Corner-of-Mouth Revision Surgery for a Natural Smile-Like Mouth Shape

The lips are one of the important elements that determine impression, image, and appearance. Our facial expressions are revealed through the harmony of our features, and the mouth, like the eyes, is a part that affects expression. Since we smile and speak through the mouth, the shape and thickness of the lips, as well as the height of the mouth corners, are important. If you look at people who give a depressed or negative impression, the corners are relatively drooped, and this can be improved with surgery that lifts this area. If the corners were pulled up too much or if the result is not noticeable, there are also cases of undergoing corner-of-mouth revision surgery again at A Top Plastic Surgery, so the symptoms must be assessed and the procedure customized accordingly.

Symptoms of drooping mouth corners

Except for people who are naturally born with this area drooping, the main causes are known to include aging, orthodontic treatment, and double jaw surgery. In the case of aging, as we get older, skin elasticity decreases and muscle strength weakens, causing the skin to sag overall. The area around the mouth has less developed sebaceous glands and naturally thinner skin, so signs of aging appear faster here than in other areas. As the skin sags, drooping mouth corners can appear as well.

The area around the mouth involves countless muscle movements throughout the day as we speak, eat, and do many other things. As we also age, the philtrum may become longer and the lips thinner, leading to changes in the mouth shape with drooping corners. The purpose of the first surgery or corner-of-mouth revision surgery is to lift and fix the sagging area, and it needs to be lifted and secured appropriately according to the cause and current symptoms.

This symptom appears due to the difference in strength between the muscles that lift and lower the mouth corners, as well as each person's facial expression habits. If the lifting muscles are weak and the lowering muscles are stronger, drooping symptoms naturally appear. In addition, after orthodontic treatment or double jaw surgery, the protruding mouth may move inward, causing the philtrum to lengthen and the lips to become thinner; along with that, drooping mouth corners may also appear. Therefore, even if surgery was performed before, if the corners droop again after orthodontics or contour surgery, corner-of-mouth revision surgery may be necessary.

Corner-of-mouth plastic surgery

The mouth corners, which are the points where the ends of the lips meet, play an important role when resting, smiling, and speaking. Even when you are still, they should look slightly lifted so that you can appear bright and smiling. Conversely, if they droop downward, you may look sad and depressed even without making any expression. Since everyone wants to look bright and cheerful, it is worth improving this sagging area with surgery that pulls and lifts it.

Corner-of-mouth plastic surgery is a procedure that controls the strength of the lifting and lowering muscles in this area to secure them in their original position. By removing only the necessary amount and fixing them at an appropriate angle and height, it helps maintain a bright impression both when smiling and when not making any expression.

The key point of this surgery is not simply pulling the lip mucosa, but repositioning the muscles. Rather than improving the shape by pulling the skin or lips, the correction is done so that the corner itself can sit in the proper position, which improves the cause and can also help prevent sagging from recurring. The ideal corner angle is about 3 degrees, but the appearance that suits each person can vary. If the angle is designed with step-by-step adjustments, it may be possible to maintain a beautiful result without repeated corner-of-mouth revision surgery.

Natural mouth corners, not Joker lips

If the sagging area is pulled up too much, the corners can rise too high and create an artificial, unnatural mouth shape. It may end up looking similar to the Joker’s mouth shape, giving a bizarre impression and significantly lowering satisfaction, which could lead to needing corner-of-mouth revision surgery again.

To avoid this kind of mouth shape, the surgery must be performed while considering even the detailed movements of the orbicularis oris muscle around the mouth. The lip mucosa and the actual position of the mouth corners need to be corrected, and in addition to improving the current symptoms, it is important to design the result so that natural changes in facial expression can still occur after surgery.

Above all, since this surgery involves making an incision and repositioning the muscles for correction, scars may be visible, so caution is needed. A minimal, smooth incision should be made along the upper and lower lip lines so that scars are not easily seen while still producing noticeable changes. If the corner area becomes overly curved and wavy, it can look unnatural, so without overcorrection, care should be taken to analyze skin elasticity, mouth-corner angle, and other factors to create a 1:1 customized surgical solution.

So that corner-of-mouth revision surgery does not need to be repeated

If satisfaction with the first surgery is low or if side effects occur, revision surgery is considered. In the case of corner-of-mouth revision surgery in particular, it is considered when the surgery does not leave much visible change, meaning the sagging was not properly improved, or when the corners have been distorted or become unnatural due to overcorrection.

The area around the mouth has thin, sensitive skin, and if a scar forms, it shows clearly. For that reason, it is also an area where the same surgery should not be repeated. Even with a small incision, scars and bruising remain until recovery, so good results must be achieved with a single surgery.

By considering the various expression muscles of the lips and identifying the detailed movements before proceeding with surgery, we hope you can experience natural results at A Top Plastic Surgery, with facial expression changes that do not look awkward.

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