The shape and position of your teeth can have a big impact on the appearance of your lips. Teeth that are crowded, spaced too far apart, or improperly aligned can cause your lips to purse, protrude, or take on an unnatural shape. Understanding how your teeth affect your lips can help you achieve a more balanced and harmonious facial profile.
How teeth positioning impacts lips
Your upper and lower lips wrap around your teeth, so their position directly affects how much lip is visible. Teeth that stick out can push the lips forward into a protruding shape. When teeth are crowded or too far back in the mouth, it can cause a puckered appearance and thin the lips. An open bite where the front teeth fail to meet can part the lips and expose more inner lip tissue. On the other hand, normal overlapping of the top teeth over the bottom helps support and shape the lips appropriately.
Issues that change lip shape
There are several common dental issues that can alter the position of the teeth and subsequent shape of the lips:
- Overbite – The upper teeth excessively overlap the lower teeth, pushing the lower lip back.
- Underbite – The lower teeth extend in front of the upper teeth, pushing the lower lip forward.
- Overjet – Upper front teeth sticking out beyond the lower teeth, causing the upper lip to protrude.
- Crowding – Teeth that bunch together force the lips around them into an unnatural shape.
- Gapped teeth – Excess space between teeth causes thin, stretched lips trying to cover the gaps.
- Misaligned teeth – Crooked or twisted teeth redirect the shape and contour of the lips.
In addition to how the teeth sit, missing teeth can also impact lip support and shape. The lack of teeth to hold the lips outward allows them to collapse inward unnaturally.
How orthodontics can help
Orthodontic treatments like braces or clear aligners can correct dental imperfections and achieve better lip shaping. By moving the teeth into proper alignment, crowding and spacing issues are fixed. Biting function is improved, which allows the lips to drape naturally over the teeth. Some specific effects of orthodontics include:
- Closing gaps between teeth provides fuller, more defined lip shape.
- Correcting overcrowded bottom teeth lets the upper lip regain structure.
- Reducing an overbite takes pressure off the lower lip being pushed back.
- Fixing an underbite repositions the lower lip behind top teeth.
- Retracting protruding teeth allows the lips to relax back.
In some cases, small dental restorations like bonding or veneers placed on select teeth can improve alignment enough to refine lip shape and contour. More extensive restorations such as dental implants or bridges can fill in missing teeth and provide the structure needed for better lip support.
How surgery can change lip appearance
In more severe cases of dental misalignment, orthognathic surgery may be recommended along with orthodontics. This type of surgery actually repositions the entire jaw as needed. It can help pull back a significant underbite or overbite that makes lip shaping difficult. Some examples of how orthognathic surgery impacts lip appearance include:
- Lower jaw moved forward eliminates a protrusive upper lip.
- Lower jaw moved back reduces excessive lower lip display.
- Upper jaw moved up fixes a “gummy smile.”
- Upper jaw moved forward improves thin, tight lips.
Genioplasty is another type of surgery that recontours just the chin area. Moving the chin forward or back can help balance out a lip protrusion.
Non-surgical lip enhancements
For those who don’t require major orthodontic intervention but want to adjust the shape of their lips, there are minimally invasive options. These include:
- Lip injections – Dermal fillers added to the lips increase fullness, contour, and projection.
- Lip lifts – A surgical procedure that shortens the upper lip to show more upper teeth and reduce a gummy smile appearance.
- Lip augmentation – Implants inserted into the lips for permanent volume enhancement and sculpting.
However, for most people looking to adjust their lip shape, improving dental alignment with orthodontic treatment or surgery tends to produce the most natural, long-lasting results. The lips are then able to reshape themselves around the corrected tooth positioning.
How age impacts lip shape
Aging can also influence lip shape and structure independent of dental factors:
- Lip volume naturally decreases with age as collagen and elastin fibers deteriorate.
- The red part of the lips (vermilion border) flattens and becomes less distinct.
- Vertical lines can develop around the lips from thinning skin and loss of elasticity.
- The mouth corners droop downward due to weaker facial muscles.
These age-related changes reduce lip fullness and structure. Lips may appear thin, downturned, and less youthful. Anti-aging treatments like lip injections, radiofrequency skin tightening, and face lifts aim to restore a more plump, defined lip shape.
Conclusion
Teeth play an important foundational role in determining lip shape and structure. Crowding, gaps, misalignment, or missing teeth can all distort the lips in various ways. By understanding how specific dental issues affect lip appearance, steps can be taken to correct them. Orthodontic treatments are usually the main solution, but other dental procedures and oral surgery may also help reshape and rebalance the lips. Non-surgical lip enhancements are another option for modifying lip shape. With age, decreasing lip volume and elasticity also impacts lip structure independent of dental position. Overall, addressing any dental imperfections is key for achieving naturally well-formed, beautiful lips.