Asymmetric Smile - What to Do?

Question

I took a photo of myself over the weekend and realized my smile is incredibly asymmetric. One side of my face does one thing, and the other something else! I recently had my diastema of 25 years corrected, so smiling is something I'm no longer embarrassed to do. But this made me realize the asymmetry of my face. What can be done to fix this? Botox? I like the RIGHT (in photo) side of my smile better than the left. It has more definition, the left side just doesn't do anything...help?

Aaron Stone, MD · Answer

The 2 sides of the body are not the same and can never be made to be the same. Exact symmetry does not exist in nature. In your case even the bone sockets around each eye are not symmetric. You can make things a bit more symmetric though. My first suggestion would be a filler injection to the nasolabial folds as that is a quick relatively cheap fix with little downside.

William Portuese, MD · Answer

There is no surgery indicated for correcting the smile muscles. To adjust the smile muscle, any type of surgery is done for static reasons and not dynamic reasons. A few drops of Botox placed in the right position may help weaken the strong side of the smile muscle and balance with the weaker side. Look for a dermatologist or facial plastic surgeon that has performed this many times. This Botox will have to be repeated every four to six months to keep up the results.

Steven Wallach, MD · Answer

Your facial asymmetry by photo looks relatively within normal limits. I probably would not recommend anything. If the lip volume is something that bothers you, then this can be balanced with some filler.

Asymmetric Smile - What to Do?

Answers (3)