Korean J Orthod.  2007 Apr;37(2):125-136.

Changes in lip and perioral soft tissue after bracket removal

• Lee JS
• Choy K
• Park YC
• Kim KH

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Soft tissue changes due to orthodontic treatment has large individual variation. Therefore continuous evaluation during treatment is required. Patients with fixed orthodontic appliances often wonder if their lip positions will change after the removal of brackets, but only a few studies exist on this topic. The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes of the lips and perioral soft tissue after bracket removal.
METHODS
The sample used in this study was 19 males and 33 females. Cephalometric X-rays were taken at 3 stages - T1 (before debonding), T2 (just after debonding), T3 (1.5 months after debonding).
RESULTS
The lower lip was retruded immediately after debonding (T2-T1), and 1.5 months after debonding (T3-T2). The mean amounts of retrusion from the vertical reference plane (sG perpendicular line) were about 0.38 mm for the upper lip and 0.88 mm for the lower lip. Immediately after debonding, lip retrusion of females was greater than that of males. During the post-debonding period, lower lip of males was retruded more than that of females.
CONCLUSION
Lips are retruded after bracket removal, and there is no gender difference 1.5 months after debonding.

Keyword

Bracket removal; Lip; Soft tissue

MeSH Terms

Female
Humans
Lip*
Male
Orthodontic Appliances