Vertical Maxillary Excess

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have a couple questions about some problems I have with the lower third of my face and lip area. To begin with, I’ve noticed that my lips have begun to age. My upper lip looks quite long, and I’ve always had a downturned mouth and aging has exacerbated it. I look extremely sad/angry, even when I’m not. I have vertical maxillary excess, causing bite problems and lip incompetence too.

Is there anything I can do to fix all this? I was thinking a combination of a corner lip lift, upper lip lift and facelift would address the lip problems, but I would still need something done for my maxilla, to shorten it and help with the lip incompetence.

Thank you very much for your attention.

A: If you have maxillary excess that needs to be treated and would be beneficial to do so, that is what you need to treat first. All the external changes of the lips and face need to await that fundamental skeletal change. You would only do the lip and facelift procedures first if you knew that you were never going to have a maxillary impaction procedure. I would need to see pictures of your face to provide a more qualified answer.

Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana