Dr. Edgerton outlines the origin of plastic surgery beginning with the Hindus, who were famous for reconstruction of missing noses in what has been termed the Indian method. In the 15th century, the Branca family developed techniques for other facial reconstruction, called the Italian method, shown in diagrams. Gaspare Tagliacozzi, the true father of plastic surgery, wrote a textbook on the subject in the 16th century. Carl von Graefe was the first to use the term "plastic" in his 1818 work Rinoplastik. Johns Hopkins University's Dr. John Staige Davis published the first American textbook on plastic surgery and established the first formal training program in the specialty. In discussing modern plastic surgery, Dr. Edgerton notes that it is not necessarily centered on the face or visible external features. Common uses of plastic surgery are to correct congenital deformities, such as cleft palette; burns; disease, such as cancer; and disfigurement from war or high speed accidents.

This program follows a patient, Mrs. Baker, through the procedure of cosmetic plastic surgery, beginning with her conferences with both psychiatrist Jacobson and surgeon Edgerton. The viewers follow the patient from hospital admittance and pre-op through the actual surgery to decrease her nose size and to augment her chin with a bone graft. Dr. Edgerton discusses post-op procedures and expectations and shows pre- and post-surgery profiles of Mrs. Baker. According to the patient, the plastic surgery changed her inner feelings of worth as much as her outward appearance. Dr. Jacobson stresses that cosmetic plastic surgery should never be sought for self-indulgence, only to remove self consciousness and self doubt.