Instant Cheekbones?
The newest implant is billed as the face-lift of the 90s.
Allure- January 1992
Facial implants are growing in popularity as a means of achieving one of the key objectives of modern facial rejuvenation; full, youthful-looking facial contours.
Dr. William J. Binder, a Los Angeles facial plastic surgeon who has pioneered the use of facial implants in facial contouring, has created a submalar cheek implant that not only lifts the cheek and jowls, but fills them out to give the face a more youthful appearance. Here Dr. Binder discusses the so-called baby-cheek implant.
Most of the flap concerns the baby-cheek implant. Some surgeons claim that inserting the pliable, two-inch half-moons can serve as an alternative to a face-lift for people who are younger than 50—an appealing prospect since cheek jobs are far less expensive and traumatic than the skin-and-muscle tightening rejuvenation procedure.
Unlike traditional cheek builders, which rest atop the bone, the submalar device is plunked down just under the bone in the cheek hollow. That way it can puff out the cheeks and make the face fuller, says William J. Binder, M.D., the California facial and reconstructive surgeon who created the implant. Binder considers sunken cheeks the hallmark of aging in the under-50 set.
“People were coming into my office saying: I’m looking a little gaunt, a little haggard. I think I’m ready for a face-lift,” he says.
On the strength of its ability to perk up sunken cheeks, the new plumper-upper was touted as the low-cost route to facial rejuvenation. Since its introduction 2 ½ years ago, the silicone device has earned its manufacturer, an upstart company called Implantech Associates, number one status in the field of facial implants.
“We started a massive marketing campaign on the Binder submalar,” says an Implantech vice president. “Now it’s the largest-selling facial implant in this country.”
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