Did anyone experience thinning lips?

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#1 Post by **drazda** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 6:07 pm

I have a V shape arch which will be turned into a U shape. Should I be worried about my lips? I do have full lips now, should I expect them to get thinner? I would rather have thin lips and a U shape, then full lips and a V shape, so I'm not going to complain! I just started my braces, but I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this.

#2 Post by **weird_wired** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:21 am

Most people find their lips swell with braces - though they feel kind of thinner because the top lip sometimes finds it hard to get used to stretching over the new front dimension!

As for thinning - I can't see how. I just tried pulling my cheeks apart to simulate widening, and it actually makes them look fuller. But I am not sure that arch widening would even have a minimal impact on lips, if anything. It would be interesting to know if it does!

#3 Post by **Avarik** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 10:17 am

My ortho claims that people who get extractions, rather then have their arches widened, may have thinning lips from lack of support. He uses himself as an example, saying that when he was a child he had braces with extractions, and that is why his lips are so thin.

I havn't confirmed this though...this was what my ortho said, and the reason he doesn't do extractions unless theres a lot of crowding.