Lip Lift Research Articles

Plastic surgery combined with orthodontic and orthognathic procedures

In contemporary orthognathic surgery, correcting the functional aspects of dentofacial deformities is our main focus, but, if the esthetic outcome is not improved, we often face serious patient dissatisfaction. Many adjunctive soft tissue procedures can be used to either enhance the esthetics of orthognathic surgical cases or overcome the deleterious effects of our surgical procedures. Procedures that we include in our orthognathic treatment planning regimen include rhinoplasty, submental liposuction, malar augmentation, and lip lift and augmentation, but the most common procedure performed simultaneously with orthognathic surgery is rhinoplasty.

Lip Enhancement: Surgical Alternatives and Histologic Aspects

This study included 66 consecutive patients, 58 women and 8 men, who underwent 86 surgical procedures on the lips during 1989-1998. Lip enlargement was performed in 59 patients, and lip reduction was performed in 7 patients. Indications were purely aesthetic in 61 cases and reconstructive in 5 cases. The following surgical techniques were used for lip augmentation: implantation of crystal silicone, polyacrylamide hydrogel, Gore-Tex tubes, autologous fat, and dermis-fat graft. A new instrument originally designed by the author, the dermis-fat graft passer, significantly speeded up and facilitated execution of the latter procedure. Other operations included V-Y plasty, lip lifting by buffalo horn excision, lip lengthening by frenulum plasty, and lip reduction by wavy tangential excision. Eighty-six percent of patients could be followed up; the mean length of follow-up was 4.2 years. Use of silicone microparticles (Bioplastique) was abandoned because of the tendency for lumping. Polyacrylamide gel is promising because of its ease of use, and Gore-Tex tubes are promising because of their ability to create and accentuate the Cupid's bow form for the upper lip. However, these products are new, and follow-up studies with longer observation times are needed to reach definite conclusions. Of these studied methods, autologous fat transplant was found to be particularly useful for enlargement and restoration in cases of age-related atrophy of the lips and perioral tissues. Dermis-fat grafting was the most efficient, versatile, and reliable method of lip enlargement. Long-term survival of transplanted autologous tissues was confirmed by histologic studies of biopsy specimens.

Rejuvenation Of The Aging Mouth

Viewing the face as a series of three concentric rings, we can successfully rejuvenate the outer ring with the usual face lift, blepharoplasty, and brow lift. Insufficient attention has been paid to the middle and inner rings. The middle ring can be made to look more youthful by correcting the long upper lip with a lip lift, elevating the downturned corners with corner lifts, excising the deep nasolabial furrows, placing a chin implant to correct both the lateral chin-jowl indentations (the fleur-de-lis look) and the drooping chin, and dermabrading the wrinkles. The inner ring can be youthened by creating fuller lips either by the surgical augmentation techniques of inner flaps or vermilion advancements or by injection enhancement with a filler material. Our experience with 1300 procedures indicates that the successful rejuvenation of the middle and inner rings adds a great deal to appearance and satisfaction, the patient often appearing 10 to 15 years younger. Unknowingly altering a locus of identity in the mouth area can lead to significant patient upset and should be avoided. Guiding principles for cosmetic surgery around the mouth have been suggested.

The lip lift: An alternative corrective procedure for latrogenic vertical maxillary deficiency: Report of a case

The lip lift: An alternative corrective procedure for latrogenic vertical maxillary deficiency: Report of a case

Correction of thin lips: "lip lift".

Thin, atrophied lips are a stigma of old age. This paper discusses the so-called lip lift, an operation that consists of lifting, everting, and increasing the bulk of the upper and lower lips by means of a simple but meticulous procedure along the vermilion border. An introductory study on lip aesthetics is presented. Preoperative planning is greatly emphasized. This technique has been used by the author in 32 cases as an adjunct to facial lifts or as a separate procedure. The patients were followed for up to 3 years. The results were quite satisfactory.

Lip lifting

The changing appearance of the upper lip may be a significant component in the “ageing face” syndrome. Its typical features are described. These can be corrected by a simple “lip lift”. Complications are few and the manoeuvre has proved to be an excellent adjunct in restoring a more youthful outlook. It has little effect on “purse-string” lines of the upper lip that usually require dermabrasion or a chemical peel.