The hallmark of a youthful mouth is a slight show of the upper teeth when the lips are parted. The lower lip is plumper and has a straight or upward line.
With ageing, the lips lose volume and become thinner, the upper lip becomes longer, covering the upper teeth like a curtain.
Often the lower teeth become exposed as the facial tissue around the mouth area sags, dragging the mouth downward, resulting in a sad expression, even when you are not.
A lip lift is a surgical procedure which is often referred to as an upper lip lift.
The procedure raises the position of the upper lip to make a more youthful and relaxed smile. The lip lift shortens the skin distance that is between the base of the nose and the upper lip.
This exposes the teeth more, raises the amount of ‘pink lip’ that is visible and gives you fuller, more youthful looking lips.
Candidates for the procedure include patients with the following symptoms:
A simple direct approach involves excision of a small section of skin under the nose. This not only shortens the distance between the bottom of the nose and the top lip but also turns out the upper lip giving a more youthful appearance.
The lip is elevated to its new position exposing about 1/8″ of teeth and permanently increasing the volume of the pink part of the lip.
Lip lift surgery procedure takes approximately ninety minutes. Sutures are nylon and are removed after seven days. The effect of a successful procedure is a more pleasant and youthful shape to the mouth and lips.
After your consultation with Dr Zurek, he will schedule a time for your procedure. No pre-operative testing is required, as the procedure is usually administered with local anaesthesia.
However, ideally, you should refrain from taking aspirin and smoking for two weeks before your procedure.
Recovery has the following components:
The lips can be further enhanced by restoring volume with your own body fat, see Fat Transfer.