Chin dimples have long been admired as a cute facial quirk. Some see them as a sign of beauty, even proof of genetic uniqueness.
But recently, social media erupted when the real cause behind chin dimples was explained and many viewers wished it hadnโt been revealed.
Actors like Henry Cavill have a natural chin dimple, and Michael Jackson is famously said to have had one surgically added.

It began when a TikTok user asked, point-blank: โWhat is this thing?โโpointing to a small indentation at the bottom of his chin.
Science communicator Hank Green responded, and his explanation quickly went viral. Green said chin dimples are caused by the mentalis muscle, a muscle that unlike most in the body โ connects bone to skin rather than bone to bone. Green noted:
โItโs in your chin and it is very weird. You have identified correctly a weird muscle. Well done.โ
He contrasted that with most muscles, which help us move by pulling bones toward each other. In the face, many muscles instead โyank on skin.โ
The tipping point came when Green described how the mentalis muscleโs fibers actually extend into the skin.
โYou can see the mentalis here, doing an absolutely wild thing, sticking all of its little muscle fibres into your skin,โ he said. โWhen you contract that muscle, it yanks. It yanks on the skin and makes those little dimples.โ
He concluded with an unflinching remark: โItโs a little weird. Weโre all made out of meat.โ
What had once been an innocuous facial trait suddenly became the subject of disgust and fascination alike.
Some coverage further emphasizes that the mentalis is a paired, conical muscle hidden deep within the chinโand that its anchoring to the skin is what creates those dimples when flexed.
In short: chin dimples are not just cute quirks. Theyโre little indentations created by muscle fibers tugging skinโsomething people admit they might have preferred to remain ignorant about.
Featured Image: (Alamy/Canva)