Alloplastic facial contouring: surgery of the fourth plane

Abstract

Plastic surgeons are now better prepared to fulfill the primary goal of facial aesthetic surgery. By manipulating and combining the various new techniques, they can restore, rejuvenate, or enhance facial form and affect aging changes. Infinite variations in facial contour can now be achieved with alloplastic facial implants. By using techniques based on the concepts of zonal anatomy, the facial skeleton can be augmented with a minimum of complications. Alloplastic onlay techniques significantly improve facial contour to correct both hereditary deficiencies in youth as well as aging changes. The use of implants in the "fourth" skeletal plane, as defined by the author, represents the newest favorable manipulation of volume.