a complete removal of the fat pad. So, it’s a partial removal of the fat pad, and that fat pad just lies in the midface, in between the muscles. It’s easily accessible through an incision inside the mouth. So obviously, there’s no visible incision or scarring there, and the fat is teased away and the surgeon takes out as much fat as she or he thinks is warranted to accomplish the aesthetic goal.

So, how do they hold up over time? And are patients generally satisfied? Is it one and done, buccal fat’s gone.

Yes, it’s a one and done thing. You don’t grow back the buccal fat right. Now, obviously if somebody were to gain a lot of weight, I mean their face would get … they’d gain some weight in their face. But you’re always going to have … your midface, your mid-cheek area is always going to carry less weight than before the procedure. So it is, yeah, it’s a one and done thing. The patient satisfaction rate is really high because I think it’s pretty easy for patients to envision what the procedure’s going to do. They know, and as you said, it’s all over the place with the virality of it. So, people have seen a bunch of the results and they’re reproducible because like I said, that fat pad is pretty consistent anatomically, and so people know what to expect and the surgeon can, with pretty rare exception, deliver that. So, that makes a high satisfaction procedure.

Typically, when you have a buccal fat removal patient, do you typically point them into the med spa route too to hold up any of these results, or to … after buccal fat removal do people typically do injectables? I know that the buccal fat is gone, but is that something that you see a lot of where people go an injectables route after that?

Well, they certainly can because I mean, obviously everything is a balance in the face. And so yes, there are areas of the face where we lose fat in volume over time. So, those areas, just patients with or without buccal fat pad removal, patients are interested many times in some volume rejuvenation and restoration in other parts of the face. And so yeah, buccal fat pad removal would not obviate that desire, those concerns.

I want to switch gears a little bit. So, the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery just sent out a report about how gen Z is opting into plastic surgery procedures in record numbers. Is that what you’ve seen in your practice? And what other … in addition to buccal fat removal, what else in the facial aesthetics are these patients asking for?

Yeah, it is true. I mean, it’s very popular among that age group, that generation, but it’s probably not surprising that it’s many times less invasive procedures than surgery. I mean, there are times when younger patients do want facial surgery. I mean, rhinoplasty in particular has always been done for patients 16, 18 years and up, but some other … and another one that is doesn’t often get thought about a facial procedure that’s done for young patients is ear surgery, to treat prominent ears.

But there are some procedures, like some patients are having eyelid surgery a little bit earlier than maybe we’ve seen in the past. Some patients may be having neck surgery earlier than we’ve seen in the past. But coincident with this higher demand in younger patients, is been the development of technologies that are better able to deliver results in a minimally invasive way. And by that, I mean somewhere between injectables and full surgery.

So, as a last question, what is exciting you most in the facial aesthetics field right now?

Well, I think that we have a more global understanding of facial aging and a more granular and organic understanding of it, so we can deliver better, more natural results but a lot of people … you always hear that, “Oh, I don’t want to … pull it too far, I don’t want to look like [inaudible 00:09:55].” But we understand what’s going on better now and so it’s a … through a combination of surgery, skincare, some fat transfers, as I mentioned, to treat thinning fat over the years, we’re able to restore a natural look to the face, or keep a natural, youthful look to the face throughout the years.

Well, Dr. Tantillo, thank you so much for speaking with me today. This was extremely informative and I know it was for our listeners too.

Oh, you’re welcome.

Oh, of course, yes. Please come back. And to our listeners, thank you for joining us and be sure to subscribe to The MEDQOR Network for the latest Plastic Surgery Practice podcast. And remember to visit plasticsurgery practice.com for the latest industry news. Thank you.