I’m worried my mouth guard will stretch my philtrum out again post lip lift. Is this possible over time or am I worrying too muc

Question

I had braces and I also grind my teeth so I wear a mouth guard (retainer) when I sleep. It’s a rather thick one too and it makes my philtrum stick out. I think after I received this mouth guard, my philtrum stretched quite a bit (after 3 years of nightly use) and so I received a lip lift. Now I’m worried my mouth guard will stretch it out again. Is this possible over time or am I worrying too much?

Gary Linkov, MD · Answer

That is a very thoughtful question. It is possible for your upper lip to stretch over time due to natural aging and it may be accelerated by wearing the retainer. One thought would be to get botox injections into the masseters to reduce the grinding, and then perhaps you will not need the retainer at all. Best of luck.
Gary Linkov, MD

Greg Bran, MD, PhD · Answer

Hi there and thank you for the interesting question. I would suggest to meet you surgeon and show him the mouth guard you are using. It is quite likely, that it may affect the result of your upper lip lift. In that case you might look into getting a smaller mouth guard and/or consider injections of Botulinum toxin A into the muscles that cause the grinding. Your dentist should be able to advise you on this. Good luck.
Kind regards, 
GB

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