Ankita Chattopadhyay, Amity University Kolkata
The word ‘dimple’ is often associated with the beauty and charm of a person. People tend to appreciate other people having dimples or wish that they had one. People from numerous cultures seem to believe that dimples are a good-luck charm. This entices people into thinking that they are not only attractive but are also heroic or innocent in certain scenarios!
A dimple is a small indentation in the flesh on a part of the human body, or in general, occurring mostly on the cheeks. They are visible when a person makes a facial expression, especially when he/she is smiling. Another thing that instantaneously comes across while thinking about cheek dimples is chin dimples. A chin dimple is a small line on the chin of a person, which is noticeable at all times, without the person having to make any facial expression. A dimple may disappear over an extended period. For an instance, an infant born with one might gradually lose his/her dimple due to muscle development, with passing time. Similarly, a person might also just develop one during his/her growing years, due to impaired development of the cheek/chin muscles.
Characteristics-
Dimple(s) on the cheek can occur in any person but some studies indicate that they are much more likely to occur in females than in males. They can be either permanent or transient. Having a bilateral dimple is the most common form. It was originally concluded that around 60% of people having one dimple show higher chances of having them on their left cheeks. The overall shape of the face can also contribute to the look and form as well. Leptoprosopic faces tend to develop a long and narrow dimple whereas euryprosopic faces show short and circular dimples. A plastic surgeon, Dr Khoo Boo-Chai determined that cheek dimples occur on the intersecting lines between the corner of the mouth and the outer canthi of the eye, a point which is referred to as KBC point. People with natural dimples do not always have them on the KBC point.
Cause-
Indentations on the cheeks are classified as a familial trait, one that is inherited by the person from his/her parents or related family members. It is categorized as a dominant genetic trait, which means that one copy of the altered gene in each cell is sufficient to cause this. Due to limited research available on the genetics of dimples, it is not yet understood which gene(s) are responsible for its manifestation. Existing research has been able to point towards the fact that the dimple causing genes are indeed located within the sex chromosomes of each parent and are inherited by the offspring when these cells unite during fertilization. However, it is not given that an offspring will always depict a dimple if either/both the parents happens to have one. The inheritance pattern of cheek dimples is overall quite unpredictable, owing to its irregularity in occurrence. Also, the inheritance might not be as simple as one set of alleles, multiple genes could be involved for the occurrence of cheek dimples.
Formation-
A person’s dimple becomes visibly prominent due to a change in the facial muscle called the Zygomaticus Major. This muscle is involved in the formation of different facial expressions and is responsible for raising the corners of the mouth when a person smiles. A person lacking dimples generally has a benign zygomatic major muscle, or a bone in the cheek called zygomatic bone running downwards connecting the mouth corners. In a person having dimples, the zygomaticus major divides into two separate bundles of muscle on its way down to the mouth. The other bundle connects below the mouth. As the cheek dimples can be caused due to a result of muscular variation occurring during fetal development, they are sometimes referred to as a birth defect.
What if someone wants a dimple?
There even exists a type of plastic surgery that can be performed to create a dimple if a person isn’t inherited with one but seeks one. The procedure is termed– Dimpleplasty. A small incision in the muscle tissue is made at the site where the dimple will be and a small amount of tissue is removed from the same site. A sling is passed through the skin on either side of the area bringing skin and muscle together for creating the dimple.
Also read:Pfizer— coming to rescue from next week.
Reference-
- Jill Seladi-Schulman; Why do some people have cheek dimples;2019 URL- https://www.healthline.com/health/cheek-dimples
- Regina Bailey; Cute Features caused by gene mutations; 2018 URL-https://www.thoughtco.com/cute-features-caused-by-gene-mutations-373442
- Wiedemann HR; Are facial dimples determined by genetics?;1990; https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/traits/dimples/#:~:text=Dimples%E2%80%94indentations%20on%20the%20cheeks,is%20sufficient%20to%20cause%20dimples.
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