Male Model Look Facial Surgery

Q: Dr. Eppley, I came across your practice from RealSelf, and I’m very interested in having some work done on my face.

Basically, I would like to create the male model look facial surgery you talk about in your blog using custom jaw implants and cheekbone implants. I had a few questions, though:

1. At the moment, I’m overweight (225 lbs at 5’9), but I read that the jaw/cheek implants have the desired effect only if the face is thin. So I’m working on dropping about 80 lbs within the next 1.5 years before going ahead with the surgery. My question is, is this okay or even recommended? Will my current body fat skew the implant design in any way? Or can I go ahead and get the implants now, at a high body fat, and then lose the weight: would that have the same effect as losing the weight first and then getting the implants?

2. I’ve attached a front side picture of myself and a jaw x-ray I just had done today while at the dentist (they were looking for wisdom teeth to remove). Is my face structure suited for implants to create the male model look? I know you can’t say for 100% without an in-person consultation, but I thought I’d get an approximate opinion from an expert like yourself.

Also, I know it’s unrealistic to expect to look like someone else, but I’d like to create a facial structure similar to that of young Johnny Depp. How feasible would you say this is? I was thinking of doing jaw/cheekbone work, rhinoplasty, and whatever else is necessary to get the desired look. What do you think/suggest?

Thanks so much!

A: In answer to your questions about male model look facial surgery:

1) You definitely need to be down near you ideal body weight to get the best benefits from Facial Sculptiong/Structural surgery like jaw and cheek implants as well as rhinoplasty (although less so for rhinoplasty)

2) I do not think you will get that close to a Johnny Depp look. He is very thin skinned with low body fat. You have much thicker skin so even a rhinoplasty would not even come close. I am sorry to say that this is not a realistic facial surgery goal for you. I may have a different opinion when you have lost the weight. This is also not to say that the facial procedures you have described would not be beneficial for improved facial aesthetics. It is just that you are not going to get the more sculpted angular facial look like that of Johnny Depp.

Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana