Cosmetic Surgery Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Cosmetic Surgery, including details on microsurgery, reconstruction, techniques, risks.

Treatment options to optimize display of anterior dental esthetics in the patient with the aged lip.

Perenack J

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, 1100 Florida Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70119, USA.

PURPOSE: With aging a number of predictable changes occur in the upper and lower lips that act to mask otherwise esthetic dental procedures including dental implants, gingival esthetic surgery, and optimal dental restorations. The purpose of this article is to show how lip modification can be used to enhance the esthetic appearance of the patient, with specific attention to esthetic dental smile line characteristics. METHOD: Proper evaluation and diagnosis of senile lip changes, such as lip atrophy, loss of lip architecture, and lip lengthening lead to a reliable treatment plan that provides a more esthetic frame to view the oral aperture. Treatment options will be discussed that act to reverse these problems. Directed lip augmentation procedures are used to correct loss of lip volume and architecture. The subnasal lip lift technique is presented as a method to correct lip lengthening. Risks and limitations of these procedures are addressed. CONCLUSION: Safe and reliable methods are presented that can improve and rejuvenate the lip complex, thus allowing for optimal display of dental esthetics.

Published 24 October 2005 in J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 63(11): 1634-41.
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