Lip profile changes after orthodontic tooth movement in female adult with bimaxillary protrusion

Kim, Tae Kyung; Ryu, Young Kyu

Abstract

Facial esthetics is one of the most important goal of the orthodontic treatment and main concern of many patients. Facial esthetics should be considered in orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning. Prediction of soft tissue profile changes after orthodontic tooth movement should be considered as well. The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of orthodontic treatment on lip profile in adult patient. The pre and post treatment cephalometric reontgenograms of 87 female adult with bimaxillary protrusion were used to analyze lip profile change. All subjects were treated with four bicuspids extraction. Obtained results were as follows: 1. Lip thickness changes after incisor retraction showed different patterns according to areas of the lip. The thickness of the red lip area showed 2.78 mm increase in average. In contrast the thickness of the cutaneous area showed 0.65 - 0.7 mm decrease according to the different cutaneous areas. 2. The length of the red lip area decreased(1.3mm) after incisor retraction. 3. The length of the cutaneous lip area increased(2.9mm) after incisor retraction.