The easiest way to know if you have dimples is to smile widely in front of a mirror and look for small indentations in your cheeks. Dimples appear when you activate the muscles used for smiling, so they’re most visible during a big, natural smile rather than when your face is relaxed. Around 20 to 30 percent of the world’s population has them, making dimples fairly common but far from universal.
Why Dimples Only Show When You Smile
Dimples aren’t a bone structure or a permanent crease. They’re caused by a variation in the facial muscle that controls smiling. In most people, this muscle runs as one continuous band from the cheekbone to the corner of the mouth. In people with dimples, the muscle is split into two separate sections, or “bellies.” The gap between those two sections creates a small pocket where the skin gets pulled inward each time the muscle contracts. That’s why a dimple appears when you smile and flattens out when your face is at rest.
This means you won’t be able to spot your dimples just by staring at your face with a neutral expression. You need to engage the muscle. Try smiling as broadly and naturally as you can, ideally triggered by something genuinely funny, since a forced smile uses slightly different muscles and may not produce as clear an indentation.
Where to Look
Cheek dimples are the most recognized type. They typically sit about an inch to the side of each corner of the mouth, though the exact position varies from person to person. Some dimples sit higher on the cheek, closer to the cheekbone, while others appear lower and closer to the jawline.
A chin dimple (sometimes called a cleft chin) is a vertical indentation in the center of the chin. Unlike cheek dimples, a chin dimple is usually visible all the time, not just when you smile, because it results from a gap in the bone or muscle structure of the chin itself.
Back dimples, sometimes called dimples of Venus, are small paired indentations on the lower back, just above the buttocks. These sit over the area where the pelvis meets the base of the spine, near the sacroiliac joints. They’re created by a short ligament pulling the skin inward over the bone. You can spot them by looking at your lower back in a mirror or running your fingers along the area just above your waistline.
One Dimple vs. Two
Most people with cheek dimples have them on both sides, which is called bilateral dimples. Having a dimple on only one side is less common and happens when the muscle variation occurs on just one cheek. A single dimple isn’t a sign of anything unusual. It simply reflects the fact that the two sides of your face aren’t perfectly symmetrical, which is true for everyone to some degree.
Faint Dimples and How to Spot Them
Not all dimples are deep, obvious craters. Some are shallow enough that you might not notice them unless you look carefully. If you suspect you have faint dimples, try these steps:
- Use good lighting. Stand facing a window or a bright, direct light source. Overhead lighting can wash out shallow indentations. Side lighting creates shadows that make even subtle dimples easier to see.
- Smile in different ways. A closed-mouth smile, a teeth-baring grin, and a laugh all activate the cheek muscles at slightly different intensities. Some dimples only appear with the widest possible smile.
- Feel with your fingers. Place your fingertips lightly on your cheeks while you smile. You may feel a small dip in the skin that’s hard to see but easy to detect by touch.
- Check photos. Candid photos where you’re laughing or smiling naturally can reveal dimples you’ve never noticed in the mirror, especially if the photo was taken with flash or strong side lighting.
Can Dimples Appear or Disappear Over Time?
Yes, and this is one reason people are sometimes unsure whether they have them. Many babies have dimples caused by pockets of baby fat in their cheeks. As children grow and lose that facial fat, those dimples often fade entirely. In other cases, dimples are visible through childhood and adolescence but become less noticeable in adulthood as the facial muscles finish developing.
Weight changes also play a role. Gaining weight adds subcutaneous fat to the cheeks, which can fill in a shallow dimple and make it less visible. Losing a significant amount of weight can have the opposite effect, making a previously hidden dimple more apparent. Aging reduces skin elasticity and changes fat distribution in the face, which can further alter how prominent your dimples look over the decades.
A dimple rooted in your underlying muscle structure, though, doesn’t fully disappear. It may become subtler, but if you smile hard enough in good lighting, it will still be there.
The Genetics Behind Dimples
Dimples are usually described as a dominant genetic trait, meaning you only need to inherit the relevant gene variant from one parent to develop them. In practice, the inheritance pattern is likely more complicated than that simple model suggests. Very little formal research has been done to identify which specific genes are involved, and some researchers question whether dimples follow a straightforward dominant pattern at all. The variation in dimple depth, position, and whether they appear on one side or both points to multiple genetic and developmental factors at work.
If both of your parents have dimples, there’s a good chance you do too. If neither parent has them, it’s less likely but not impossible, since the trait can skip generations or emerge from subtle genetic combinations that weren’t visible in your parents’ faces.
Dimples vs. Creases and Wrinkles
A dimple is a small, round or oval indentation that appears specifically when you contract the smiling muscle. It’s not the same as a nasolabial fold, which is the line that runs from the side of your nose down to the corner of your mouth. Everyone has nasolabial folds, and they deepen with age. Dimples sit to the side of or below that fold, and they only appear during a smile.
Similarly, some people develop lines or creases in their cheeks from repeated facial expressions over the years. These are wrinkles, not dimples. The key distinction is that a true dimple creates a defined, localized dip in the skin rather than a line, and it’s present from a young age rather than developing gradually over time.