Trusting a plastic surgeon is the most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to receiving cosmetic surgery. Going to the best plastic surgeon in Dallas isn’t just about trusting them with your appearance and believing in their expertise; it’s about actually feeling that the staff care about you and want to help you. Authenticity isn’t always easy to find, so it’s really special when you come across it.
At Southlake Plastic Surgery, our patients feel our genuine desire to help them achieve their goals. In order to help you achieve yours, we want to share with you the characteristics you should look for when searching for the best plastic surgeon in Dallas.
The surgeon’s credentials
This won’t come as a surprise, but your plastic surgeon needs certain credentials in order to 1) call themselves a plastic surgeon and 2) perform plastic surgery. Makes sense, right? Here’s what a plastic surgeon needs in order to practice:
- Four-year bachelor’s degree (typically in a medical-related field such as biology or pre med)
- Doctorate of Medicine degree (you should always see an M.D. beside a doctor’s name)
- Residency in a related field (From an accredited program)
- Board certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery
- Ongoing training
- A truly great plastic surgeon commits to lifelong learning and training in order to maintain their certification statuses
If your surgeon’s website doesn’t include this information, that could be a bad sign. The best thing you can do is use the board verification tool and ask your surgeon what kind of experience they have. It can be as easy as asking, “How many breast augmentation procedures have you done?”
Our very own Dr. Mark E. Mason talks about what you need to look for in a plastic surgeon in this video:
Related: 5 Steps to Finding the Best Breast Surgeon in Dallas
The surgery facility’s accreditation
Along with doing your due diligence in vetting your plastic surgeon, it’s important to also look into the plastic surgery facility itself. If the surgery facility is on-site, is it accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF)? Say that 5 times fast!
The AAAASF is the gold standard of accrediting organizations for private surgery centers, i.e. Southlake Plastic Surgery. The AAAASF prioritizes patient safety in the ambulatory surgery setting, as well as rehabilitation and outpatient therapy agencies and rural health clinics.
If you’re looking for the best plastic surgeon in Dallas and they aren’t accredited by the AAAASF, they are simply not the best plastic surgeon in Dallas. When AAAASF accredits a surgery facility, it indicates that the facility dedicates the highest level of commitment to their patient health.
You can feel fully safe knowing that a plastic surgery facility like Southlake Plastic Surgery takes patient health incredibly seriously.
The staff’s generosity
When looking for the best plastic surgeon in Dallas, another component to keep in mind is that you aren’t just going to be interacting with the surgeon. There’s a team that will be taking care of you within a surgery facility: the patient, office, and surgery coordinators, the nurse, anesthesiologist, and surgeon.
The best plastic surgeon in Dallas will not miss the mark here; they will recognize that being the best means more than just having all the certifications. An important piece of credibility is being able to connect with people.
How do you feel when you meet the team for the first time? How is the customer service? Is everyone as kind and caring as you would expect in this setting? Plastic surgery can be daunting, it’s important that your care providers are friendly and help you feel relaxed and comfortable! So, if you don’t connect with your surgery facility, keep looking until you do.
The surgeon and facility’s “street cred”
Once you’ve verified that your potential surgeon is board certified, their facility is accredited, and their staff is genuinely caring and helpful, the next vital step is checking how other patients feel about the facility. What kind of results did they receive from the facility?
Before and after photos
The best plastic surgeon in Dallas knows that before and after photos are one of the most helpful resources for potential patients. When we’re looking to get a certain procedure done, it’s only natural to want to see someone else’s results from the same procedure. It helps us know what to expect from our procedure and trust the plastic surgeon even more.
Ratings and reviews
A before and after photo is worth a thousand words, sure, but it’s also important to read about patients’ experiences too. What are the surgeon’s reviews saying? Maybe the surgeon does excellent work, but their bedside manner is terrible. So is their work that excellent after all? You can find a surgeon that does both, we promise!
There are multiple places online you can use to check reviews: Real Patient Ratings, Google, and Yelp are a few of many resources. On Real Patient Reviews, you can even use filters like “type of surgery” to find patients who have received the procedure you want.
The facility offers an in-depth plastic surgery process
With the best plastic surgeon in Dallas, you will feel comfortable during the entire process, and you should even feel excited. Our hope for our patients is that the excitement outweighs the nerves.
