Tight Lips Are The Bad Teeth Botox

I am always surprised at what I learn from the chairside life.  I was walking a patient to the chair to proceed in his operative section of the treatment plan ( a.k.a. drill and fill) when I noticed what a tight upper lip he had.  I could bounce quarters off of that lip! Then, instantly I remembered another tight lipped patient. That first tight lipped patient came in with a dental emergency, a broken tooth. When I asked him to point at the culprit he extended an index finger to a closed lipped mouth, pointing at the vermilion border. I thought, "thanks, for providing me clinical information."

After that emergency patient  I knew that a tight lip meant shame about an ugly tooth if not teeth.  This new patient reclining in the chair had the natural teeth botox, which I know all too well.  So instead of doing a tango with my mirror and a tongue I stressed those elegant fingers on his unforgiving upper lip.  I had to keep saying, "you're in the chair, let me do the work, I just need to keep your lip from covering up your cavities," before I remembered to use my cheek retractor.

Take Home MESSAGE : Have a good sense of humor. If you can't put someone in a knee slapping moment to see their entire oral cavity then you are sure to be surprised by the bad teeth botox in the future.  The person in this picture could give an illusion of a decent smile by only exposing the tearing surfaces of the maxillary anteriors (teeth here with the decay) and the lip surface of the mandibular anteriors (lower front teeth, no decay visible).