Reconstruction of Cheek Defects

The cheek is a term loosely used to refer to the area of the face below the eyes and between the nose and the ears. It is a three-dimensional region which needs to be described in three planes – the anteroposterior, the superoinferior and the mediolateral. The anatomical boundaries are defined as the nasolabial and labio-mental crease anteriorly, the line extending from the lateral canthus to the superior border of the tragus superiorly, the tragus to the angle of the mandible posteriorly and the lower border of the mandible inferiorly. Intraorally, the buccal mucosal boundaries are defined as the commissure of the mouth anteriorly, the pterygomandibular raphe posteriorly and the upper and lower bucco-alveolar sulci superiorly and inferiorly, respectively [Fig. 8.1a, b – anatomic limits of cheek skin surface (1a) and mucosal surface (1b)].