As a board certified and accredited facility, we want to show you how our process works at Southlake. Our in-depth consultation and getting-to-know-you process is one of the reasons we’re known as a top plastic surgery destination in Dallas!
Our process consists of four main steps: the initial consultation, the pre-operative appointment, the day of surgery, and post-operative appointments & communication.
Initial consultation
During the initial consultation, you’ll meet with one of our board-certified surgeons.
Dr. Mark E. Mason, founder of Southlake Plastic Surgery, has been practicing since 2000 and performed thousands of surgeries. He regularly receives patient referrals from physicians and is even trusted with physician family members.
Dr. Dinah Wan received her medical degree at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and completed her 6-year plastic surgery training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, one of the top ranking plastic surgery residency programs in the country. Dr. Wan completed an aesthetic surgery fellowship at the Dallas Plastic Surgery institute to further her cosmetic surgery experience.
You’ll discuss your goals and reasons for surgery with either Dr. Mason or Dr. Wan, learn about results, and see more before and after photos of other patients. This will also be an opportunity to ask every question that pops into your head.
Pre-op appointment
The next step is the pre-op appointment, which will take place 1-2 weeks prior to your surgery. You’ll meet with your nurse to review your plan and paperwork, go over pre-op and post-op guidelines, take “before” photos of the area, and ask any remaining questions.
If you have a certain medical condition or your age indicates that you need an EKG, we will perform this. We will also review your prescriptions for pain or antibiotics and make sure they are sent to the correct pharmacy.
Day of surgery
Before your surgery begins, your surgeon will review everything with you. Then, the time has finally come for the surgery. This is what you’ve been waiting for!
The duration of your surgery will depend on what procedures you’re getting done, but we do not schedule surgeries for longer than six hours. For example, breast augmentation surgery takes 1-2 hours.
Related: Should I Get Breast Implants?
The procedure
From the beginning to end, your Southlake Plastic Surgery care team will be by your side. Our team members Sarah Hammond, Caitlin Pedigo, Angela Chance, and Renee Del Giudice have been helping patients for over 15 years, so you can feel secure knowing our team of experts knows how to handle each situation, no matter how unique.
Once the operation is finished, you’ll be in recovery mode, but you can still celebrate yourself for finally taking steps to confidence!
Post-op appointments & communication
We will have a series of appointments following your surgery to remove stitches and make sure you are experiencing a smooth recovery.
The day after
Your first postoperative visit is the day after surgery. You will see Dr. Mason or Dr. Wan who will evaluate the area and incision(s), change dressings if necessary, and provide additional instructions or prescriptions based on your condition.
During this appointment, we will let you know when you need to come in so we can remove your stitches. This is generally 3-5 days after your surgery.
3-5 days post-op
During this appointment, we will discuss how you’re feeling, remove the stitches, give you incision care instructions, and provide a silicone-based scar gel. We will also send you home with a recovery kit, including detailed instructions for this next stage of the recovery process.
Don’t worry, we aren’t just sending you home with a packet of instructions; we will talk you through steps to take each day and book you follow-up appointments as needed.
1-4 weeks post-op
After your procedure, we never leave you to your own devices. We’ll be with you from beginning to end, and that means follow-up appointments to ensure the proper healing of your surgical wound, and to check in about your recovery!
At any time during your recovery process, we are here to answer any questions or talk to you about your concerns.
You’re prepared to find the best plastic surgeon in Dallas
At Southlake Plastic Surgery, we recognize that you coming to us is about so much more than the surgery itself.
It’s about you wanting to feel like your best self and feeling relieved when you’ve finally found someone who understands you and your goals.
Get answers today
We know that you’ve probably been mulling that procedure over for a while, so why not take the first step and see what your options are with our Virtual Consultation Tool? This tool allows you to choose your concern areas on a virtual human body and sends you immediate expert recommendations straight to your inbox!
We are located in Southlake, Texas, but serve patients all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area as well as patients from many other surrounding states. Our Virtual Consultation is a great first step, and our team can’t wait to meet you and help you feel your best!
Schedule an in-person consultation so we can learn about who you are!
