A teachable plastic surgery moment from Wimbledon 2011: Treating the "gummy smile"

I was checking Sports Illustrated's web page to get the updates from Wimbledon and they showed a smiling picture of German, Sabine Lisicki, who'd just won her quarterfinal match.

MS. Lisicki demonstrates a phenomena known as a "gummy smile" which is produced most often by an overly tight band of tissue under the upper lip called the frenulum.

Release and lengthening of this band is commonly performed during rhinoplasty procedure (at least in my hands) and produces an instance and sometimes dramatic correction of the smile with much less show of the gums and upper teeth. This surgery takes about 1 minute to do and can be performed under local anesthesia BTW.

Rob

Long Island Surger-ita

Amy Fisher, who infamously shot her lover's wife when she was just 17 years old, earning her the nickname 'Long Island Lolita', is now becoming infamous for having tons of plastic surgery.

In 1999 Fisher had multiple surgeries after her release from jail, claiming that she wanted to change her look so that she was less recognizable and so that she could live a more normal life. Her new look, the result of several more recent surgeries, is anything but normal. Those lips, the cheeks, the breasts, the nose and the eyes, make her look more like a cartoon character than a person, and the saddest part is that she was actually pretty prior to all of this.

While injections, breast augmentation and rhinoplasty all have their place, there is such a thing as over-doing it and I think it's pretty obvious in this case Amy has gone too far.

Fisher is now facing her alcohol addiction as a cast member on the new season of 'Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew'. Maybe she should also consider addressing her addiction to plastic surgery!

SAFE: FDA re-confirms safety of silicone gel breast implants

In a not unexpected conclusion, yesterday the United States Food & Drug Administration re-affirmed their 2006 decision to reintroduce silicone gel breast implants into the United States market for cosmetic indications. In statements from the FDA, they explained that no new information has arisen to question the safety or efficacy of the devices for intended use. As has been discussed on Plastic Surgery 101 a number of times, this is not really news and has been accepted world-wide for a number of years now. Hopefully this statement from FDA heralds the availability of the new form stable "gummy bear" silicone implants here in the United States which have been available everywhere else for almost 15+ years.
Breast augmentation remains the most popular cosmetic surgery in the U.S., with nearly 300,000 women undergoing it last year. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), more than 70,000 others received implants for breast reconstruction.

The most disappointing finding was that only ~60% percent of women enrolled in a 1,000-patient study of one manufacturers implants are still accounted for after eight years. A larger study of 40,000 women conducted has lost nearly 80 percent of its patients after just three years. Diana Zuckerman of the National Research Center for Women and Families, one of the most prominent (and persistent) anti-implant activists, cried foul and suggested that most medical journals would not publish the studies cited by the FDA because of the missing data. I'd agree with her, but for different reasons. She's implying safety issues exist (which they don't by and large), while I'm more interested in outcome data to understand how to reduce re-operations.

Why the relatively poor follow up in the FDA trials?

Dr. Phillip Haeck, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)sums it up saying that, "When women are happy with their implants they tend to feel that a regular follow-up is pointless - it becomes a nuisance and an unnecessary expense". I'd agree 100% with that.

It also begs the question of what exactly are we trying to demonstrate with the FDA follow up studies. There is overwhelming world-wide information that suggests safety at this point. It would be nice to have a little more data on longevity so as to better counsel patients on when to consider routine exchange with prior devices, but as we're on the cusp of a major design change in the polymers that make the implant almost impossible to rupture (the "gummy bear" form stable devices) we're going to quickly lose interest in exhaustively studying older devices. This kind of technology advance has always created problems about making conclusions with medical devices, as you end up comparing apples to implants :) (bad pun alert).

Rob

Hot Mama Katie

Katie Holmes, pictured below, enjoyed the weekend frolicking on Miami Beach with adorable daughter Suri.

Click here to see larger version.

Several weeks ago the tabloids speculated that Katie was pregnant again, based on this picture. However, it is clear from the new bikini pics that the belly she had in those photos was probably nothing more than a little bloating (it happens to all of us) or strange camera angle.

In fact, as these new pictures show, Katie's stomach is quite flat except for some slight looseness and rippling of the skin, probably the result of her pregnancy and subsequent weight loss. After giving birth many women experience significant changes to this area of their bodies and many desire a tummy tuck to help them achieve their pre-baby bodies.

In Katie's case, maybe she is waiting until after she has more kids to have any procedures done on her stomach. I sure hope that is the case because that Suri is the cutest little girl and Katie seems like she really enjoys being a Mom. She has said in the past that she hopes to have more children when the time is right.

After a woman decides that she is done having children and wants to work on regaining her once taut midsection, a tummy tuck can be a great treat, helping her to regain that confidence and feel good about herself. Many women undergo 'Mommy Makeovers', which might include a breast lift and a tummy tuck.

In milder cases like Katie's there are also some great non-surgical laser technologies available to help tighten that loose skin.

I think it is great that women have these options today. Having children does not mean we have to give up on our own appearances. As Katie shows, it is possible to regain our bodies and still look hot!

The Love Can't Be Real And Neither Are Those

Everyone has been talking about the recent wedding between Green Mile actor Doug Hutchison and aspiring singer Courtney Alexis Stodden and the controversy just seems endless. He is 51 and she is 16, which makes most stomaches turn (mine included). Not only are these two trying to convince everyone their love is real but Courtney is claiming her breasts are as well. I'd say the likelihood of them being real is the same as this marriage lasting longer than a paper cut.

