How Many Units Of Botox Would I Need To Address Laugh Lines Around The Mouth?

Thank you for your question. Botox can help with the smile lines, but I is important to define where the lines are. Some patients refer to the crows feet (outer eye skin) as smile lines and Botox is very effective here. Some refer to the nasolabial folds as the smile lines. Fillers are much more effective here and Botox is not.

Botox is good for wrinkles that appear when making facial expressions. Nasolabial folds are visible even when your face is neutral. In addition, if you had Botox administered here, it will negatively affect the movement of muscles you need for daily facial movement. For this reason, fillers are better for this area.

Although some doctors are very skilled and able to carefully place Botox in key areas to weaken some smile muscles to flatten the smile folds, there is a chance that one or more patients who have this done, will at one time, develop a droop of one side of their mouth. This can be a very emotionally upsetting and long three to four months of waiting for it to look better as it wears off.

Botox is not used to treat laugh lines, or marionette lines, around the mouth. You will need a filler to smooth out your laugh lines. There are a few different fillers your dermatologist can use to correct the marionette lines, depending on how deep your lines are and the results you want to achieve. Restylane and Juvederm are great filler options for many patients who want to smooth out their marionette lines. 

Since Botox is used to relax muscles, it is not generally the product of choice to address the laugh lines around the mouth.  Fillers -- such as Juvederm, Restylane, Perlane, Radiesse, among others -- are the most commonly used solutions to address this concern.