What Are Custom PEEK Implants? Benefits, Uses, and Everything You Need to Know

There’s little doubt that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, meaning it’s subjective, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t classical proportions and symmetry that people find universally pleasing.

And pursuing that perfectly balanced, classically beautiful face has become more achievable thanks to cutting-edge PEEK implants that let us literally shape and mold your dream look.

Each year in the United States, about 366,000 facial surgeries are performed, including facelifts and facial implants. At our practice, leading facial surgeon and board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Jonathan Zelken, takes our facial implants to the next level with customized PEEK implants.

Here’s a brief look at PEEK custom facial implants and how they can deliver on your dreams.

PEEK implants at a glance

PEEK stands for PolyEtherEtherKetone, which is a synthetic, biocompatible material that’s used across many different medical specialties, including dentistry, orthopedics, neurosurgery, and oral/maxillofacial surgery.

For our purposes, PEEK is a high-performance material that can replace and augment bony structures in your face, and we’ve found it to be the best implant material available. It’s easy to work with on our end, and it’s an excellent, durable solution you can count on for your purposes.

Creating your custom facial PEEK implants

Not only does Dr. Zelken appreciate the PEEK implants for their durability and biocompatibility, but the artistry comes with our ability to customize each patient’s implants to their precise facial structures and goals.

Dr. Zelken views each facial surgery as unique, and he wants each outcome to meet, if not exceed, the patient’s wishes. Our use of custom PEEK implants is one of the ways Dr. Zelken delivers time and again.

To start, Dr. Zelken sits down with you to review your goals, which can include:

• Reshaping your jaw
• Augmenting your cheeks
• Defining your chin

Once he understands the direction you’d like to go, he starts with a CT scan to create a 360-degree view of the skeletal structures in your face. He also uses cephalometry to determine skeletal patterns and bony landmarks in your face.

Once Dr. Zelken has a clear idea of what he’s working with, he creates multiple iterations of facial implants using software that lets him test different sizes and locations.

Dr. Zelken often combines cephalometric norms, which are the classical notions of beauty, alongside your wishes to create customized PEEK implants that check all of the boxes.

Where dreams become reality is in Dr. Zelken’s experience — he knows how implants can work within the larger picture of the existing bony structures, the soft tissues, and the aging process.

Getting your PEEK implants and beyond

Once you and Dr. Zelken agree on a course for your facial surgery, we get started and order your PEEK facial implants. When they are ready, we can schedule the surgery.

During your surgery, Dr. Zelken places the implants and makes any necessary adjustments to ensure they integrate well.

After your surgery, we encourage you to trust the process and be patient. Not only will there be some swelling after your surgery and through your recovery, but it can also take a few months for all the pieces — implants, soft tissues, and your overlaying skin — to settle together.

Rest assured, your patience will be rewarded as your new PEEK implants integrate and deliver the symmetry, augmentation, and lines you wished for.

If you’d like to learn more about our facial surgeries, including our use of PEEK implants, we invite you to check out Dr. Zelken’s YouTube channel, which has some really informative entries on these topics. Click here to learn more.

We also recommend scheduling a consultation with Dr. Zelken to review whether PEEK implants are right for your goals. To get that started, please contact our office in Newport Beach, California, at (949) 676-9119. Or, you can request an appointment using our online booking tool.