Dubai residents are getting dimples surgically implanted into their faces. Calling this the latest millennial surgery trend, plastic surgeons say dimpleplasty has hit the emirate hard.

Some residents are either getting it to look like celebrities or because they believe dimples are 'good luck charms'.

Khaleej Times spoke to three different plastic surgeons who said they get more than 10 patients every month for dimple creation surgery on their cheeks. This is a 30-45-minute procedure, done under local anesthesia, in which the surgeon makes a small opening inside the patient's mouth and attaches the muscle to the undersurface of the skin.

"The demand for dimples has been increasing every month," Dr. Parashar said. "People see their friends with dimples and want to have them too. I realise that there's also people who are looking for physical perfection and don't mind doing surgery for it.

"About 80 per cent of people come in with a photo of a celebrity, to show us what they are looking for. We can't create that exact look and some people are not even good candidates for certain procedures - it can only be done depending on their facial structure."

The demand for dimples is usually from Arab women, aged between 20 to 35 years old, he noted.

Getting those dimpled cheeks

Dimpleplasty is carried out under local anesthesia and takes about 30 to 45 minutes. The surgeon marks the area before making incision inside the patient's mouth. The patient's cheek muscle will be attached to the undersurface of the skin, creating a natural-looking and permanent dimple on the cheek. At first, the dimple will be visible without even smiling, however, within a few days or weeks it only appears when smiling. The stitches inside the mouth will dissolve within a few weeks.

Consultant plastic surgeon at Dubai Cosmetic Surgery, Dr. Adnan Tahir, said the demand for dimpleplasty has risen, but the price of the procedure can be prohibitive: up to Dh6,000 for one cheek and Dh9,000 for both cheeks.

"Patients who've had a dimple creation procedure mostly do it to add some character to their face. There are also those who have one dimple already, so they get a second one to balance their face," Dr Tahir said.

"The need for dimple creation is also as a result of the celebrity culture, where some people want to look like Jennifer Garner, Miranda Kerr or Matthew McConaughey. Others just want to have dimples because they have a friend or a family member who has naturally occurring dimples.

"Most of our patients are female, but once in a while we get the occasional male who wants to improve his appearance and enhance his smile by adding that tiny defect in the cheek muscles."

"For some, dimples are lucky charms and some even get it for religious reasons," said Dr. Fransisco De Melo from Zo Skin Centre.

Dimpleplasty had become so popular this year in Dubai, that it was also being offered on Groupon, with the procedure costing only Dh499 to Dh1,500 at some clinics.

This is not the first millennial plastic surgery trend to hit Dubai. Kylie Jenner started the 'big-lip' trend and inspired many young women to receive lip fillers, according to Dr. Parashar - who said it's one of the most common procedures in his clinic now.

Source: Khaleej Times