I can't decide what is worse: the ridiculous age difference, the fact that a 16 year old could look like that, or the hundreds of extremely inappropriate pictures of this girl that are all over the internet! The only thing I can say I'm sure of about this situation is that her breasts are not real and anyone can see that from the picture below. I think she has had filler put in her lips as well. It's not that they're abnormally big, but they protrude unnaturally...which I guess is her theme.

If that one isn't enough proof, look at this before picture:

Hollywoodlife.com asked Dr. Walden for her professional opinion on the matter: http://www.hollywoodlife.com/2011/06/21/courtney-alexis-stodden-boobs-plastic-surgery/

Summer Specials!

Whether you're ready or not, summer's here and we all know what that means...bathing suit season is officially back! Now as an all female staff, we know what it's like to dread that statement. We all have our problem areas that we are uncomfortable with and bathing suits leave little to the imagination. This year, since we want our patients to be confident and happy when they take off their cover up, we decided to do a special for breast augmentation for the summer.

Call the office today to find out more, (212)-288-9009, or visit http://bit.ly/iuuDfF and fill out the form online and we'll get back to you.

Make that "someday" you've been talking about today...

Broadway Babes

The Tony awards were held in New York this past Sunday and all of Broadway's stars were up for review. Now it's our turn to review the stage beauties.

Ellen Barkin:

I recently saw Ellen Barkin interviewed by Piers Morgan. She discussed her role in the broadway show 'The Normal Heart', for which she won best actress in a featured role at the Tony awards this weekend. Piers highlighted Ellen's sex-symbol status and flirtatiously complimented her well-maintained looks.

Ellen appears to have used some fillers, such as Restylane, as well as fat and collagen injections to plump up some areas like her lips and soften some lines on her face.

The 57 year old, who is dating the 26 year old son of famed moviemaker Barry Levinson, has clearly still got it.

Edie Falco:

In that same episode of the Piers Morgan show, Edie Falco was interviewed about her Broadway Role in 'House of Blue Leaves'. While she has been an outspoken member of the anti-plastic surgery camp in the past, I find her to appear with noticeably fewer wrinkles in photos taken at the Tony awards this weekend. It is likely that she has also has some injectables to smooth out the fine lines.

The 47 year old single mother has overcome cancer as well as battled alcohol addiction. I think anyone would need a little cosmetic pick me up after all of that and I think she looks great.

Alexa Rae Joel:

Supermodel mother? Check. Music megastar father? Check. Alexa Rae Joel has acknowledged that keeping up with such successful parents has been difficult for her.

In 2010 she admitted to having rhinoplasty surgery and in an interview with 20/20 in July of that year she said this has helped her confidence, which in turn has helped her in "moving out of the shadows" of her parents. A singer like her father, Alexa Rae is relatively low key when it comes to public appearances, but when she showed up to support her mother at the Tony's this past weekend I thought she was simply stunning.

Leo "Nose" How to Pick Em'

I have loved Blake Lively ever since I saw her in the first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie. She is not only drop-dead gorgeous, but also charming and adorable.

And it seems her career is only getting hotter. Blake topped the week’s ‘most searched celebrities’, beating out Kim Kardashian, and I suspect her amazing looks, and perhaps her rumored new beau Leo, have something to do with this.

Since Blake seems to be everywhere these days, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and talk about how her career and looks have changed since her arrival in hollywood.

While Blake was already gorgeous before, I think that the results of the rhinoplasty surgery that she had done at some time between finishing work on the first Sisterhood movie and beginning work on Gossip Girl helped in taking her looks and career to the next level.

Prior to surgery, Blake's nose was slightly bulbous, giving her face more of a cute appearance. Post surgery Blake's nose is much more refined and allows her to achieve the sophisticated look that, along with her fashion sense, she has become so famous for.

Here is Blake looking adorable in a photo from her Sisterhood days:

Compare that with a more recent photo:

Blake’s rhinoplasty is a great example of the ways a slight change in facial structure can make for a total transformation. Without changing too much about herself, she has gone from girl next door to the face of Chanel. Simply stunning!!! I look forward to what is to come from this screen siren.

-Samantha H

Teenage Plastic Surgery-Not What You Think

Dr. Walden was on CBS News this week discussing the reasons some teenagers are getting plastic surgery these days. We have all seen one of the reasons in the news but maybe not directly related to plastic surgery: bullying. Bullying is the age old form of torture that children and adolescents just love to inflict on each other. While this may seem like a rite of passage or just a tradition, it can be detrimental to the kid being bullied. This can have long lasting effects on a child's self-esteem, confidence, and social skills and these are essential to success in school and later on in the workplace. In the last few years there have even been suicides and school shootings because of bullying! It is a serious topic.

We all know kids can be cruel and very blunt, especially when appearances are involved. A large nose or ears that stick (both are seen in the segment)are targets for such ridicule. That's why these days more and more teenagers are looking into plastic surgery to fix such things. I believe that having something that bothers you everyday fixed can change your life so much for the better. This is much like when parents get their kids braces so they have straight teeth because teeth are a large part of one's appearance. We want our kids to be happy and confident and sometimes it takes a little more than buying them a new outfit. These days there are more options out there and I think parents should explore them if they feel their child could benefit from them.

See what Dr. Walden had to say about it: