Dimples, Facial

Cheek dimples may be inherited as an irregular dominant. Wiedemann (1990) described a unilateral cheek dimple in a 5-year-old girl whose mother had a similar dimple when she was a child, also in her left cheek, and only when she smiled. The cheek dimple disappeared completely by age 13 in the mother. Wiedemann (1990) also mentioned bilateral cheek dimples in a 14-year-old boy; his mother had bilateral dimples which disappeared by adulthood. In another family, a brother and sister, their father, 3 paternal uncles, as well as their paternal grandfather and great-grandfather, had dimples of both cheeks. In this family, the dimples were always present at birth and did not become less marked with increasing age.