What kinds of surgical stitches leave the least noticeable scar?

The plastic surgeon's skin closure technique might include traditional stitches, or perhaps a "subcuticular" technique, where the suture is completely beneath the surface. This technique leaves no suture marks or cross tracks. Little white dots of scar are caused by stitches left in too long, and tying the stitches too tight causes tracks. Since plastic surgeons take great pride in their scars, they seldom use staples. In the scalp, however, staples actually are preferred since they kill fewer hair follicles.

A newer method of closure is Dermabond -- or a competing product, Indermil. These glue-like materials eliminate cross tracks and stitch marks and do away with painful suture removal. It has been slow to catch on with plastic surgeons, perhaps because of their reluctance to give up their signature closure techniques! But as surgeons become familiar with the technique of application, Dermabond is used with increasing frequency, in everything from eyelid surgery to tummy tucks.